editorial
POWS:
prisoners
of policy
4 ,
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Killing with
reserved
detachment
michee
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One of the saddest news developments in some
time has surfaced this week. The Prisoner of War
(POW), long the forgotten victim of the Southeast
Asian conflict, has suddenly become a political
campaign issue.
Saying that the North Vietnamese were attempting
to use three POWs for propaganda purposes, Vice
President Agnew charged that antiwar groups were
impeding government negotiation efforts.
And with an apparent sense of righteous wrath,
Sen. hlcGovern retorted that the Nixon
Administration had interfered with the release of the
three, ultimately causing the roundabout release
route of the three prisoners.
All this political hay-making is apalling. It is
disgusting to see the POWs become the diplomatic
ping-pong balls of presidential politics.
Both sides of the campaign are guilty of grossly
misplacing their priorities in this matter. Both seem
to be much more interested in furthering their
political fortunes than in relieving those who have
been neglected far too long.
There are currently over 1,600 Americans who are
listed as POWs or Missing in Action (MIA). According
to the Forgotten Americans Committee of Nebraska,
over 500 of these men have been imprisoned for more
than three years; some more than five years.
Only 12 prisoners have ever been released by the
North Vietnamese government. Over 20 are known to
have died while being held captive.
Aside from the inhuman treatment seen by the
POWs who have returned, the most tragic part of this
story is that most of the families of the men involved
don't know if their sons, husbands, fathers or
brothers are alive or dead. The North Vietnamese
won't tell them.
And yet the politicians haggle over the method of
returning the long-suffering prisoners rather than
making a commitment to get them back as soon as is
physically possible. It is high time that the politicos
realized that the POW issue should be one that
transcends campaigns-one that demands
cooperation.
It must be made clear that the foremost
commitment of every American should be to return
these prisoners from their political purgatory.
To fulfill this commitment, each citizen must make
an effort to see that government responds to pleas for
help for the POWs. Several agencies have come into
existence to aid in this effort.
Two such agencies now exist in Nebraska: the
Forgotten Americans Committee, Box 127, Omaha;
and VIVA-Omaha, 2507 So. 90 St., Omaha.
At UNL, the Student veterans' Organization, 345
Nebraska Union, serves much the same function. Any
of these sources can aid in obtaining information and
instructing students about what they can do to help
the POWs.
One solid effort that can be made in that direction
is the purchase of a POW bracelet from VIVA-Omaha.
Nearly all money donated for the bracelets ($2.50 for
nickel, $3 for copper) goes for publicity campaigns to
boost awareness of the POW cause.
Each bracelet bears the name of a POW or MIA
now in Vietnam and indicates the date he was lost. It
is worn with the vow that it will not be removed until
the day the Red Cross is allowed into North Vietnam
and can assure his family of his status and that he
receives the humane treatment due all men under the
Geneva Convention.
Writing letters to plea for the POWs is another
possible method of assistance. Letters may beaddressed
to the President, and, more effectively, to Nebraska's
Representatives and Senators.
But most importantly, each citizen must keep
himself informed and involved in the plight of the
POWs. Thpir rplpase should hp nnr utmnst mnrern
Jim Gra
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Chances are you may have missed the big news issued last
week from Saigon. The war does not seem to be too
newsworthy these days-there's just not enough action.
Nevertheless, the American casualty count for the week ending
Sept. 16 set a new precedent.
Aside from the value statement "casualty count" implies
(definition: casual, a happening by chance; casualty count, a
measure of the success or failure of military action by
recording the number of non-living or crippled bodies strewn
about the scene of combat), the figures reported are worth
more than a little thought.
For the first time since March, 1965, no American was
killed in combat Five Americans, however, did die from
non-comqat causes, seven were wounded and four were
captured or missing. The South Vietnamese reported 409 dead
and 1,710 wounded.
They also claimed 4,625 enemy soldiers killed, a healthy
increase over the 3,449 reported slain the preceding week.
Granted, most of these numbers probably are inflated;
nevertheless, at least 7,000 human beings have been killed or
wounded in this conflict during the past seven days. Most of
these dead seemingly don't count due to the color of their
skin.
Americans have been so barraged by numbers, statistics and
atrocities that their sensitivity to massive bombing and mining
gradually has decreased to an all-time low. In a rprtain cphcp
uomus ana mines aiiow one to kill with reserved detachment.
Generally, one is at enough of a distance that it no longer is
necessary to stick around and pick up any pieces. An air war is
a depersonalized, particularly evil war tactic because it is
largely invisible (except, of course, to those who are bombed
and mined).
I find it particularly ironic that American forces now
openly mine South Vietnamese rivers and canals. It's almost as
if the past practice of dropping literally millions of tons of
explosives on this tiny country wasn't enough. Our success in
defoliating the land and sterilizing the soil can only be
outdone by our ability to destroy canals and contaminate
water, a gift to generations of Vietnamese to come.
I don't imagine anything particularly new or enlightening
can be said about this war in Southeast Asia. Battles are won
and lost, cities are overrun and recaptured, more stringent
censorship is imposed on the Vietnamese press and people as
each month passes. There is talk about winding down and
peace with honor, but the killing still continues Fewer
Americans are killed in combat, the battles are raged more in
the skies and many American people become less concerned,
less vocal, more absorbed in their own little worlds.
As the ground war is discontinued, the air war escalates.
nu lesi you Torget, tne Killing still continues.
page 4
daily nebraskan
thursday, September 28, 1972
A. . - & Ss.