«^ 7é Vietnam Day Committee News

QUOTE OF THE WEEK!

". . . THE FAIREST VISION ON WHICH THESE EYES EVER LOOKED WAS THE FLAG OF MY COUNTRY IN A FOREIGN LAND. " s President Lyndon Johnson (speaking at a labor union meeting in support of the U.S. invasion of the Dominican Republic -- quoted in the S. F. Chronicle).

LYNDON JOHNSON UPSIDE DOWN? Massive Demonstration Norman Mailer climaxed the Vietnam Day meeting last month with a suggestion aimed at the ego of our President. Planned For LB J The following is the conclusion of Mailer's talk: "Now I have one set of remarks more to make. They The Vietnam Day Committee, which organized the concern practical suggestions. I've been visionary in Berkeley Teach-in, calls for a massive turnout this my demands. For it is visionary in 1956 to ask of weekend to picket President Johnson when he comes America that it return to isolationism. No, this country to San Francisco to commemorate the United Nations. wishes to have an empire. The grimmest truth my be The picket line will begin at 7 p. m. Friday night that half of America at least must not be unwilling to outside the Fairmont hotel, where LBJ will stay. have a war in Vietnam. Otherwise Lyndon Johnson could When Johnson arrives we will be there to greet him not have made his move, since Lyndon Johnson never in appropriately. Correction: îv^ark Hopkins his life has dreamed of moving against a majority. Let From the Fairmont we will march to tne oivic us then insist on this: it is equally visionary, but it is Center where we will hold an all-night vigil. at least visionary in a military way, and we are talking Then at / a.m. we will begin picketing the Opera to militarists. Let us say that we are going to have a House where Johnson will speak at 10 a.m. war with the Vietcong. Let it be a war of foot soldier At 1 p. m. we will hold our own public meeting against foot soldier. If we wish to take a strange country to discuss USA violations of the UN charter in away from strangers, let us at least be strong enough Vietnam and the Dominican Republic. We have in­ and brave enough to defeat them on the ground. Our vited delegates of forty-five countries to address marines, some would say, are the best soldiers in the us there. world. The counter-argument is that native guerillas Joan Baez and a Dominican Republic rebel on can defeat any force of a major power man-to-man. tour of the U.S.A. to collect money for the civil Let us then fight on fair grounds. Let us say to Lyndon war there will appear at the rally. The remainder Johnson, to monstrous McNamara and to the generals of the speakers' list is incomplete. on the scene, "Fight like men. Go in man-to-man, Many groups are joining the VDC in these de­ against the Vietcong. Call off the Air Force. They monstrations. They include Women for Peace in prove nothing except that America is co-terminus with Berkeley, San Francisco and El Cerrito; Men for Peace; Citizens Committee of Correspondence, the Mafia. Let us stop pulverizing people whose faces East Bay; East Bay Friends of the Student Non­ we have never seen. Let us win man-to-man or lose violent Coordinating Committee; Faculty Peace man-to-man. " But, of course, we will not stop, nor will Committee at Berkeley; Women's International we ever fight man-to-man against poor peasants. Their League for Peace and Freedom; Concerned Citi­ vision of existence might be more ferocious and more zens of Palo Alto; various Democratic Party Clubs, determined than our own. No, we would rather go on and others. as the most advanced monsters of civilization, pulverizing The Johnson visit to the U.N. here gives Bay Area instinct with our detonations, our State Department ex­ peace forces an opportunity to communicate directly perts in their little bow ties, and our bombs. to him and to the world's press how we feel about Only listen, Lyndon Johnson, you've gone too far this American intervention in Vietnam and the Dominican time. You are a bully with an Air Force. And since Republic. An ideological statement from the VDC you will not call off your Air Force, there are young appears on page 4. people who will persecute you back. It is a little thing, Car pools from Berkeley leave Bancroft and Dana but it will hound you into nightmares and endless corri­ at 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Friday night and 6:30 to 7:15 dors of night without sleep. a.m. Saturday morning. These young people are, I think, going to print up little pictures of you Lyndon Johnson, the size of postage cards, the size of stamps. And some of them will glue these Vietnam Community Project pictures of you to walls and posters and telephone booths The Vietnam Community Project is mobilizing opposi­ and billboards . tion in the East Bay to the war through intensive corn- They will find places to put these pictures. They will unity effort. want to paste your picture on a postcard and send it to Saturdays : Our current project is a door-to-door can- you. Some will send it to your advisors. Some will vas in selected neighborhoods in Berkeley and Oakland send these pictures to men and women in other schools. These pictures will be sent everywhere. These pictures to inform people about the war. Through this activity will be pasted up everywhere. --Upside down. . . we hope to recruit workers within the community and thereby form the basis for polictical organization of For listen, this is only one of the thousand things they neighborhoods. will do. They will go on marches and they will make demonstrations, and they will begin a war of public pro­ A large scale petition to end the war is planned for test against you which will never cease. It will go on and July 10th. on and get stronger and stronger. Community work groups leave Saturday at 10:00 and Vietnam. Hot Damn. "You Lyndon Johnson will see 1:00 from 2502 Telegraph (at Dwight Way) those pictures up everywhere--upside down. Four inches General Meeting Thursday at 8:00 at Waiden School, high and forty feet high. You Lyndon Baines Johnson, 2446 McKinley St. (at Dwight Way). All Welcome. are going to be coming up for air, everywhere upside For more information, call Barbara Gullahorn:845-9035. down. Everywhere, upside down.' Upside down'. (Applause)" Future Plans of Vi er nam National Anti-war Activity Day Committee Yale professor Staughton Lynd stirred the 15, 000 people After the Johnson picket, the Vietnam Day Committee at Vietnam Day with his call for immediate action, including will work on three fronts: direct action, community work civil disobedience. A national movement is developing and campus education. against the war in Vietnam. Professor Lynd has sent infor­ Since the Oakland Army Terminal is the main West mation of the following activities to the Vietnam Day Com­ Coast shipping center for weapons to Vietnam, the V.D.C. mittee and other peace groups around the country: is considering a project for July and August which would "A schedule of activities for the summer and fall has have as its goal a work stoppage at the base. This project, taken shape, including: the Pentagon Speak-Out June 16; if undertaken, would involve leafleting the longshoremen a teach-in and preach-in sponsored by New York area tea­ and talking with them, and would climax in concentrated chers in July; demonstration in Washington on August 6 picket lines at the base. Watch the V.D.C. News for (Hiroshima Day) of signers of the Declaration of Conscience; future details . in mid-October, an international teach-in in Canada and The V.D.C. will also work with the Vietnam community a rally, including civil disobedience, at Berkeley. project (see page 1) to recruit for their major petition drive "Robert Par ris, George Clark and I have conceived the in Oakland July 10th. idea of a mid-September international war crimes com­ The V.D.C. will sponsor weekly rallies on Sproul Hall mission, composed of men such as M. L. King, Lewis steps on the latest news from the battlefront, provide Mumford, Reinhold Niebuhr, Michael Scott, Danilo Dolci, literature at the table, publish this newsletter and set up Albert Luthuli, Vinoba Bhave, and transmitted by tele­ a speakers' bureau. vision or telephone to community meetings throughout the Anyone interested in working on any of these projects country. . . " should call Jerry Rubin at 848-3158 or 845-6637. "Other ideas that have come to my attention are: the The V.D.C. 's major project will be the teach-in transformation of the Pentagon Speak-Out into a "Pentagon planned for October 15, to be followed by civil disobedience Project" with small groups demonstrating daily through­ on October 16. We are trying to coordinate this with na­ out the summer; distribution of leaflets to armed services tional and international peace groups, to make these dates personnel at many places in the country on a single day, International Days of Protest Against American Interven­ so as to invite arrest under the Espionage Act and create tion. an opportunity for reminding our government of what we In next week's issue the V.D.C. will publish a state­ told the German people they should have done in the 1930's. " ment of policy and structure, in addition to a final report The Vietnam Day Committee is working with Professor on Vietnam Day. We must escalate our anti-war action Lynd and others to develop what the peace movement today as Johnson sends more troops to Vietnam. Who can lacks, especially on the campus: national organization and afford to remain silent or inactive in a time when our national coordination. government endangers the future of the world and napalms innocent people? Please join the growing peace movement on the campus. The Vietnam Day Committee and the Vietnam Community Project need your help. Vietnam Education Committee The Vietnam Education Committee will spon- Faculty Peace Committee ser classes and distribute information on the war in Vietnam and related topics. The Faculty Peace Committee will begin a series of The 1st summer session classes are: free noon lectures on Vietnam on Thursday June 24, Thursday, June 20th--"Vietnam and American at 12:00 noon, in 11 Wheeler Hall. Professor Frank Intervention" at 7:00 p.m.; Tuesday, June 29-- Childs, Chairman of the Economics Department, "Philisophical Concepts of Marxism" at 7:30 p.m.; University of California at