Soviet Actions During the Months of August

Fate has filled the month of August with reminders of the true nature of the Soviet Union and its guiding Communist ideology.

On Aug. 13 the world observed the 25th anniversary of the construction of the Berlin Wall. The international outrage over that event (which was actually celebrated in East Berlin) overshadowed the 18th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. On Aug. 13, 1968, the U.S.S.R. greeted Prague’s “socialism with a human face” with tanks and armored personnel carriers.

Aug. 23 marked the 47th anniversary of the Soviet-Nazi Non-Aggression Pact. This treaty between Josef Stalin and Adolf Hitler allowed Nazi Germany to launch its blitzkrieg against Poland just one week later. In return for its neutrality, the Soviet Union was allowed to occupy the eastern half of Poland. And it did.

One does not have to look so far back for examples of Soviet misconduct. In 1979, the U.S.S.R. invaded the defenseless nation of Afghanistan, which has lost more than half a million if its people since that time.

In 1983, the Soviets shot down an unarmed Korean Air Lines 747, killing all 269 passengers on board.

Just this spring, Soviet officials tried to cover up the nuclear accident at Chernobyl. For days this Soviet dishonesty prevented millions of Europeans from protecting themselves from radiation much higher than that released at Hiroshima.

As American arms control negotiators continue to meet with their Soviet counterparts, it would be wise for them to remember that the U.S.S.R. is not just another big country filled with people.

The Soviet Union is the kind of nation that keeps its citizens behind concrete walls and one that cut a deal with Adolf Hitler to carve up Poland 47 years ago.

DEROY MURDOCK

Culver City