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| Joseph McCarthy has been
accused of 'witch hunts' |
| 1954: McCarthy hunts 'army
Communists' |
England have
The Secretary of the US army has ordered two generals, subpoenaed by anti-Communist senator Joseph
McCarthy, to ignore the summons.
The move by Robert T Stevens came on the first day of the hearings into
communist activity in the US army.
Mr Stevens said he would speak on behalf of the army provided the
session was in public.
His announcement came after a former army major summonsed by Senator
McCarthy - head of the Senate's Permanent Investigations sub-committee -
refused to answer questions.
Irving Peress, now a dentist, took advantage of the Fifth Amendment in
the US' Constitution - the right to avoid self-incrimination - to justify
his silence.
Mr Peress cited his honourable discharge from the army as proof of his
"honest and loyal service" to his country.
Senator McCarthy has accused Mr Peress of communist activities at an
army camp and has demanded that army authorities revoke his honourable
discharge and court martial him.
The Wisconsin senator has also called for a list of all officers and
civilians who had anything to do with Mr Peress' promotion and honourable
discharge.
"Either the army will give the names of men coddling Communists or we
will take it before the Senate," he said.
However, Mr Steven's stand makes it unlikely a list will be
forthcoming.
It is a rare challenge to the controversial senator who was virtually
unknown before he took up the cause of rooting out Communists four years
ago.
In a speech in West Virginia in February 1950 Mr McCarthy claimed to
have the names of 205 "card-carrying Communists" in the State Department.
However, he later scaled down the list to 57 and was willing to name
only four of them.
His critics say he has never produced real evidence to back up his
claims and accuse him of "witch hunts" which have often destroyed the
careers of those accused.
But in March 1951 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted for passing
atomic secrets to the Russians and this helped fuel popular support for
his campaign.
Joseph McCarthy's committee works parallel to the House of
Representatives' Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).
In 1947 the HUAC's high-profile investigation of the entertainment
industry led to prison sentences for 10 Hollywood writers and directors
who refused to answer questions and "blacklisting" for hundreds
more.