Davis, will begin the series Wednesday, June 30th--"Economic Concepts of with a talk entitled: "Backgrounds of the War. " Prof­ Marxism" at 7:30 p.m. All classes will meet essor Childs has not only been to Vietnam, but he has at 101 Wheeler Hall. also written a book on the economic problems of that Regular meetings of the VEC are held on country. Saturday at 11:00 a.m. on Sproul lawn. The second lecture taking place on Thursday July 1st at the same time and place, will be given by Stanley Sheinbaum. Mr. Sheinbaum is presently with the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, Santa CNVA: Oakland Army Terminal Barbara. He was campus director of the Michigan State University Vietnam Advisory Group, which aided On Tuesday, June22, at 7:00 a.m. a group from the Kennedy administration in setting up the notorious the Committee for Nonviolent Action will attempt strategic hamlet program. Mr. Sheinbaum now regrets to enter the Oakland Army Terminal in an act of this work. He too has been to Vietnam. planned civil disobedience. Besides attempting to block the loading of military supplies, demonstra­ These free noon lectures will continue at the same tors plan to bring into the terminal food, medicine, time and place throughout the first summer session and blankets and flowers to load onto ships bcund for tentatively the second summer session. Vietnam. The terminal is the major supplier of For more information contact: Prof. Morris Hirsch, military equipment in California for the Vietnam war. Mathematics Dept. , University of California, Berkeley. Simultaneously at the terminal a vigil will be held by members of the community. Wide support is needed. For more information about this and FUNDS URGENTLY NEEDED! future projects contact Mark Morris: UN 1-2257. To continue its work with this newspaper, direct action and other activities the VDC The Vietnam Day Committee News is published urgently needs financial help. Your contribu­ by the Vietnam Day Committee, 2502 Telegraph tion, however large or small, will help us Ave., Berkeley, California (848-3158) (845-6637) mount anti-war activity. The newspaper urgently needs people to work on the staff. If you can help, please call Si Lowinsky Enclosed is my contribution to help finance the editor, at 848-2015 or at the members of the Viet­ VDC's anti war activity: $ nam Day Committee. Name Editor: Si Lowinsky Address gäpÄa. Managing Editor:Bill Robbins Make checks payable to: Vietnam Day Comm­ """^WS» Stella Levy ittee. Send to Prof. Smale, Box 2201, Berkeley. 7. The Conference declares that, so far as Viet-Nam Final Declaration of is concerned, the settlement of political problems, effected Geneva Accord on the basis of respect for the principles of independence, unity and territorial integrity, shall permit the Viet-Namese Final declaration, dated the 21st July, 1954, of people to enjoy the fundamental freedoms, guaranteed by the Geneva Conference on the problem of restoring democratic institutions established as a result of free peace in Indo-China, in which representatives of general elections by secret ballot. In order to ensure that Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam, sufficient progress in the restoration of peace has been France, Laos, the People's Republic of China, the made, and that all the necessary conditions obtain for free expression of the national will, general elections shall be State of Viet-Nam, the Union of Soviet Socialist held in July 1956, under the supervision of an international Republics, the United Kingdom, and the United commission composed of representatives of the Member States of America took part. States of the International Supervisory Commission, re­ 1. The Conference takes note of the agreements ferred to in the agreement on the cessation of hostilities. ending hostilities in Cambodia, Laos and Viet-Nam Consultations will be held on this subject between the com­ and organizing international control and the super­ petent representative authorities of the two zones from 20 vision of the execution of the provisions of these July 1955 onwards. agreements. 8. The provisions of the agreements on the cessation 2. The Conference expresses satisfaction at of hostilities intended to ensure the protection of indivi­ the ending of hostilities in Cambodia, Laos, and duals and of property must be most strictly applied and Viet-Nam; the Conference expresses its conviction must, in particular, allow everyone in Viet-Nam to decide that the execution of the provisions set out in the freely in which zone he wishes to live. present declaration and in agreements on the 9. The competent representative authorities of the cessation of hostilities will permit Cambodia, Northern and Southern zones of Viet-Nam, as well as the Laos and Viet-Nam henceforth to play their part , authorities of Laos and Cambodia, must not permit any in full independence and sovereignty, in the individual or collective reprisals against persons who have peaceful community of nations. collaborated in any way with one of the parties during the war, or against members of such persons' families. 3. The Conference takes note of the declarations made by the Governments of Cambodia and Laos Continued on page 4 of their intention to adopt measures permitting all citizens to take their place in the national community, in particular by participating in the CHINA next general elections, which in conformity with the constitution of each of these countries, shall Nonoing take place in the course of the year 1955, by secret ballot and in conditions of respect for fun­ damental freedoms. 4. The Conference takes note of the clauses in the agreement on the cessation of hostilities in Viet-Nam prohibiting the introduction into Viet- Nam of foreign troops and military personel as well as of all kinds of arms and munitions. The Con­ ference also takes note of the declarations made by the Governments of Cambodia and Laos of their resolution not to request foreign aid, whether in war material, in personnel or in instructors except for the purpose of the effective defence of their territory and, in the case of Laos, to the extent defined by the agreements on the cessation of hostilities in Laos. 5. The Conference takes note of the clauses in the agreement on the cessation of hostilities in Viet-Nam to the effect that no military base under control of a foreign State may be established in the regrouping zones of the two parties, the latter having the obligation to see that the zones allotted to them shall not constitute part of any military alliance and shall not be utilized for the resump­ Nha tion of hostilities or in the service of an aggressive rang policy. The Conference also takes note of the declarations of the Governments of Cambodia and GULF OF Laos to the effect that they will not join in any S I A M VIETNAM agreement with other States if this agreement in­ cludes the obligation to participate in a military alliance not in conformity with the principles of O SO 100 ISO 100 l__l 1 I I the Charter of the United Nations or, in the case of MIIIS Laos, with the princ pies of the agreement on the MEKONG RIVER SOUTH CHINA cessations of hostilities in Laos, or so long as DtlTA their security is not threatened, the obligation SEA to establish bases on Cambodian or Laotian terr­ itory for the military forces of foreign Powers. The map of North and South Vietnam, which was contained 6. The Conference recognizes that the essential in the 1954 Geneva Accord purpose of the agreement relating to Viet-Nam is to settle military questions with a view to ending hostilities and that the military demarcation line Vietnam Day Book and Movie is provisional and should not in any way be inter­ preted as constituting a political or territorial A paperback book containing the major speeches of boundary. The Conference expresses its con­ Vietnam Day is in production to be published by September viction that the execution of the provisions set out 1, 1965. We need typists (electric) and, (desperately), an I. B. M. "executive" typewriter. If you would like to help, in the present declaration and in the agreement contact Libby Klaber at 845-9040. on the cessation of hostilities creates the neces­ In addition, a twenty five minute movie on Vietnam Day sary basis for the achievement in the near future will be ready for public showing by mid-July. of a political settlement in Viet-Nam. Vietnam Day Committee Statement (i) Johnson is carrying out Goldwater's policies which were rejected by America with Goldwater's decisive de­ On Johnson's Policy feat. Moreover, Goldwater speaks highly of what he calls Johnson's "gunboat diplomacy" in the Dominican Republic. The Vietnam Day Committee will demonstrate in pro­ (ii) Neither the public, Congress, nor our allies were test against Johnson's presence, for the following reasons: consulted before Johnson ordered military intervention in (1) The United States' massive military intervention in Vietnam and Santo Domingo. Vietnam and Santo Domingo, ordered by President (iii) A large number of Americans are vehemently op­ Johnson, are flagrant violations of the UN Charter. posed to Johnson's foreign policy. Yet this sector of pub­ For Johnson to address the UN would be to mock the lic opinion is at best ignored by Johnson's administration, principles on which it was founded. and is more usually vilified. (2) President Johnson's foreign policy does not repre­ It might be objected that, after all, most Americans sent the will of the American people; therefore he support Johnson's ordering of troops into combat in Asia cannot speak to the UN as their representative. and South America. This is of course debatable; a more important question is how many Americans would have LBJ Versus the UN approved had they been consulted before s.ending the troops ? There is no way of knowing, since Johnson did not ask the The militaristic policies ofthe Johnson administration public or Congress for their opinions. He is evidently not are clearly antitheitical to the spirit of the United Nations. interested in what he calls the "Transient winds of public It seemjthatten years ago LBJ understood the UN Charter opinion". Apparently he derives his foreign policy from when he said: divine revelation, for he has recently said: "I must try as "It would be wrong to