On the Right

The Shock

New York, Sept. 2—The shock has been instructive both to Americans and to Russians. On the scales on which crimes are abstractly measured, the figure of 269 people killed is negligible. If that were the total number of violent deaths caused by the Soviet empire on a single day, September 1, 1983 would go down as evidence of the greening of Communism. We do not have the figures and probably never will. But between midnight the last day in August, and midnight the first day in September, there were violent deaths effected in many parts of Russia and in other territory controlled by Communists. In Afghanistan. In Cuba. In El Salvador, Nicaragua, China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia. How many times 269? Ten times? One hundred times?

About the Author

William F. Buckley Jr.

William F. Buckley Jr. founded National Review magazine in 1955.

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The Shock

New York, Sept. 2—The shock has been instructive both to Americans and to Russians. On the scales on which crimes are abstractly measured, the figure of 269 people killed is negligible. If that were the total number of violent deaths caused by the Soviet empire on a single day, September 1, 1983 would go down as evidence of the greening of Communism. We do not have the figures and probably never will. But between midnight the last day in August, and midnight the first day in September, there were violent deaths effected in many parts of Russia and in other territory controlled by Communists. In Afghanistan. In Cuba. In El Salvador, Nicaragua, China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia. How many times 269? Ten times? One hundred times?