1) "Fewer Czechs Support NATO" - the first sentence states as fact that the percentage of Czechs who support joining NATO has dropped from 50 percent to 43 percent. No source is indicated for this "fact" although I assume it's from a poll.
As a rule conscious workers and farmers should not give much credibility to bourgeois public polls. On occasion, using such polls in order to reinforce an argument, such as the continued majority support among working people for abortion rights, may be useful.
But on the issue of Czechs and NATO, even if this poll did accurately present the percentages of public opinion, it does not explain why 50 percent of Czechs opposed joining NATO. Was it for nationalist reasons, anti-imperialist sentiment, or what? In general these polls do not aid workers in understanding politics.
The article also has an important factual error. It states that "Vaclev Havel was forced to resign as prime minister November 30." In fact it was Vaclev Klaus, the Premier, who was forced to resign. Vaclev Havel remains the President of the Czech Republic.
2) "Italian gov't: `We don't want Kurdish refugees from Turkey.'" The opening sentence quotes the Italian government's response to "claims" that Kurds are fleeing Turkey to escape repression.
In this case, with or without polls of the refugees, the Militant should report as a fact that thousands of Kurds are fleeing the repression in Turkey, not as a `claim.'
Mike Italie Atlanta, Georgia
Note from the editor: The Militant agrees with these points.
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