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A i 6 the Chinese the very objec which they have so far not achieved for themeely. the expansion of Chi- nese power far south into the Indochina peninsula, To their more candid moments our leaders argue that, ugly as the situation may he, United States prestige in Asis is at etake in South Vietnam and can be salvaged only by victory. Although it is true thal our prestige has eulfercd cerioualy, it does not follow that any sort of conventional “victory” is likely or even possible. In euch circumstances prudence may dictate that avoi- dance of further humiliating defeat is the best means of “saving face.” A fundamental consideration is needed of just what “victory” means in the Victnamese context. The war is not a conventional one of armics and battlefields. Neither is it a cimple struggle of international commun- ism ve. capitalism, as eomie of our demagogic leadcre assert. Nor yet is it merely the current installment of the historic struggle between imperial China and her einall neighbors. Certainly both the ideological and the imperialistic factors are involved to a degree. Basically, the Vietnamese war js a civil conflict with a sirong nationalistic base. There js Jittle for foreigners to “win” in euch a conflict, for, short of destroying perhaps a majority of the Vietnamese people, it is unlikely that we will ever succeed in moulding a Vietnam tailored to American desires. ltis pitiful and frightcning that our leaders ignoring these domestic roots of the civil war in South Vietnam, We ecem unable to realize that killing Vict- namese people and destroying their homes increases rather than reduces their hostility to us. Our utter failure to grasp this obvious fact wat demonstrated by our former emiassador to Vietnam, Henry Cabot Ledgo, when he was asked upon his return to the United States how the war would end. He eaid: l —_ | a it will end when there arent anv more Viet Cong insur- gents. That doesn't mean they're all dead. ]1 means they've derided not to be Viet Cang any more. And the reason they decide not to be Viel Cong any more is that it's tou dangerous—they're liable 10 be killed. (New York Times. June 28, 1964) Even were cur might to prevail m South Vietnam's civil war. the presence of China, with over a quarter of the world’s people. would make futile the attempt to cre- ate a stabie and peaceful Southeast Asia, We cannot ig- noce China’s existence and ite natural intereel in any political settlement in that area. There is. of course, a schoo) of theught which views Vietnam as merely one mutpost in a strategie chain of installations which the United States is constructing for the purpose of meeting Red China head-on. Vast jet facilinee and supporting hases. far eurpaseing conceivable requirements for ac- tions restricted only to Vietnam. are being prepared there ta complement similar installalions in Thailand. In thie view. Vietnany is only a rehearsal and etaging area jor the real confrontation which is yet to come. lenoring the military futility of placing euch crucial installation- in a region likely te be eo hostile ac to ren- der sabotage ar capture by enemy forces almost inevi- table. one is appalled by the cynicism of this attitude as well as by the horror of ite immoralily. Many people are becoming increasingly restive over the situation. A number of our allice have attempted Yo disassociate themsclyese from our actions in South Vietnant. France has openly advocated neutraliem for the Indochinese states and hae accepted the fact that China miuet be recognized and dealt with as = power “an the area if conditions arc ever to be étabilized, Our . efforts to convince our other NATO partners to sup- aoa. weg Me semen port our Vietn icy have met with little eympathy. The majority o. arian mations shy away from taking a positive stand on either side of the conflict, many of them maintaining relations with both Vielname and avoiding public comment about the civil war. However, neighboring Cambodia’e Prince Sihanouk, who has had phenomena) success with a neutralet policy. has long predicted a victory for the Vietnamere rebel forces. U Thant hae eaid that “military methods will not bring about peace in South Vietnam.” and be suggested that the Geneva agreements might profitably be revived. Here in our country. protest apainst the official policy in South Vietnam has been increasing as news reporting from Victnam has fought iteclf somewhat free of the atricturee imposed by the Department of Defense and ak public opinion has begun to react to the frequent contradictions and sharp reversals in the Administra- tion's own accounts Of what is taking place. The ever-increasing magnitude of our expenditures is also a growing cause of concern among both Adniinis- tration supporters and opponents. Senator Dirk-en. in predicting that the one and one-half million dollars of atid per day tn South Vietnam wenl] shortly rice to iwo million. complained that in South Vietnam itself: “We appear to have made no real progress.” Other citizen groups have expressed abhorence at our coun- try’s 60 completely subsidizing and dominating the economy of another nation. including paving the eal- aries of its army. This is indeed a tyne of “invicihte” colonialism which. nevertheless. becames quite visible in Washington's outraze whenever the South Viet- namicee government unilaterally decides to embark on a course of action of its own choosing. In 1963 some seventeen thousand ministers of all faiths protested to President Kennedy again-t support of the dictatorial Vietnamese government and the inimerality of our chemical-warfare tactics against the Vietnamese people, More recently five thousand eallege and uni- versity profecrore have prevented a petition to the State Department asking that the Vielnamese war be ended and Vietnam nentralized, In the United States Senate several Senators consis- tently protest “Seeretary McNamara’s war.” although their statements are generally not reparted by the mass wedia. Curiously. this group represent» both Senators from Alaska. one of the states mast sensitive io politi cal developinent+ in the Pacific region cencrally, Atas- ka’s Senator Gruenine recenth declared: The tirne has come te cease the useless and senseless losses of American lives in an area not ecsential te the nol our fiehl. inte whieh we should not have petten in the first place. The lime In gel out is now, before the further loss of American lives. Certainly for Americans er for any foreigners 10 plan and impore a peace poliey on the Vietnamese people would be as presumptuou-. as objectionable, and as foolhardy as has been our practice of finposing a war policy on them, Satisfactory terms upon which a settle- ment mas be reached can be decided only by tem: selves, for this is hasivalhy a civil war with myriad nuance only dink comprehended by outsiders. Indi- cations are that the South Vietnamese people arc inter- ested primarily in ending the war. It is we who are most concerned about winning it. Unfortunately. the succes aion of United States-backed governments in South Viel nam har ruthlessly repree-ed open expression of such sentiments, and General Kheoh hae even etuged defion- strations and attacks on the French Embassy ia #3 .ii60- lize his people's alleged hostility ‘to a neutraliet eolu- tion. Buddhist leaders have been condenmed for sun: