◆ SpookStack

Sea eT oe et rate cream + ales ns {t IS NOT EASY forAmericans to believe that the mess in Vietnam is as bad ag it is. The news is of military coups and demonstrations by the Vietnamese people against the U. S.-backed government; of the torture of 13-year-old boys and the spraying of poisons from the air to destroy crops and livestock; of the napalm bombing of native villages and the herding of civilians into Stockaded villages, which are essentially concentration camps. The news is of military defeatand senseless deaths. OST AMERICANS are used to thinking that the United haamas atands for ireedien, damecruey and pease — evi that if the United States gets involved in a foreign war it is on the side of the people, It hag taken Americans along time to realize that this is not the case in Viemam, Now that we have the facts, we have no honorable choice but to insist on an immediate withdrawal of American troops and an end to all military aid to the Saigon government. Senator Wayne Morse (Oregon) has made the isgues clear: **There are no Chinese soldiers fighting in Vietmam;: there are no Russian soldiers. The only foreign troops are Amer- ican... the unilateral war being conducted by the United States in Vietnam must be stopped; and the only force that can stop it is American public opinion.’’ ‘ AV E SUMMARIZE a few key facts from the daily presa, in case you missed any of these: On Torture “Terror is used for interrogation, as propaganda, as punish- ment and as revenge... Chances of surviving field inter— rogation are often extremely poor. Death can come for prisoners under the tracks of armored vehicles, by decapi- tation or by bleeding to death after both hands have been chopped off or by a bullet through the head. It's all part of the war in South Vietnam.’’ (Long Island Newsday, Oct. 26, 1964) On The Claim “We Are Defending A Free People” Walter Lippman declared last April: “The truth, which is being obscured from the American people, is that the Saigon government haa the allegiance of probably no more than 30 per cent of the people.’’ _ The United States did not allow free elections in South Viet~ nam, a8 provided in the Geneva agreement of 1984. The ‘ reasons are made clear in the following statement by General ; Eisenhower, “I have never talked or corresponded with a | ME POOK (ENCLOSURE or. - oer oe _— CONSCIENCE OF AMERIC z Comsat” FOR PEAC WITH HONO IN VIETNA/ $4 ” en oe UPT Phots wpe person knowledgeable in Indochinese affairs who didnota; that had elections been held at thetime of the fighting [19 possibly 80%of the population would have voted for the C. munist Ho Chi Minh as theirleader rather than Chief of § Bao Dai.” (Mandate For Change, p. 372) There still have been no elections; press and radio are ¢ sored, and political opposition is seriously restricted. order to continue the war, Washington is trying to pate] what the New York Times called ‘the facade of civilian g eTnment,’? in which, for propaganda reasons, it is hoped the miltany calers “faun be puyewied upoutoderp , ok background.’* (January 7, 1965) On The Supply Of Arms From North Vietnam And China Richard Starnes wrote in the New York World Telegran January 4, 1965: ‘*There is not one shred of credible e dence that the bulkof munitions used by the Vietcong origin in the north. At the outset, the Vietcong used crude hon made weapons, but the bulk of their arms now are captu or otherwise acquired from the woefully inept defenders South Vietnam .’? On The Menace Of Communism Norodhom Sihanouk, head of the government in neighbor Cambodia, has stated: ‘‘The more the Americans fight Co. munism in the way they are fighting it in South Vietnam, * more they'll spread Communism over the region. It ig si not too late to stop the war and save South Viemam fron complete Communization.’? (William Worthy, York, Gazette and Daily, Dec. 31, 1964) will come it may well be that some form of Communism Southeast Asia, whether the United States continues to inte vene or not, Butin any case, the United States does not ba the right to tell the people of Southeast Asia what form government they must have, any more than the Russians | Chinese do. Continuation of the war increases the danger domestic tetalitarlaniam or additional foreign interventio On Chinese Domination Of Vietnam * Both North and South Vietnam have always insisted onfrec dom from China, C. L, Sulzberger writes in the New Yon Times of December 5, 1964: ‘‘Ho (Ho Chi Minh, leader : North Vietnam) worries about Washington's ultimate trum — the threat of wholesale escalation. Destructive air raic could upset t Ho's wobbly economy and invite intervention | ~ ~ + <—