send American Gl's into the best I can, and with whatever help God chooses to give me, mud and ruck of Indo-China on a bloodletting spree to seek the right course, not only for myself, but for the nation. And as President, I must act - often quickly and to perpetuate colonialism and the white man's ex­ decisively - according to that judgment. " There seems to ploitation in Asia. " be no place, or time, for public discussion. The Great Today, in violation of the rights of national self-de­ Society is founded on the Divine Right of Presidents. termination as stated in the UN Charter, he tells us it is not only right but mandatory that we send these same Gl's It is clear that the American people have had no voice into the same mud and muck on a mission he previously in determining recent US foreign policy. This state of af­ called the "perpetuation of colonialism and white man's fairs is typical of a serious break down of democracy exploitation". which is increasingly pervading American society: public The military actions of the Johnson administration not officials make decisions without consulting the people who only violate the UN Charter, they are also in direct contra­ are most affected. Moreover, these people have no way diction to the hemispheric treaties to which the US is a of protesting the decisions through democratic institutions. prominent signatory. The sending of 10, 000 marines to A glaring example is the denial of voting rights to Southern Santo Domingo, justified by the pious declaration that Negroes by officials whom the Negroes cannot influence, "where Americans go, the flag goes with them to protect because they cannot vote. them", accompanied by big stick oratory that says "the When people are faced with a situation where theyhave fairest vision on which these eyes ever looked was the no institutional means of controlling the governmental de­ flag of my country in a foreign land", clearly conflicts cisions that affect their lives, the only alternative to silent with tie key article of the OAS charter. This article acquiescence is direct action in protest. Hence the Boston maintains that: tea party and the Selma march; hence our protest against "the territory of a state is inviolable; it may not be Johnson. the object, even temporarily, of military occupation We submit that President Johnson has acted precisely or of other measures of force taken by another state, contrary to democratic principles in regard to Vietnam directly or indirectly under any grounds whatever. " and the Dominican Republic. His foreign policy may repre­ In light of the above, we submit that President John­ sent the desires of the CIA, or perhaps the consensus in son's foreign policy is a clear and present danger to the the Pentagon, but it cannot be said to represent the demo­ United Nations. cratically determined will of the American people. Not only are Johnson's policies in contempt of the UN, but his justifications for them hold truth in contempt as well. For example: Geneva Declaration (i) He informs us that his administration is in favor of free elections in South Vietnam, but in fact the US has Continued from Page 2 refused to abide by the 1954 Geneva agreements which 10. The Conference takes note of the declaration of the called for free elections within two years. The hypocrisy Government of the French Republic to the effect that it is behind his rhetoric was laid bare when a spokesman for ready to withdraw its troops from the territory of Cambodia, LBJ declared that elections couldn't be held as it was clear Laos and Viet-Nam, at the request of the governments con­ that the communists would win. cerned and within periods which shall be fixed by agree­ (ii) President Johnson claims that he is willing to ne­ ment between the two parties, a certain number of French gotiate the Vietnam conflict unconditionally, but in fact troops shall remain at specified points and fora specified he refuses to negotiate with the major political force in time. South Vietnam, the Viet Cong, which controls 80% of the 11. The Conference takes note of the declaration of the country. And he sets as a condition the independence of French Government to the effect that for the settlement South Vietnam, which again is contrary to the Geneva of the problems connected with the reestablishment and agreements. consolidation of peace in Cambodia, Laos and Viet-Nam, (iii) The White Paper, an official document of the the French Government will proceed from the principle of Johnson administration, informs us that "incontrover­ respect for the independence and sovereignty, unity and tible evidence of Hanoi's elaborate program to supply its territorial integrity of Cambodia, Laos and Viet-Nam. forces in the South with weapons, ammunition and other 12. In their relations with Cambodia, Laos and Viet- supplies has accumulated over the years". But the evi­ Nam, each member of the Geneva Conference undertakes dence presented in this document turns out to consist of to respect the sovereignty, the independence, the unity and a little less than 2% of the weapons captured from the the territorial integrity of the above-mentioned states, and Viet Cong. to refrain from any interference in their internal affairs. 13. The members of the Conference agree to consult LBJ Versus American Democracy one another on any question which may be referred to them by the International Supervisory Commission, in order to Although Johnson was elected president by a large study such measures as may prove necessary to ensure majority, his foreign policy cannot be said to carry out that the agreements on the cessation of hostilities in the will of the American people, for the following reasons: Cambodia, Laos, and Viet-Nam are respected. 76- Vietnam Day Committee News VOL.1 NO. 2 JULY «AUGUST 1965 In Fe bruary, President Johnson told an audience of American stude:nt s that he "would like to see them develop as much fanati- cism about the U.S. political system as young nazis did about the system during the war. " (N. Y. Times, Feb.. 6) I "People ask me who my heroes are. I have only one--Hitler. I admire Hitler because he pulled his country together when it was I in a terrible state in the early 30's. But the situation here is so desperate npw that one man would not be enough. We need four or j five Hitlers in Vietnam." (Premier Nguyen Cao Ky, London Sunday Mirror, July 4) October 15,16— Days of International Protest Vietnam, like Mississippi, is not an aberration—it is a Civil disobedience will strike at the invisibility of evil in mirror of America. Vietnam IS American foreign policy; it is this war. Years of indoctrination about Communism have only that in Peru, Bolivia and South Africa the revolutionary enabled Americans to read: "1000 Vietnamese die," and feel movement has not yet progressed to the point where napalm. not a pang of remorse. The Chinese, North Vietnamese and and Marines are necessary. Vietnam reduces to absurdity Vietcong are not people. (The Russians are gradually becom­ the fifth grade civics book stuff about USA democracy and ing people. ) Hardly an atrocity in Vietnam will break Ameri­ morality and lays bare the reality: a white nation bombing a cans out of this complacency. Unlike the civil rights struggle, colored peoples; a Christian country bombing a non-Christ­ there is no group in America which suffers directly from the ian country; a rich, highly developed nation laying waste the Vietnam war. Thus, the need for collective moral action by resources of an underdeveloped land. those who feel the war most deeply is underscored. Vietnam lays bare the violence beneath the smiles and in If on October 16 in Berkeley, for example, thousands of formality of American life. It exposes in raw form the ea^e students and others block the gates of the Oakland Army with which humans can harm one another in the name of God, Terminal where munitions are shipped to Vietnam, and are country, democracy and--even worse-- in the service of arrested, attention will be focused dramatically on the "clean", automated, hierarchical bureacracies. issues in Vietnam to an extent that no atrocity in Vietnam Vietnam gives us every reason to look at ourselves and can match. The issue will be opened. Scenes of thousands of our neighbors and say: "We are accomplices in murder." middle-class youth being carried away by military police Vietnam is the Guernica, the Rotterdam and the Lidice of will be in every American living room. Controversy about the 1960's. Johnson to most of the world recalls Hitler, in­ these demonstrations will go on in churches and in pool voking "national honor" and anti-communism to rationalize rooms. People who would be with us if it were not for their mass murder. We, the American people, the lawyers, the reluctance to take a stand will be put on the spot. We will truck drivers, the engineers, the secretaries, are the be in a better position to take the discussion about the war people whose guilt will be the subjects of philosophy tracts from the campus and into the community. on "responsibility" to be written by African philosophers in Massive civil disobedience on Vietnam will dramatize the year 2000. Can we say, We did not know. . . ? the issue throughout the country, express our personal re­ Many of us do know. We know that the Pentagon and the jection of the war machine, and expose the inability of State Department are prepared to bomb China. traditional American institutions to cope with dissent. We know that thousands of American young men are The Vietnam Day Committee, Berkeley, California, is being lied to and shipped to Vietnam to serve as cannon fod­ the "new" peace movement developing throughout the country der at the hands of Vietnamese people fighting for their Many of its activists were formerly involved in civil rights homes. . and campus struggles. The enemy--undemocratic power-- We know that the single-minded Communist demon as the and the issue--lack of representation--remain the same, be State Department describes Him does not exist. it Vietnam, Selma, or the University of California. We know--and this knowledge defines our lives for us. The general strategy of the Vietnam Day Committee is We must go into the suburbs, small towns and ghettos of primarily to mobilize as many of those people now opposed