THIS WEEK

The recent U,S, “peace offensive” (so-
called) is an exercise in public rela-
tions says Tim Buck, National Chairman
of the Communist Party of Canada.

Buck, who headed the Canadian dele-
gation to North Vietnam at the close of
1965, discusses the situation today, the
effects of American bombing, and the
way to restore peace in a feature inter-
view—along with Rae Murphy, editor of
_the youth magazine Scan.

PAGES 6 AND 7

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 21, 1966
VOL. 27. NO. 3

NEXT WEEK

PT Associate Editor Maurice Rush will
continue his eyewitness reporting of
conditions in North Vietnam today,
carried exclusively on the pages of the
PT.

Rush will discuss howindiscriminate
U.S. bombings (including attacks upon
clearly marked hospitals) are affecting
the morale of the Vietnamese people
and how badly U.S, imperialism has mis-
judged the effects of terror bombings—
just as Hitler did, 25 years ago.

Yanks mass huge buildup

Under cover of its phoney “peace
offensive” the United States has
been massing a further buildup of
its military might in Vietnam in
Preparation for new assaults and
New crimes against the Vietnamese
People. Z

For the second time, since its
Peace hoax began in December, the
U.S. has poured additional troops
into Vietnam. The latest buildup
came last Tuesday when 7,000
more troops were landed, bringing
the total number of U.S. personnel

there to over 200,000, and with no
end in sight.

To the contrary, on the same
day Secretary of War McNamara
declared he wanted the country’s

‘armed forces increased by 113,000

men. This would bring the total
number of Americans. in uniform
to over three million and repre-
sents the highest level in 12 years.

The fresh troop landings and
McNamara’s announcement came
only hours before a truce fell over
war-ravaged Vietnam. The truce,

- marking the lunar new year, was

announced by the National Libera-
tion Front and reluctantly agreed
to by the U.S. in response to world
pressure in that direction.

Another indication of the U.S.’s
peaceful intentions was provided
by a joint announcement from
Dean Rusk, Averell Harriman and
South Vietnamese dictator Nguy-
en Cao Ky. The announcement
stated the U.S. and its puppets are
determined to carry on military
operations.

So much for the vaunted “peace
offensive.”

U.S. leaders are quite aware that
there are two indispensable steps to

peace, without which any talk of

peaceful solutions is pure hot air.
The first of these is agreement to
withdraw foreign troops, in accord-
ance with the 1954 Geneva Agree-
ment. The second is a willingness
to negotiate with the only genuine

‘representative of the South Viet-

naniese people—the National Lib-
eration Front.

Is peace possible in Vietnam?

By MAURICE RUSH

If the United States would stop
trying to tear up the Geneva
Agreement and show that it is
Prepared to withdraw its troops
from South Vietnam, negotiations
Could quickly get underway to end
the war in Vietnam,

These are the major proposals
but forward by key leaders of
North Vietnam in the many dis-
cussions we had with government
and party leaders in Hanoi during
Our 15-day visit which ended De-,
Cember 11.

Naturally the question of peace
in Vietnam was uppermost inour
Minds as we met and had talks
with President Ho Chi Minh,
Premier Pham Van Dong and in
two full days of discussion witha
delegation of the Central Com~-
Mittee of the Vietnam Workers’
Party, which was headed by the
Party’s first secretary Le Duan.

We found them to be highly
intelligent men dedicated to the
Struggle of their country for inde-
Dendence and devoted to the cause
Of world peace,

“We don’t want to increase
World tensions, We want to de-
Crease world tensions,” Le Duan
told us in an opening speech in
Which he outlined the situation in
North and South Vietnam, In the
Course of his remarks the first
Secretary said the people of Viet-
Nam are “deeply attached to
Peace,”

He pointed out that after five

years of struggle against the
Japanese, for which they were
lauded by western jeaders, the
Vietnamese people hoped that
with the end of World War Hi,
peace would also come to their
land as it did to the rest of the

world.

«But the Vietnamese people
have known no peace for the last
20 years. We have had to fight
off one invader after another, We
have endured much suffering in

the struggle to win our inde-
pendence, Between peace and
slavery there is no choice. The
people of Vietnam are determined
at any cost to have their national
freedom,”

Tracing the history of Vietnam,
Le Duan pointed out that the
cause of national independence is
deeply ingrained in the people and
that in their 4,000-year history
they have many times risen in
national struggle against foreign

invaders. In each case the Viet-
namese people united and ulti-
mately drove out the invaders,

Wherever we went in Vietnar
we found confirmation of Le
Duan’s remarks, Thetruthofthe
statement that there is no force
on earth greater than that of an
idea whose time has come, was
strongly demonstrated to us on
all sides,

The idea of national independ-

U.S. casualties are bound to increase with each new escalation.

“ence has seized the Vietnamese

people much as it did the Amer-
ican people in 1776, and they are
prepared to overcome all ob-
stacles and make whatever sac-
rifices are necessary to achieve
that end.

This explains the tremendous
heroism and self-sacrifice being
shown by these people in the
present struggle despite the great
odds against them,

Returning in his talk to the
present situation in Vietnam, Le
Duan said: “Are the Americans
ready to withdrawfrom Vietnam?.
That is the key question at
present,”

_ A few days later another top
leader of the government came
back to this question when he
told us that “the Vietnamese peo-
ple would lay out the red carpet
for the Americans if they leave,
but if they stay we will have to
fight them,”

This top government official
also told us that the Vietnamese
government “at all times is seek-
ing the way for a peaceful end
of the struggle, But, he added,
“we know Johnson doesn’t want
genuine negotiations and peace
and other western governments
with whom we arein contact know
this too,”

Vietnamese leaders told us that
U.S. forces invaded South Viet-
nam in large numbers because
they aim to use their military
power to re-write the Geneva

CONT'D.ON PAGE 2

Reminder! Tim Buck, Maurice Rush will speak on:

How to End the War in Vietnam
Sunday, Jan. 23, 8 p.m. Exhibition Gardens