Wreckage of a U.S. plane downed in North Vietnam.

VIETNAM:

6

‘AT MID-1966 the war in
& Vietnam is a mess. When
ae Buddhists aren’t rioting,
feastho nt the streets of Saigon,
fasting on piles of garbage rot-

pe under the graceful tamarind
rees,”’

So said Guy Wrisht i
Se ee oe y Wright in an
article in the San Francisco Sun-

‘day Chronicle Examiner July 24.

ee € goes on, “This is not vic-
s ah There would be neither
ats, garbage nor rioters if this
War was going well.

« .
' Behind Vietnam’s political
roubles lies economic chaos—
and ‘a general suspicion that
ae our military victories may
= a mirage. This tragic state
affairs isn’t the result of
€nemy cunning: It is the result
of American mistakes. During
the past year we have made two
Incredible blunders hefe.

“First, we poured more than

@ quarter of million free-spend-

ing troops and freer-spending
Construction workers into this
Small, war-strained country with

Virtually no fore-thought toward
Softening their impact on it.

“Second, we wasted a golden
Opportunity to push through so-
Clal reforms without which, quite
frankly, this war becomes hard
to justify. To put it bluntly, how
Can we ask a peasant to fight for
4 system that lets his landlord
take half his rice crop as rent?

: “There is a direct connection
€tween these mistakes and the

_ Tats roaming the streets of the

City that once was called the
Pearl of the Orient. The presence
of the rats offers a damning in-
Sight into the blundering brand
of benevolence we have brought
to this land... .

“There is an urgent need to
look at these signs of deteriora-
tion candidly, admit that we’re
&etting nowhere and _ start
Searching for better ways. Un-
fortunately, many American of-

Clals here (Saigon) seem to
think victory can be had by
Pretending every setback is a
triumph in. disguise.”’

It is not only the officials in
Saigon who fail to come up with
a new answer. According to an
article by a military expert in
the Morning Star, London,
“Signs are multiplying that the
Americans are planning a major
escalation of the war in Viet-
nam.”

According to this article, ‘““The

American forces, with the pup-
pet armies of Marshal Ky, are

not winning the ground war in.

South Vietnam against the for-
ces of national liberation.

“On the U.S. Army Com-
mand’s own admission they do
not control the hinterland.

“Eyen the coastal towns of
Saigon, Da Nang, etc., are not
under complete control of the
U.S. and its puppet armies, and
are subject to attack by the Lib-
eration Front from time to time,
within their own military peri-
meter. ... "

“The following are official fig-
ures of the U.S. air war. The
Americans are flying 800 air
strikes a day — 100 against
routes in Laos, 300 against
North Vietnam, 400 against Lib-
eration Front positions.

“Add to this 400 missions by
the South Vietnam puppet air

forces and, in the recent period, -

350 missions by the strategic
B-52 bombers from Guam.

“It should be appreciated that
all bombing missions by plane
are, in fact, the use of long-range
artillery, and sooner or later
must be followed up by ground
forces.

“The whole purpose of the
exercise, because the U.S. is not
winning the war in South Viet-
nam, should be to invade North
Vietnam. The opening move for
this has already been made on
the bombing of the demilitarized
ZONC.4=

“There is no reason to think

that there will be any formal
notification by the U.S. of the

major escalation move, i.e. the

invasion of North Vietnam.

“It seems likely that such a
move is planned for the imme-
diate future.”

* * *

The bombing by the U.S. has
had some-repercussions at home
in another direction. Last week
the New York Times charged
that orders to minimize civilian
casualties in the bombing of
South Vietnam had been repeat-
edly and inexcusably violated.

The paper called for a major
investigation, led by impartial
civilians, of the whole U.S.
bombing policy in South Viet-
nam.

Noting that, although no regu-
lar tabulation of civilian casual-
ties of air bombing was kept,
more than 6,450 claims for com-
pensation had been made, the
Times said, “When ‘mistakes’
reach such numbers there should
be a presumption that something
is seriously wrong.”

heeds See.

Can Canada really be con-
sidered neutral in relation to
Vietnam when U.S. corporations
have the right to come and re-
cruit forces to’ go to Saigon?

- A recent story from Winnipeg
revealed that Page Communica-
tions Engineers, Inc. of Washing-

* ton had employed 36 Canadian

electronic technicians to work
in the communication service for
U.S. troops in South Vietnam.

Page Communications is under
contract with the American gov-
ernment to furnish military com-.
munication service.

This story follows the activity
of the American company which.
in June was recruiting construc-
tion workers in Toronto for work
on U.S. military installations in
Vietnam.

* Kien

In England last week the Ber-
trand Russell Peace Foundation
released the text of the letter
from Soviet Premier Kosygin

Several thousand demonstrators in Rome protest U.S. crimes in Vietnam.

action and reaction
from around the world

replying to Russell’s appeal to
him urging that the Soviet Air
Force defend Vietnam against
American air attacks.

The Soviet Premier wrote the
94-year-old philosopher as fol-
lows:

“The .war unleashed. by the
U.S. in Vietnam has made white-
hot the whole international situ-
ation.

“If the Americans do not give
up their criminal policy but con-

- tinue and. increase their aggres-

sion against the Vietnamese
people, then the development of
events would create an immedi-
ate danger of a military conflict
going beyond the limits of
South-East Asia and would cre-
ate a threat to universal peace.

“The aggressor must know
that in his way stands the united
will of freedom loving. people,
because the actions of the U.S.
in Vietnam are also a threat to
their own security.

“The Soviet Union for its part
is rendering and will continue
to render increasing moral and
political support, as well as all-
round material and technical as-
sistance to the Democratic Re-
public of Vietnam, including
means of defence and provision
of experts to repel American ag-
gression. .

“The Soviet Union and other

socialist countries have recently
expressed once again their readi-
ness to send their volunteers to
the Democratic Republic of Viet-
nam, if the Government of the
Democratic Republic of Vietnam
feels that it wants to invite
them.

--“The lawlessness perpetrated
by the U.S., its contempt for
elementary standards of interna-
tional law and humanity, arouse
indignation and condemnation
on earth.

“The Soviet public shares your
feelings and supports the de-
mands for the condemnation of
American aggressors in Vietnam
for the war crimes they commit.

“The U.S. will have to answer

_in full for the international ban-

ditry which it is committing in
Vietnam.”

Se eee

There are rumors from France
that the Government there will
take steps to prevent the trial of
President Johnson and other
U.S. war criminals by the tribu-
2 established by Bertrand Rus-
sell. ~

Russell had announcéd that
the tribunal would sit in Paris
in November, but French sour-
ces suggest that the government
is fearful of damage to U.S.-
French relations if they allow it
to proceed.

Vie Ouvriere (Paris)

“The day will come when our son‘will inherit everythi
rything we own;
then he can make the last mortgage payment on this Penne: =

September 2, 1966—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 7