this country-to talk with the American people about Vietnam. to Johnson as possible, rather than to attempt to rationally We must force people to commit themselves on this issue. change the minds of those supporting Johnson, although of Where there is no talk, we must induce debate; where there course we are trying that too. Highly- coordinated, highly- is debate, we must induce protest. At the risk of being publicized action will make people feel that they are not called traitors, we must question injustice. alone in speaking out. An active minority of 1, 000, 000 The next step for us must be massive civil disobedience. people marching on Washington or 100,000 in coordinated We must say to Johnson Inc. : '"If you want to go on killing civil disobedience would likely be sufficient to stop the war. Vietnamese, you must jail Americans." We must bring Militant direct action must be so massive and publicized back to America the spirit of the imprisoned Thoreau who that everyone will be speaking of Vietnam protests, and bow asked Emerson: "What are you doing out the^e? " We will best to end the war, at every mealtime. Many opposing invoke a law higher than that of the state, as the USA and Johnson's policy will attack us saying they agree with our its allies did at the Nuremburg Trials: when the state acts goals, but not our methods. They will then be put on the immoraly, it is the duty of the individual to refuse partici­ spot to show how their type of protest can be effective. pation in its immorality. Our trial must be a political Two examples make this clear. First, the faculty at the trial. We must go to jail as political prisoners, not as University of California always agreed in general with the "trespassers" or "disturbers of the peace. " We must de- goals of the Free Speech Movement. Not until after the fam­ emphasize legal niceties and stress moral imperatives. In ous sit-in did they speak out, however. Second, after the our trial it must be Johnson and McNamara who stand as "circus", "unbalanced" protest at Berkeley on Vietnam Day, the defendants. a conservative faculty group was motivated to organize a Uur massive civil disobedience aimed at blocking the debate on Vietnam with William Bundy--the first foreign USA war machine will send shock waves from Maine to Cali­ policy involvment of such a group. fornia, and from the U.S. to all parts of the world. The Vietnam Day Committee has called October 15 and 16 There is no other choice. International Days of Protest Against American Intervention. Civil disobedience is justified and necessary not only on On those days we will be co-organizing with the Students moral grounds, but also on political grounds. for a Democratic Society massive protests emphasizing There is now no organized opposition to the war in Viet­ some form of civil disobedience against the war. That form nam. Because of the country's political party structure, will be decided by the participants in the weeks before Oct. elections do not offer us any opportunity to say "no" to the 15-16 in workshops, discussion groups. war. The press is controlled, and feeds on war news. Demonstrations in other countries throughout the world Congress refuses to discuss the issue. Although opinion seem likely to take place on these dates. We are asking polls indicate that one-quarter of the people in the U.S. op­ that the protest movement everywhere be completely mobi­ pose the war, there are no outlets through which this oppo­ lized for action on October 15-16. sition can be expressed. Jerry Rubin When a country's institutions stifle its thought and poison Prof. Stephen S ma le its moral health, civil disobedience is the only recourse of Rar bar a Gullahorn the citizen. RUSSIAN REACTIONS The brutal truth is that, so long as we are not afraid Escalation... that somebody will bomb us, the bulk of the American people will not move on Vietnam, except if and when the casualty rate among ground troops moves up tp Korean magnitudes, or about 100 times their present level. The Informed sources say that McNamara is considering Vietnamese can't bomb San Francisco. The Chinese cant "expansion of military operations into, neighboring Laos yet, or if they can, you can't convince the American to seal off the Ho Chi Minh Trail. . . " people of it, which amounts to the same thing. But the (Oakland Tribune, July 16) Russians can. Everybody knows that. Therefore, if the Russians can not be counted on to stay out, Johnson's policy is suicidal for our whole people. And so Johnson It has been reported in Time (July 23) that "By the end just refuses to let you think about this, as Hitler refused of this year, the U.S. will almost certainly have nearly to entertain the possibility of having to fight a two-front 200, 000 men in Vietnam, and if the Communists insist on war. stepping up their own effort" (translation: if N.L.F. adds . . . (the following statement was made by Marshal troops to offset the 5 to 1 ratio that the U.S. insists upon), Vasily Chuikov to the Soviet APN News Agency:) "the U. S. troop total may well come to 400, 000 by next "Civil defense organizations have now been set up in summer" (the maximum U.S. force in the Korean War). all enterprises in the Soviet Union, in industrial centers, Towns and rural localities. Their main purpose is to train the population for defense against mass-strike weapons. Today the civil defense subdivisions and units There may be worse in the offing: bombing of the North are strongpoints in the task of protecting the population Vietnamese dikes. . . Bombing the dikes has been discussed from penetrating radiation and other effects of thermo- several times in the French press but has been blacked out nuclear weapons. Around these strongpoints, mass of the American. , . In its July 6 issue (Le Monde) carries an formations of the civilian population are being set up article by the famous agricultural expert, René Dumont, which are preparing for active work in the event of describing the enormous effort put into the irrigation sys­ nuclear war. tem to meet the needs of overpopulated North Vietnam. The . . . On June 22nd Pravda had a front-page editorial (it most tempting moment for our military, especially if they reaches 7, 000, 000 people) of which the following are ex­ meet serious defeats in the South during the summer, will cerpts: "Pravda's mail daily brings it many letters in come at the end of the rainy season in August, when the which Soviet people share their recollections of the rig­ waters are at their height. Blowing up the great dikes to the orous days of World War II, and tell of the feats of valor North of Hanoi would be comparable to an H-bomb in its e"f> of their fellow fighting men at the front and in the rear oi feet, flooding the entire delta region, wiping out the summer the enemy. . . The heroism of the defenders of our home­ rice crop and drowning from two to three million people. land at the fronts of World War II is an inspiring example (emph. ours) (I.F. Stone's Weekly, July 12) for new generations of Soviet people. . . recently tens of thousands of participants in the battles with the Hitler­ ites were decorated with orders and medals. . .At present, on the appeal of the Central Committee of the Young Com­ The Administration has even disclosed contingency plans munist League, our young communists and Soviet Youth in the event that its escalation forces a nuclear war. These are organizing a USSR-wide walk along the roads of mili­ would freeze all wages, prices and rents, close stock and tary glory. Thousands of squads of young men and women commodity exchanges; halt retail sales of gasoline and non- will pass through the sites of battles, will learn much perishable foods; print ration cards; open 100 secret govern­ that is new about the glorious fighting deeds of their ment emergency centers in the six states surrounding Wash­ fathers and mothers, older brothers and sisters; they ington and order plants to implement stand-by munitions will sense the breath of the war years. . .Literature on contracts. Even the caloric intake level for the surviving people who covered themselves with glory in battle is of population has been established: 2, 000 to 3, 000 a day. great value in character-building. . . It is clear that this (National Guardian, July 17) useful work must be continued. . ." (William Mandel, "Russia and Vietnam", Spider, July, 1965; emphasis in the last paragraph is the author's. ) ...and Some of its Consequences

President Johnson's new commitment in Vietnam has prompted a reassessment among congressional liberals who have been raising dissenting voices. Their view, in essence, is this: . That the decision for further build-up will curb the dialogue. Said one senator, who feels that congres­ sional discussion os imperative if alternative courses of action are to be explored: "But now that we are more deeply committed, I will be more hesitant about raising questions. I've talked to several other senators who have led the dissent--and they, too, feel that the dialogue has "DIGGING IN' been greatly impaired. " (Christian Science Monitor, July 17)

The Federal Budget Director said yesterday that Vietnam developments have upset Administration plans to finance rising costs of what President Johnson calls the Great Society by cutting spending for other Federal programs. (S. F. Chronicle, July 23) Pravda

