Handlin Speech

Oscar Handlin, Adams University Professor, advocated U.S. intervention in countries threatened by communism and described citizen action against nuclear war as "useless and illusionary" at a Cambridge Forum last night.

Handlin compared the present international situation to "living in the edge of a volcano" and warned that Americans must realize that it can erupt, but meanwhile, there are things we can do to postpone or prevent its eruption."

Handlin said he does not believe in non-intervention and added, "We should do whatever is necessary to keep EI Salvador from going the way of Nicaragua."

Anti-war action, such as the Veterans' Day peace convocations and the Cambridge referendum opposing nuclear weapons, perpetuate the illusion that we can wish away the possibility of nuclear war, Handlin said. In response to questions from the audience, however, he declined to specify what actions citizens could take.

Handlin disagreed with members of the audience on many points of historical fact, saying that their attitudes were typical of American misconceptions of foreign policy. He blamed these misconceptions on the bombardment of the American public by the mass media.