◆ SpookStack

wo ee eet I RPE IRE PN ees ee a PE rarer te nN WRN OS ee nr re ge Re et te oe “While the Johnson administration verbalizes on tHe flow of aid from the North and on Hanoi’s direction of athe Vietcong, the fact is that the United States military is confronted with 2 continuing full-scale insurgency in the South. We are very much at war against South Viei- nam, and the moves into the Delta are hard to fit into the existing U.S. Administration myths. All agree that the Delta has been a VC stronghold for thirty-four years, despite there being scarcely a Northerner in the place! From my search for Vietnamese opinions on how the war might be stopped, one thing emerged as paramount. ‘This was the fact that, as a leading Catholic priest said to me, “censorship of our press and the inability to dis- | cuss peace initiatives plus the suppression of even ‘ncu- tralisra’ makes it impossible for us to ind a way oul. We’ must rely on the United States for that.” A youthful Vietnamese woman active in the coopera- tive movement said, “Maybe a miracle will save us.” . ‘Throughout her whole life she has known nothing but war, and the poignancy of her cry indicated her despair. But wars are made by man, not by God, and prayers ‘ot followed by specific acts upon our part will not pro- luce “miracles.” There are stil] initiatives available td the United States. U Thant’s three steps (stop bombing ‘in thaNorth, de-escalate in the South, and negotiate with. #1] participating parties) taken all together, are stil] valid. Or a leaf could be taken from Algeria, where the “provi- - sional government” that was set up to run a referendum -stepped aside in favor of the new government Some ob- servers here feel that the present Constituent Assembly -offers a chance to create some similar government, behind swhich the United States can beat a strategic retreat. Even though the Assembly screened out “neutralist,” it seems «lear that groundwork is being laid for eventual negotia- tions with the NLF. Meanwhile we should continue to bind up the wounds of the war and to keep pressure on our Government offi- cials to reverse the continued massive American military duild-yp and its concomitant destruction. We should push for prompt American military withdrawal. We can- not achieve our stated objectives, however noble, by em- ploying present methods. The tides of nationalism run ‘strong in Southeast Asia. A policy that cakes this into account can start the process of regaining our lost moral posture before Asia and the rest of world. —_