(In a talk with Averell Harriman early this month, Soviet Ambassador) Dobrynin explained that just as the "The American armaments have not restrained, much less U.S. is pledged to go to war to support our allies, so driven back by one millimeter, the progress of communism from Russia is pledged to go to war to support its allies. which the U. S. pretends to preserve the people of South Vietnam He made it clear that one of these allies is China and and Laos. On the contrary, the Americans have succeeded in that, even though Moscow and Peking have not been get­ attaining what the Socialist powers themselves would have difficulty ting along well, Moscow would be obligated to go to war in doing: to know how in a few years to cast most of the population to defend China if the United States engaged in a nuclear of South Vietnam and Laos into the arms of communism, whereas attack. The Ambassador didn't say so, but it seemed the normal conditions of life of the inhabitants of the prosperous clear that he had in mind the published reports that the Cochinchine and the religious and monarchistic convictions of the Air Force high command wants to bomb the Chinese Laotians were scarcely predisposed to Marxism." nuclear installations to prevent, or at least retard, the (Prince Sihanouk of Cambodia, in Robert Scheer, "A View from development of China as an atomic power. Pnom Penh," Ramparts, July, 1965) (Drew Pearson, in the S. F. Chronicle, July 22) Who's RunningThis Show, Any way? Who a re "The Free People of 1 According to Averell Harriman, in his discussion with Russian Premier Alexei Kosygin, the settlement of the war in Vietnam will South Vietnam' ? have to be reached by the Vietnamese, not by Russia or America. With the eighth or ninth coup since Diem, the gene­ This, however does not seem to be the policy of the United States, rals have again taken power. They are administering, a which has given itself the prerogative of negotiating with "approp­ not free country, but a despotism. There isn't a riate" parties (excluding the NLF) while maintaining that it is mere­ scrap of self-government visible in Saigon. So Wed­ ly supplying assistance to a sovereign nation that has requested it. nesday the National Leadership Committee, the ten- The two roles are, of course, contradictory. man military junta, issued some decrees. In his July 12th press conference, Adlai Stevenson spoke of fears They decreed that Viet Cong terrorists, corrupt that the Saigon government might negotiate directly with the NLF officials, speculators and black marketeers will be without the approval of the United States. Previously a United shot without trial if there is "tangible" proof of States spokesman stated that in the case that the Saigon govern­ guilt. The generals are building sandbag backstops ment fell, the premise that U. S. troops would stay only as long as for public shootings by firing squads, and the Saigon- ese pause and gaze /r) „ ., c Tr. the Saigon government wanted them to stay might have to be "re­ r & evaluated. " (Royce Brier m the S.F. ~~ And, in a filmed television program, Senator John Stennis,(D. ,. Chronicle, June 21) Miss. ), acting chairman of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, Premier Nguyen Cao Ky's military government sought .stated that he saw the possibility that the United States "literally yesterday to strengthen the South Vietnamese war effort take over great areas of that country--the civil government as well through an order of death for profiteers. as the military operations--(emph. ours) and run it more or less Execution was prescribed. . .for persons convicted of on our own, not for conquest, but for victory. Now that's a serious manipulating prices, illegally hoarding goods, or spread­ step, of course. It would be misunderstood in other parts of the ing false rumors to create economic confusion. world, perhaps, but, frankly, I think that's the only way we'll Penalties of imprisonment or death were ordered for a ever win.' (KPFA News, July 9) wide variety of other offenses, ranging from graft and un­ authorized traffic in gold to "professing sympathy for com­ munism or neutralism." (emph. ours) ...and WHY? (S.F. Chronicle, July 24) Our President knows exactly what he is doing, the argu­ ment goes. If we do not understand certain policies, it is because he has more intelligence (in the C.I. A. sense) than we; if we appear to be on the brink of a very large war in Asia, it is because we, as mere citizens, just aren't aware of the situation. The following excerpt from Johnson's July 14 press con­ ference should help to dispel this reassuring myth: Q. Mr. President, what do you think, in your judgment, are the chances at this time of a broadened and mainly a land war in Asia? A. I don't think that anyone can prophesy what will hap­ pen from day to day or week to week or month to month. I think that it's well for us to remember. . . (the pledges made by Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson himself). Our national honor is at stake; our word is at stake. And it must be obvious to all Americans that they would Who^are the NLF? not want the President of their country to follow any coYirse that was inconsistent with our commitments or The Saigon authorities, at the time of the Diem re­ with our national honor. (N. Y. Times, July 14) gime, made a serious mistake in systematically purg­ ing all those who fought for the Vietminh before 1954. Most of them were peasants, and their families were solidly behind them. The bulk of the NLF today is made In a recent White House off-the-record briefing for mem­ up of relatives of the victims of the Diem repression. bers of The President's Club, whose members contribute (Georges Chaffard, "Inside Vietcong Territory," $1, 000 or more to the Democratic Party, the promise was Viet Report, July, 1965) made the Johnson administration will push to win the South Vietnam war. That's why various corporations are set to The following was told by the Secretary-General of start operating there to get in on the ground floor to par­ the NLF, Huynh Tan Phat, to Georges Chaffard in the ticipate in a South Vietnam post-war industrial boom. article cited above: (NANA, Fremont Times, July 7) "We will continue to fight as long as we have to, not to establish communism, but to build a government that The following, paraphrased in part, is taken from will fulfill the aspirations of the great majority of our "Business and Lists in South Vietnam, " Business Week, countrymen, that is to say, a government which is neu­ July 12: tral and democratic. "Probably few countries in the world today look less "Our first task will be to rebuild the economy of attractive to investors than war-torn South Vietnam, But South Vietnam. For that we are going to need the co­ a surprising amount of activity is going on there. " 100 operation of our national bourgeoisie and capitalist million dol-lars has been invested in the past five years. class; a neutral regime will reassure them. But we "If President Johnson. . .has his way, more and more are also going to need foreign economic aid and for­ U.S. companies will participate." Standard Oil Co. of eign investments. We are sure to get aid from the soc­ New Jersey, Coltex, and Shell Oil Company are now ne­ ialist countries, but to get aid from the Western coun­ gotiating with the Vietnamese government to set up a tries, especially investments, we will have to follow a jointly owned 19 million dollar refinery. The companies policy of neutrality. We know the capitalists. They have distribution operations in Vietnam which they have will want guarantees. We are realists. Even U.S. aid been expanding to meet military needs. Morgan Guaran­ will be welcome if she decides to respect our indepen­ tee Trust Company is expected to participate in the fi­ dence. nancing if the deal goes through. . . . "To be sure, many of us in the NLF have ideo­ Johnson & Johnson Inc. is doubling the capacity of a logical preferences. But as long as the specific objective textile plant, Parsons and Whittemore is doubling the conditions which I have just enumerated for you continue capacity of a paper mill. Other American firms involv­ to exist, we shall be obliged to observe neutrality. How ed are Foremost Dairies, Allis-Chalmers, and Inter­ long will that last? Ten years? Fifteen? More, perhaps. national Harvester. These are major names in Amer­ Who can fortell the future.? We favor the idea of a neu­ ican industry. tral bloc with Laos and Cambodia. The U.S. Agency for International Development . . . "We will not approach the problem of reunifi­ (A. I. D. ) provides the dollars to pay for imported equip­ cation for a very long time. One can even foresee that ment (which in turn, of course, come from U. S. tax­ as the economic and political structure which we will payers). A.I.D. guarantees U.S. investors "against the establish in South Vietnam develops, it will differ more risk of loss through war, revolution, civil unrest, ex­ and more from that of the North. That will delay re­ propriation, or currency inconvertability." unification. . . When the time comes, negotiations for "Last, but not least, profits are fast. . .from 20 to 30 reunification will take place on a basis precluding annex­ percent a year. " ation of one zone by the other." Community Project Other VDC Activities Research Project on the University and the Cold War -- Many of us started with the vague notion that in addition A research committee is currently engaged in investigat- to the student protest movement, we must help develop a ing every aspect of University involvment in the Cold War community based protest movement. This means going out from scientific research to political indoctrination. Those into the area beyond the University, knocking on doors, and with research interests or personal experience are invited talking to people at some length--finding out what they know to participate. A sixty-page pamphlet must be ready for the about the war in Vietnam, supplying information, discussing opening of school. ways of expressing opposition. Primarily, we are interest­ Book -- A 160 page book is now being prepared for publication ed in seeing people become actively involved in their own based on the speeches delivered at Vietnam Day, May 21-22. political lives. As part of the door-to-door work, we have Translation into foreign languages, and international distri­ been circulating a petition. About one-third of the people bution are being planned. contacted have signed the petition and an additional one third are interested in seeing us again and becoming better in­ Movie -- An avant-garde political documentary, 35 minutes formed. in length, has been prepared and soon will be ready for inter­ Of this two-thirds, most of the people are interested in national distribution. Those with knowledge of movie distri­ attending meetings in their own neighborhoods. We have bution, etc. , or who have contacts with interested groups are started on this program and the meetings have been quite urgently needed. successful. For example, one group of people is now organ­ International Secretariat -- To coordinate the world-wide re- izing a larger gathering at which they plan to have speakers