The dead end of Vietnam war By REAR ADMIRAL _ ARNOLD TRUE, USN (Ret.) (The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not reflect the views of the Navy Department.) We are here to discuss a war that our country is fighting with a small technologically undevel- oped nation in Asia 10,000 miles away. Historian Arnold Toynbee says that the destinies of the whole world are involved in Vietnam. So much of the world’s attention has been focused on it that this small nation has be- come the most important coun- try in the world. There is such a ye Ph American soldier interrogates a divergence between public pro « nouncements and facts that our people are divided and confused. In this age of television and radio, we are bombarded with a stream of conflicting opinions, propaganda, statements, mis- statements, and slogans so that it is not surprising that we are confused. Slogans are the refuge of the unthinking. Adolph Hitler knew this when he proposed that the big lie, repeated loud enough and often enough, would be be- lieved by the people. Sometimes the liar himself comes to believe it. I am not suggesting. that we have any Adolph Hitlers in this country. Bs = wink: member of the National Liberation Front captured in South Vietnam. The public relations barrage that reaches the American peo- ple runs like this: our objective in Vietnam is self-determination for the Vietnamese people. We have made sacred commitments. Our intervention is in support of the SEATO Treaty. We are sup- porting the free world. Our na- tional honor is at’stake. The key to our involvement is our own national security. We must stop communism. If we don’t fight them there we'll have to fight them here. This war will prevent a bigger war in the future. We must support our boys in Viet- nam. We are winning the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese Balt NS Soviet plans to explore Venus, Mars At the present time the Soviet Union is in favor of manned flights only on orbits around the earth and will continue to use automatic apparatus to learn about Venus and other plants. This plan was announced by the chief designer of automatic interplanetary stations following the successful flights to Venus five and Venus six. The detach- able capsules of both stations descended through the atmos- phere of Venus on its night side, measuring and reporting various characteristics of the planet’s atmosphere. Both also delivered pennants with a bas relief of Lenin and the U.S.S.R. coat of arms. : “This new success of Soviet cosmonautics achieved on the eve of the centenary of Lenin’s birth is wonderful proof of scientific and technical progress in the U.S.S.R., of the creative enthusiasm of the people and a worthy contribution to space ex- ploration,” notes Tass News Agency. The world press, radio and - television gave wide coverage’ to the successful completion of the flights. Soviet newspapers have been highlighting the, accom- plishments of Soviet cosmic sci- ence. a At one time Venus was con- sidered to have physical condi- tions very close to the terrestrial ones, and science-fiction writers often described life on Venus as _ very much resembling that on » PACIFIC TRIBUNE-—JUNE 6,°1969—Page 8 our Earth. Today we know that the atmosphere of Venus con- sists of carbon dioxide, there is very little water and nitrogen and consequently this rules out any possibility of life forms cus- tomary to us. The flights of the twin stations demonstrated once again that the Soviet Union has spacecraft af capable of making prolonged flights over great distances. It will take three years to fly to Mars, but man will not be need- ed to control the station on such a flight. The flights of interplan- etary stations in the future will all help to hasten the day when mankind will be able to visit other planets AN inter-planet station Venera is shown. in the Soviet photo above. It will be used on flights to explore the universe. people. It is a simple case of aggression by North Vietnam against a neighboring country whose freedom we are defend- ing. Wars of liberation must not be permitted to succeed. We will not grow tired. We will not be defeated. These*are designed to appeal to our best instincts and our highest moral values. They are heard so often that many Americans believe they mean what they say. Let us examine some of the slogans and the facts or lack of facts that lie behind them: We are most frequently told that our objective in Vietnam is “self - determination” for the Vietnamese people. A careful reading of the 1954 