editorial $nmn pg
Vietnamization or
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automated genocide
Forty-five thousand six hundred fifty-nine dead.
Three hundred-two thousand seven hundred
eighty-seven wounded.
Those figures, representing the number of
American casualties as of March 25 in Vietnam, have
been used time and time again by anti-war groups.
Apparently they bear the most weight in convincing
the people of the United States that this ugly tragedy
marring our nation's history should not continue.
Now those figures have almost stabilized. The
American dead and wounded count is down drastically
from several years ago. Many people are pleased.
But something is missing from those statistics.
They represent nothing of the people to whom the
battlegrounds belong. What about the South
Vietnamese? What about the Southeast Asians who
call themselves the Viet Cong? How about the Nrth
Vietnamese? Don't they have fatalities or statistics
that graphically tell the story of life and death in
countries at war?
Over two million Vietnamese have been killed in
this political fortress of automated genocide. Another
10 million have been rendered homeless.
Countless times the Nixon administration has
defended its stance in dealing with the war. The
President has stated that it was not he that started the
conflict; it was not a Republican that involved our
nation in this conflict on the other side of the Pacific.
Upon his election in 1968, Richard M. Nixon said, "I
pledge to you the new leadership will end the war and
win the peace in the Pacific."
A problem exists in Southeast Asia, yes. Even as
the United States was withdrawing combat troops the
North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong began a new
ground military offensive. Yet, while it has remained
clear that military efforts in that part of the world
have been ineffective, Nixon again . responded with
more American military movement.
There is a new twist to this display of force by the
U.S. Instead of men on the ground we introduced an
all-out pounding by men in machines. The Americans
in Southeast Asia are now battering the earth with
more firepower than has been rained on that part of
the globe since 1966. All of this happens in the name
of a "just peace" and real live "Vietnamization".
A second twist occurred as the American
delegation, while professing the need for a negotiated
settlement to end the Asian conflict, chose to walk
out of the Paris peace talks. President Nixon still
speaks of an honorable end to the war.
Evidence of planning for future use of nuclear
weapons in Southeast Asia was released at the first of .
this month. A confidential memo issued by the
President also has been recently made public. That
memo encourages high level government officials to
rally public opinion in support of the escalated air
war because of "Soviet support for Hanoi."
Allegedly in response to Nixon's confidential
memo, Defense Secretary Melvin Laird, before the
Cincinnati Council on World Affairs on March 10,
said, "We cannot discount the fact that the Soviet
Union has been and remains the major supplier of
military arms and munitions to the North Vietnamese
and is thereby a major contributor to continued
conflict in Southeast Asia."
The Nixon administration and all that it stands for
is again hoping to tell the American people that more
bombs, airplanes, napalm, and aerial violence win
help solve our Southeast Asian dilemma. In the past,
the same type of military display has only produced
death and destruction with no positive economic,
humanistic or ethical return.
. The President of the United States, in order to
justify an unjustifiable conflict is again trying to play
upon the mistaken fears of a good number of
American citizens.
Let us not be fooled again.
Barry fUga
High n. low profile
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A qmstiou of tltitode
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THE DAILY NE BR ASK AN
MONDAY, APRIL 17, 1072