sistance to American actions, an International Secretariat has and entertainers. We have been discussing the August 21st been established. It aims to ensure that the action on'the 16th community meeting with everyone we contact and a great of October will occur on a world-wide scale. Foreign students, deal of enthusiasm is generated by this idea: over and over professors who have studied abroad, and all others having again we have been told that a major problem in a city like contact with peace and student groups throughout the world Oakland is that people don't talk to each other enough, and are needed to expand our contacts, write letters, answer that the community meeting provides an opportunity for correspondence, etc. Linguists are especially needed for people to become less isolated. translating. One of the most exciting aspects of this work is finding out that, contrary to prior opinion, it is possible to arouse Speakers Bureau --A Speakers Bureau has been organized to those outside of the academic community about the issue of disseminate information on Vietnam to churches, civic groups, Vietnam as a symptom of fundamental defects in our soci­ labor unions, clubs, etc., throughout the Bay Area. Huge ety. In fact, it may be easier to get to the fundamental prob­ numbers of speakers will be required in the fall, but they must lems with Vietnam as the immediate issue. start becoming informed on the issues now. The speakers I myself have been working in an area in West Oakland project requires researchers, speech-writers, lawyers, which is predominantly Negro middle class. I was talking to demagogues, preachers and rabble-rousers; to lecture and a young man recently who is in the Air Force and after dis­ hold community meetings, street meetings, etc. cussing Vietnam for a while, he asked me how many Negro Newspaper -- This paper is in need of people to work on its generals there were. I said I didn't know and he told me staff. All those who can write, type, do layout, etc. , are there was only one. Then, referring to Vietnam and racial welcomed. discrimination, he said, "It's all the same, isn't it?" A Play --Directed by Nina Serrano Landau, is being spon­ And there are a number of other such experiences which sored and produced by VDC. It deals with the joys and not only are personally moving, but also indicate people's travails of running an empire--and living in it. readiness to join together in opposing the Administration's Artists, dancers, actors, make-up people, musicians policy in Vietnam. are invited to participate. As is to be expected, those who are not sympathetic to our point of view have swallowed the government line and Art -- A group of artists are needed to work with the VDC. often are even resistant to accepting literature from us. Artists and letterers of all shapes, sizes and schools are We feel a great sense of urgency as the war escalates invited to contribute their talents for poster-making, money every day, and we need a great deal of help. Based on our raising, etc. Prop-art (sic) welcomed. talks with people and the results of circulating the petit­ If you would like to work on any of these projects, come ion, there are thousands in the Bay Area who have the potent­ to our new office at 2407 Fulton St. , or call us at 549-0811, ial for being mobilized. 549-0812, or 845-6637. Every Saturday morning we are setting up co-ordination centers in the area which is to be canvassed that day, and VDC STATEMENT OF POLICY holding workshops later on in the afternoon. However, people are encouraged to go door-to-door anytime and can "The Vietnam Day Committee is a group of students, faculty obtain information at the Vietnam Day Committee office. and other members of the Bay Area community opposed to American intervention in Vietnam, the Dominican Republic --Marilyn Milligan and wherever else it may occur. Revolutionary struggles for self-determination are sweeping the world today. American suppression of these movements, we believe, is immoral, and a threat to the peace of the world. The Vietnam Day Community Protest Meeting Committee is organizing nonviolent direct actions, teach-ins, Vietnam Hay Committee, Citizens Committee of Corre­ door-to-door organizing and other educational activities to spondence and many other groups from the Bay Area are oppose American intervention. We believe that the struggle sponsoring an all-day Community Meeting for free discus­ for self-determination in other continents is related to the sion on Peace, Poverty and Racial Discrimination on Sat­ struggle for democracy in A'merica--a democracy in which urday, August 21 at Merrit Park (the bandstand area in Oak- the people have the facts and the power to make decisions land*. for themselves. The struggles in America against racism, Group discussions will be held on racial discrimination, poverty and bureaucratic conformity are part of the same unemployment, slums, war and the shortcomings of the movement as the struggle against American militarism. We democratic process in America, after which we will march •must build a New America, and join with those peoples in to the office of our Congressman, Teffery Cohelan to pre­ Asia, Africa and Latin America .building a New World." sent our conclusions. Other items on the agenda will be a keynote speaker and a presentation by the S.F. Mime Join the Vietnam Day Committee: only 2 5£ makes you Troupe. a card-carrying member! We need help to plan this meeting. Churches, labor NEW OFFICE unions, and civic groups are urged to send a member to the planning sessions held at 2407 Fulton Street, Berkeley, at The Vietnam Day Committee has found new and larger 7:30 p.m. every We dnesday. office space at 2407 Fulton Street. We have five spacious rooms- in which to expand our present projects and begin working on many more. You'll find our doors open from FUNDS URGENTLY NEEDED 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., so please visit us, whether it be to sit To continue its work with this newspaper, direct around and drink beer or to give us your help. action, and other activities, the VDC urgently needs your financial help. Your contribution, however large or small, will help us mount antij-war activity. The Vietnam Day Committee News is published by the 'Enclosed is my contribution to help finance the VDC's Vietnam Day Committee, 2407 Fulton St., Berkeley, Calif • (anti-war activity: $ ornia (549-0811) (549-0812) (845-6637). [Name Editor: Claudia Geliert .Address Associate Editor: David Rosen ' Make checks payable to: Vietnam Day Committee. Send^ |to Profg-Ssor^Sniale, Bpx^^Ol^ Berkeley, ^alifornia,_ |

KW»" J*®NEWS§3S4 41x5 Vol.1 No. 3 • Angus* 1965 STORY OF THE TROOP TRAINS: "KEEP IT UP- I DON'T WANT TO GO ty Santa Fe, used a bullhorn to notify backs in. using only three American by Larry Loughlin arrested those who stood in the path of the train? Would they have gone the demonstrators they were on bataliions against one Viet Cong A troop train is not merely a train, limp; and what would have happened private property. " The country guerilla batallion. He stated that it is a symbol; an extension of the if they had? It seems clear that the stands on the brink of Armageddon we would probably "get our nose police knew the train wasn't going and Mr. Henrich wanted us_to ack­ bloodied. " How beautifully the eup- war machine. Monolithic, dumb, 1 mechanistic; a juggernaut set loose to stop. The engineer, obviously nowledge private property-insanity. phemismkeeps Wheelerfrom expre­ and seeming to travel of its own had his orders, and the police knew The above two examples don't quite ssing what actually happens - - how volition. All the conversation sur­ this. But why was it so important catch the stvle though. It is these perfectlv it deadens the imagination. The first demonstration saw 150 rounding the train's prowess after to them that the train not stop? next that point to the country's il­ picketers at the tracks. A soldier the August 5th demonstration in Certainly in stopping one train or lness: on the third train had pasted a sign Berkeley points to this fact: "it takes many trains, one dosen't stop a Berkeley City Councilman De Bonis on the window which read: "Keep ix. 200 feet to stop a train, " says one . war. The act is symbolic and its was reported in the Oakland Tribune "No, it takes 50 feet," says another. purpose is to arrest the imagina­ A 4- ii*v. „.. »-,,^„„ "TViovi up. I don't want to go. " The fourth The implication is always that the tion, of those concerned with blindly on August 13th as saying. itiey demonstratio^ n saw a thousand pick­ train has a will of its own. If the getting the train through. If the playerow. "d fouHerr egame we s arane d alost last fout irn inth ae eters. There were some signs held train is capable of acting indepen­ train had been stopped, there would heat of madness. The image of a by the picketers that could have been dently then on whrfm does one affix have been direct confrontation with baseball game - our national sport - less antagonistic, but as a drowning guilt if death or iniurv occurs? The the troops. By this I don't imply our perennial high school minds swimmer gasps and beats the water, engineer ? I watched him on the violence. I mean that they would (C'mon you kid. Chuck that train, perfect style can't be his first con­ first train. He was a P. R. man's have had to stare at us. They, those mangled bones, those cells cern. 1 dream: long, lean face, strong jaw, would have seen women with child­ that napalm kid. C'mon you babe . ) More of us must act, must become shades; "Duke" Wayne of the Santa ren carrying signs. They would It is seen as a game. And General involved; Yeats lines must make us Fe carrying home the bacon -- have seen more than the Oakland Wheeler on a television show Monday act: America. Casey Jones at the but­ Tribune discription of August 7th: night, August 16th. the second in a "The best lack all conviction, while series of ^-> r attempting to sell the ton^ And if Casey Jones hits the "The anti-war set -- some of them U the worst button and the train plows through barefoot, some of them bearded Viet Nam war to the American peo­ ple was trying to explain the draw- Are full of passionate intensity. " twelve human beings, who is to all of them determined". blame ?

