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C . a SENSE, STUDENTS FOR PEACE: STATEMENT ON VIET NAM . For the past nine years the United States has been actively engaged in supporting a series of dictatorial regimes in South Viet Nam in their futile battle of survival against the National Liberation Front, or Viet Cong, which has the support of most of the people. This involvement in the internal affairs of this southeast Asian country has cost the United States over 600 battle casualties; in terms of dollars and cents something like 2 million dollars per day is being spent to maintain inept and obviously unpopular regimes. Such behavior not only has earned the U, S. the scorn and contempt of other nations. but threatens ae ee to heat to the boiling point a “situation which could result in full scale war, with disastrous results for mankind. U. S. officials claim that this crusade is born of noble intentions and is necessary to protect the people of South Viet Nam from agpression by the Viet Cong. Before such a charge is leveled against the Viet Cong, perhaps an investigation of U. S. activities in this area is in order. In 1954 the U. S, entered the war at first as a non combatant furnishing millions of dollars in aid to the French in order for them to maintain their 400,000 man army, whose mission it was to preserve French rule over a dissatisfied and unhappy people. When the French army was defeated, decisively in fact, at Dienbienphu by the forces of the Viet Minh, (the Vietnamese army of liberation) to all intents and purposes the war in Viet Nam was over, The U. Ss. haunted by the spectre of Communism, was intent on continuing the war at all costs. Such acts of desperation which have marked our policigs yith respect to Viet Nam are best exemplified by the following: A. The U, S., though it had not taken part in the fighting directly prevailed upon France to accept a settlement, whereby Viet Nam would be partitioned into two sections- at the 17th paraliel - thus allowing the French to regroup their forces in the southern sector and continue the war there, rather than surrender to the Viet Minh. B, In areas controlled by the Viet Minh prior to 1954, extensive land reforms had been enacted to rid the country of the feudalistic peasant~landlord social order which had thrived under French colonial rule, Under the terms of the reforms, the peasants, who had previously farmed the land for the landowner, were piven their own plot to farm, Of necessity, many of these plots were carved from the ee eee | | | |