Mr. Wm. m. F. Buckley, Jr. Editor-in-Chief, National Revue, 150 West 35th Street, New York 16, N.Y. February 5 1962 Dear Mr. Buckley: I have read with great interest the article "The Question of Robert Welch" you kindly sent me. By and large I agree with the article's content. I too believe that Mr. Welch's utterances seriously harm the cause of anti-communism. However, one should not condemn Mr. Welch's errors without trying to understand the mentality out of which they developed. We are witnessing a continuous advance of the communist power. Besides we have to realize that the policy of the American Administration -- whether wittingly or unwittingly -- is rather slow and inept in defending the free world against the totalitarian onslaught. (See any issue of National Revue). Now, people who, committed to one of the main fallacies of contemporary thought, overrate the power of government and especially that of the American Government, are at a loss to find another interpretation of the failures of our policy than treason. Some years ago I had the opportunity to discuss these problems with one of the supporters of "extremist" opinion. Referring to the cases of Harry Dexter White and Alger Hiss, this man called traitors the two presidents that preceded Eisenhower. There are only two alternatives, he shouted, either they were imbeciles or traitors; as they succeeded in winning the presidency, the first alternative has to be ruled out. Mr. Welch is certainly guided by the best intentions. It would be fair, to understand the -- faulty -- chain of reasoning that led him astray and to refute, point by point, his syllogisms. Kindest regards, Yours cordially,