In retrospect , certain questions It is the style of retort that is most ///£tor/c&/ ^Co/nc/cfencG* P depressing in all this though. Mr. arise and in answering these quest­ "We see in Communism more now than before the incarnation of human ions one sees a horrible logic take Roman, an army spokesman, quoted in the Berkeley Oazette of shape. When the plain-clothes men Communism, wherever it may take place. . . . We shall always and every­ from thf Berkeley Police Depart­ August 6th as saying, "We will be meeting to explore every possible where champion peace and freedom against aggression." ment stepped forth at the first train picket and demanded that those manner of dealing with this non­ standing in the tracks "break up this sense." The important word is ". .. .It is victory or defeat. .. .We will never retreat, .No human power unlawful assembly", did he intend nonsense. The Oakland Trihimp can force us to do so.... But we seek no wider war. " to enforce this request with arrests? of August 7th in describing the sec-r ond No. Adolf Hitler in speeches what would have happened if he had demonstration said, "Paul Lyndon Johnson on American foreign policy? Genrich, chief special agent for the j of February, 1938 and November, 1939. Defendants Committee ASSEMBLY FOR UNREPRESENTED PEOPLES Plans for Oct 15 W6 The Defendants' committee is and Oakland to the Oakland Army made up of Bay Area students, fa­ Terminal, with civil disobedience by some of the marchers at areas culty and citizens who are thinking NCCEWly newsletter in whicVh group s will around the Army Terminal which by Jerry Rubin about committing civil disobedience exchange ideas and experiences. to protest U.S. intervention in Viet­ would completely cut off both the At the Asseambly for Unrepresen­ Army Terminal and the Naval Sup­ Over Thanksgiving there will be a nam on October 15-16. The function ted Peoples in Washington during national convention in Madison. of the committee is to plan, the action ply Base. This plan has not yet the weekend of August 6-9, activists been, completely discussed with the The creation of this national co­ and to prepare for the prospective in Vietnam work throughout the coun­ ordinating body is the beginning ol defendants' "political defense" in entire Defendants' Committee, and try held a special two-day workshop a vote of the VDC as a whole as the coalescing of the "new" peace and out of the courts. to discuss their programs and the movement which derives much of its The Defendants' Committee has well as the defendants would be ne­ lack of national coordination. cessary before it is adopted. energy from the campus, and its four subgroups, which are research­ Out of the discussions came a new tactics and goals from the civil rights The Publicity Committee has put ing specific problems: A Strategic national coordination body, the Na­ movement. The activists in Wash­ out buttons and bumper stickers to Research Organization (SRO); Legal tional Coordination Committee to ington agreed that Vietnam was an advertise the International Days of Research Committee; Ideology Com­ End the War in Vietnam, with 28 illustration of American foreign pol­ Protest, andis planning a Documen­ mittee; and a Publicity Committee. groups an the founding committee, icy, not a mere mistake, and that tary Tape on the VDC which will be These groups meet at Tz p.m. every and a central office on. Madison, Wis­ Americanforeignpolicy flowed from available to radio stations all over Sunday at the VDC headquarters to consin. the structure of American societv the country. discuss their individual projects, The NCCEWV set as its first ac-r itself. The idea of the Defendants Com­ and then meet at a general Defen­ tion. the weekend of October 15-16. mittee and the International Days of The new national organization dants' meeting at 3p.m. Groups throughout the country will Protest has gained wide acceptance gives local chapters a focus, and The SRO has considered various be in motion on these dates, with all over the country, and various unites previously isolated and disor­ plans of action for October 16, the Congresses of Unrepresented groups are planning mass action on ganized individuals and groups. ranging from a march down Market Peoples on Oct. 15 and demonstra­ October 15-16 in conjunction with Most Deople felt that it was the most street to the total obstruction of an tions, including civil disobedience in groups in many other countries. It hopeful development that came out army base. It presently considers many places on.Oct-.T6. The original is hoped that by the time October 16 of the Washington Summer Action call for national action on these dates the following plan: a teach-in on comes around there will be actions Project. October 15 on. the UC campus and planned all over the world in one had been issued by the Vietnam Day The address of the national office continuation of the teach-in. (teach- huge effort to dramatize the extreme Committee in Berkeley last May. is c/o Frank Emspak, 1728 Van Hise out) during a march through Berkeley unpopularity of the war in Vietnam. The NCCEWV will publish a week­ avenue, Madison, Wisconsin. DEFENDANTS COMMITTEE The Morality of Defendants Discuss Civil Disobedience Legal Problems by Andy Kukla Neal Blumenfeld to prevent it. Certainproblems seem (The following is a statementfrom the ideology committeeof the de­ irremediable the failure ofthe fendants' group.) courts to allow political statements To equate "good" with "law-abiding," independent of any circumstances, Considerations of legal defense in (or, if on occasion they are made, is to preach a doctrine fit only for robots, for insensible things who have possible mass arrests raise many as in the FSM bail appeal, the failure despaired of the functioning of their conscience. It is this "doctrine" questions, most of which are im­ of the media to report them). Law­ which constituted the "defense" of the Nazis at the Nuremberg trials, and possible to settle in advance. We yers present a further problem to best conduct a political-legal de­ which was rightly rejected by all the world. For no man can assume the feel that the most practical step is tc burden of my moral judgement, no group of men not even theianajority fense, a whole battery of lawyers, raise the various possibilities for should be specially trained for the: of men. serious scrutiny during, and not occasion. This is a new area which after, the making of decisions as to is just opening up; and it is uncertain The laws and policies promulgated by any authority may be monstrous strategy in October. at this point whether such a group by the light of my conscience and I am a morally contemptible being in­ Much will depend upon the political can be ready by October 15. sofar as I ignore that light. If a law calls upon me to participate in sense­ decisions made by the authorities — There are other possibilities for less mass murder, I cannot be obligated to obey; I am in fact bound to ob­ and by the number of those involved struct it and undermine it to the best of my ability, as long as I do not in a defense standing mute, asking in the potential civil disobedienci the process commit a greater wrong titan the one I am combatting. for public defenders; these would although to forestall arrests, it To you who ask me who I am to sit in judgement of right and wrong, to only be feasible if minor charges are seems to us likely that a relatively accept this law and reject that, I answer: I am, and you yourself are, the filed. Political acts can occur out­ huge number must be involved --•! center of a moral universe. I cannot abdicate the responsibility for my side the courtroom parallel mock; say 10,000). The possibilities range moral decisions to any higher tribunal, to be content cheerfully to comply trials, demonstrations, etc. these from mild to severe: no arrests to all dicta formulated by a preselected group. I must always weigh the are also subject to the vagaries of (dispersal), minor charges with light; undesirable consequence of disobeying a law, against the undesirable the media. 300 people got arrestedi penalties, minor charges with stiff consequence of obeying or aquiecing to the agency of possi­ at the Capitol in Washington, and it penalties (can range up to $K)00 and bly gross injustice. Of course I may judge wrongly, and thus act wrongly 1 year for each act), major charges thus far has caused only a minor stir. neither I nor any constituted authority on earth is infallible and this (conspiracy, criminal anarchy, anc The morale problems of a mass realization should cause me always to remain open to new facts and exper­ treason), either with the intent to trial are considerable despite wilct iences and points of view which may exhibit my error. But the fact that I harass via high, or even no bail, or enthusiasm during the Cadillac sit-I can be mistaken is not an excuse for inaction. The same is true, not only to seriously prosecute these charges. in and even afterward in jail, the of the decision whether or not to break a law, but of all moral confronta­ Other variables include the amount whole trial process seems to have tions I shall ever face. No man can ever do more or less than what of bail, (and whether it becomes drained, at least temporarily, the) he believes to be right. necessary to protest this through re­ vitality of the San Francisco civi] And when my government pursues an unjust course of action, or enforces maining in jail), when cases come to rights movement. an unjust law which is not directly open to my attack, I may have to dis­ trial, how long it lasts, and whethei The above considerations lead us, obey others of its laws laws which are in themselves not unjust, but defendants must be present through­ to view the whole trial process with! morally neutral, designed to safeguard only the comfort of the public or out a jaundiced eye, and to conclude that the convenience of officialdom, rather than, vital to the general welfare. the expected political value of civil For: W'e have learnedrhuch from the San. disobedience has to be carefully I cannot remain in. passive association, with the agents of moral Francisco ci vil rights and FSM weighed against the possible serious horror, lest my quiescence be taken as assent, as a mandate for its con­ trials; however, itisone thing to see consequences at any given time tinuation; what went wrong, and quite another Thus, we ieel that an a priori com­ and yet I may have no channels in my society by which to present my mitment to civil disobedience on a case to my fellowmen with the same frequent insistence, the same wide particular date is unwise, that it distribution as is available to the authorities and those who countenance should remain an. open question, to be them; judiciously considered along with and time may be of great moment; a grave injustice mass murder other strategies, and not a sine qua may be going on right now, so that I cannot be satisfied with patiently non that overshadow s all other going door-to-door to explain my position, but must commit a dramatic Our Warriors