Geneva Ac- cords indicates that they offered exactly that. After a cooling off period for the departure of the French, a free election under supervision of the International Control Commission was to be held in 1956, to decide if South Vietnam would reunite with North Vietnam or remain an in- dependent country. That election was never held because Ngo Dinh Diem, who had been installed as premier by the. United States, with our en- couragement, refused to hold it. President Eisenhower said that if it had been held, 80 percent of the people would have voted for Ho Chi Minh. South Vietnam has had a se- ries of dictatorships for thirteen years that were unpopular with the people. Generals hold power by virtue of the support of U.S. tanks, aircrafts, and troops . . Our military personnel report that the NLF soldiers and the North Vietnamese soldiers are the best fighters that they have ever seen. At the same time they report that the Saigon army is not interested in fighting — that the-soldiers are unreliable—that they desert by the thousands. These Saigon soldiers are of the same blood and nationality as the NLF. What could be the ex- World meet — vs A, H bombs | The Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs (Gensuikyo) recently announced five points on which the 15th World Conference against atom- ic and hydrogen bombs to be held in Tokyo from July 30 will concentrate. The five items listed are as follows: 1) Opposition to the U.S. ag- gressive war in Vietnam. Reali- zation of complete victory of the * Vietnamese people. Strengthen- ing of further aid to the Vietna- mese people. Opposition to war provocation against Korea. 2) Prevention of nuclear war- fare. Complete prohibition of nuclear weapons. For the imme- diate future, conclusion of a treaty to prohibit the use of nu- clear weapons. 3) Abolition of nuclearized Japan-U.S. military alliance — “nuclearized security treaty sys- tem.” Abrogation of the Security Treaty. Immediate, unconditional and complete reversion of Okin- awa. Withdrawal of military bases. Prohibition of the bringing in of nuclear weapons. Opposi- ASIA. eet planation of this? Is it i that the common people ers Saigon Government’s S0l é. ‘ie not believe in or supp? government for which they : forced to fight? “It is a simple case Of 3 Fs sion by North Vietnam a | } a neighboring country. for tt no historical foundation id nat statement that N. and 5. net are two countries. The 7 ip that int oe eas Accords state plainly 17th parallel is a temporal made originally to sepa : armies of the French wes | Viet Minh. General a two born in Hanoi. If these @ oxidl countries, we have a Le situation in that the dict® 74. elected vice-president 0" ~" ite nam is a foreigner fi ing te enemy country that is 4° ession. : joo nee Wars of national liber must not be permitted ! fe ceed.” If this statement 8 it the status quo is frozem ©) i» entire world by edict er ith rica. No peoples dissatis ter how their government, no na : autocratic or dictatorial, ovett ‘permitted to change that este ment. This seems incon”. with the history of since our country was by men who fought a W4 tional liberation... _ ly oft The Vietnam war 18 oF ou symptom of a disease ay @ foreign policy which oe fatal if left untreated. If wt there | “turn this country aroun out ' will be more Vietnams es, afd east Asia, in South Angi” ef in Africa. We are tryin& © | se a tide of revolution ame hungry and underprivileg' ervitl ples of the world. We ae in? to maintain the status I oi) world where the funda jing law is changed. It can't US ult and our attempts will re our own disintegration @ struction. TE Reprinted from VEX". cok STARS AND STRIP PEACE. (Abridged) enna ° ¥ tion to Japanese nucleaf a ments and revival of milit@ vic 4) Together with bomb y | tims, strengthen the reli€l ag paign for bomb victims qe for complete prohibition ° law lear weapons. Enactment © ‘ne to assist the victims 9 bombs. : oe 5) Strengthening of the st | gle for international soli and mutual assistance. uid? Gensuikyo has released 8) ay lines or supplementary eX? tions attached to each ite? i The following points are worthy. anal Sei fetiight of the viet issue based on the four prin ic les of the Democratic ReP cles of Vietnam, and the five 4 F root of the Vietnam National of Liberation. con" At once to strive for thé rit clusion of a treaty to pr the use of nuclear weapons: 4 | Restrain the U.S. from T@. | ing to nuclear weapon in ea! nam, and stop the U.S. nUE oy | war provocations and nue od blackmail policy in Korea — i?