tactics. act, which will call immediate attention to what I have to say; which will galvanize into immediate action, those who agree with me but are afraid to act first, or afraid to act alone; and which will demonstrate to the authori­ Keep Marching Ever Onward ties the depth of my outrage and disgust. It is universally recognized that an authority may be so depraved that by Jim Glass out-and-out revolution is called for. It should be equally evident that as there are degrees of depravity, there are correspondingly appropriate Some few hundred years ago, men degrees of defiance and resistance which are morally imperative. mounted, with heavy, stiff armor, lances and swords; and under the leader carrying the banner of the Whither Dissent ? lion, they marched Eastwards. order to suppress dissent. And yet by Bob Coats , Their mission spoke of redemption, the impact of the War has hardly but brought death, preached salva - been felt by the American people. -tion but bequeathed devastation What will happen after the railroads On August 12th, the House of Rep- insisted on the faith but gave suf­ have been nationalized, price con­ esentatives passed a bill providing fering. In the guise of the "Word", r trols imposed, and rationing of to five years in prison and a they pronounced a sentence of agony up strategic materials organized. How $10,000 find for persons who burn long will it be before dissent is on all who stood in their paths. their draft cards. What could be equated with treason not only by more preposterous than a five year right - wing warhawks but by the Their charitable "humanity", their prison sentence "for burning a piece Justice Department? Do liberals of - a undaunted "righteouSmrSTr" became of.-paper.3-1/2. X. 2.1/4"? On its the_Wildavsky-Scalapino stamp who __a—religious excuse for slaughter; face this bill is absurd; in its imp­ -support the -Administration- really they made the ""infidels'" "into the lications it is'frightening. -believe that -free- expression -and— sovergein ally of an anti-Christ and A draft card or "Registration Cert­ -liberty- can- survive. irLa. -society . .. in . thatlname Ispu.rn.ed. "mercy and ificate" is, of course, more than "geared "for war?" laughed at the strange victims. 7.9 squre inches of paper; it is a Thoughtful Americans owe a debt of Their glory lay in the numbers of tangible symbol of the government's gratitude to those students who have dead and mutilated. And in the system of collecting cannonfodder. already burned their draft cards, wreckage they gave nothing, creat­ Its destruction is thus a symbolic for they have forced the government ed nothing . . . what was left could gesture of dissent and defiance aim­ to show its hand. I do not know be seen. in. the chaotic wake of their ed at conscription, and specifically what other young men are going to rampage. at Johnson's war in Vietnam. The do with their draft cards. I am penalty provided for this symbolic saving mine so that I can burn it Today,the American warriors com­ act indicates clearly the extent to publically on October 15 and send mit an. ancient crime. which the government will go in the ashes to President Johnson. VDC Community Project VIETNAM DAY COMMITTEE NEWS AUGUST Initiates Mew Programs by Marilyn Milligan /-//g/)G£{ 6y G$//c/p We are now convinced that there much more in sympathy with the Approximately 16% of the American firm and even increased slightly are a large number of people out­ protest in L. A. Another reason, population support the Administra­ since February 7 when the air war side of the academic community for the people's hesitation to join our tions war policy, whereas 23% favor was launched against North Vietnam who are willing, in one way or an­ actions may be the failure of pre­ an expanded war, 24% to 26% oppose and the ground war was sharpl} vious promises, especially those other, to express their opposition, U. S. involvement in Vietnam, and escalated. In similar crises in the made by white people, to become to the war in Vietnam. We have 33% "don't know" what the U.S. past, opposition has usually melted realities. been intensifying community work should do in Vietnam, according to away as GIs begin to engage in com­ primarily in two areas" (1) in Ber­ a review of monthly Gallup Polls bat and to die. We have been conferring with Dave keley, close to Berkeley high. based on a representative sample of Gilbert and Rich Wolfe from the This is an integrated neighborhood the adult (over 21) population. --It is perhaps significant that the New York Committee to end the War greatest number of Americans (33% which includes a fair proportion of in Vietnam. They have been very or 38 million) have become so students, (2) West Oakland around successful in New York at involving Several observations should be made confused by the public relations DeFremery Park. This neighbor­ non-academic people in. the protest in regard to these statistics: techniques and the contradictory hood is part of the Negro ghetto, movement . As a result of these statements made by the President, and is very close to the head­ discussions, we now plan to con­ -- The only group that clearly backs that they are unable to discern what quarters of Students for a Demo­ centrate more of our efforts toward Johnson is the smallest (the 16% or is really happening and hence to cratic Society, with whom we are a confrontation with our local con­ 18.4 million). take a stand. Given the tremendous now working. In West Oakland, gressman,, Jeffery Cohelan. In. pressure by the Administration for about 80 per cent of the people have doing this, we can involve new -- Those who favor an expanded war "united" support of its policies and signed our petition. people on any of a number of levels, (the 23% or 25.5 million) appear on the use of mass media.to present a In this neighborhood, one of the from letter writing to more direct the surface to be 1964 Goldwater single point of view, the fact that biggest problems is police haras­ action, against Cohelan. We now voters and ". . . .a fairly sizeable fully a third of the American pop­ sment and brutality. People are realize that when we do hold meet­ proportion in this group talks in ulation are still unable to support stopped on the streets by police and ings in the neighborhoods in which terms of an "either-or" proposition President Johnson surely testifies questioned for no apparent reason; we are working, we must immed­ --either we step up our activities to the unpopularity of the War. many of the teenagers are on pro­ iately provide something for new and wage all-out war, or get out bation. We have numerous stories people to do. In West Oakland, for completely. " of people being beaten by police instance, we are in theprocess of during arrests. These people are cooperating with SDS to organize --The anti-war group (24%-26% or VDC Magazine very much aware of the connection around the draft. This brings up 27.6 million) does not include stud­ between police brutality in Oakland another aspect ofthe New York ents or other vocal opponents under Coming Soon and American intervention in Viet­ Committee whichwe hope to develop 21. It was the largest of the three nam. further; they _have formed close groups to express an opinion when The Vietnam Day Committee is connections between a number of publishing a one issue magazine for In co-operation with Youth for Jobs asked in the July 2 Gallup Poll: "In your opinion, what would you like to distribution on the West Coast and and SDS, we have held two meetings different protest groups from peace see the U.S. do next about Viet­ by any other groups interested in in DeFermery Park. Despite the groups to tenants leagues to oppose nam?" This group has remained supporting the anti-war movement overwhelming opposition to the war the local congressman. The comi— across the country. in this area, there has been a cer­ munity meeting at Lake Merrit park All organizations opposed to the tain reluctance on the part of people on August 21 is an important step Administration policy of the U.S. State Department to attend meetings. A number of toward this end in the bay area. the people to whom we have spoken ' f \ are invited to submit 1,200 word statements ol their position and pro­ have told us that meetings won't do Finally, we are in the process of posals for solutions to the Vietnam any good, that, in fact, non-violent establishing a Bay Area Coordin­ The Administration is now fighting crisis. action will not stop the war, that ating Committee which will include hard on two fronts. It is trying to They may include ads for their only more forceful actions will beat representatives from all of the beat off the military attacks of the own regular publications, newspa­ the "system". For example, one community organizing groups in the Vietcong in Vietnam, and at the pers, magazines, etc. young man, to whom I spoke was Bay Area. Our own community same time it is trying to beat down Sixteen organizations have already impressed by the fact that some of project will be meeting in the future the political and intellectual attacks agreed to take two pages at a pub­ us stood in. the tracks in front of the (starting on. August 19) on, Thursday on its Vietnam policy at home. lishing cost of $100 to be refunded oncoming troop trains. He said, evenings at the VDC office at 8:00. "You really practice w h a t you to the contributing organization af­ On the home front, as in Vietnam, ter publishing costs have been met preach", but he felt that this would the President is bombing the oppo­ not accomplish our goals. He was by sales of the first 3,400 copies. sition. He is on, television these The magazine, titled "Did You MC COMB, MISSISSIPPI days more than Walter Cronkite ; Vote for War ? " will sell for 50 cents and Secreataries Dean Rusk and a copy, and will have a color, slick Robert McNamara are so busy de­ cover designed to attract general fending the mess in Southeast Asia sales. legroes Oppose Vietnam War that they scarcely have time to Deadline for any articles not al­ figure a way out of it. ready requested is August 26. Re­ ( This leaflet was passed out and No one has a right to ask us to posted in Mc Comb, Mississippi in risk our lives aad kill other (by James Reston, servepages by sending check for July, 1965. It was written by a group Colored People in Santo Domingo Aug. 13, New York Times $100 to: of Negroes in the community who and Vietnam, so that the White Vietnam Day Committee met together after learning a class­ American can get richer. We c/o Marjorie Colvin mate of theirs, John D. Shaw, had will be looked upon as traitors 423 Chestnut Street been killed in action in Vietnam. by all the Colored People of the San Francisco, California Shaw, who was 23 years old, has world if the Negro people cont­ participated in the 1961 demonstra­ inue to fight and die without a funds Heeded ! Checks made out to the Vietnam tions in McComb. ) cause. Day Committee must be received by To continue its work with this news August 23 to reserve pages. Here are five reasons why Negroes Last week a white soldier from paper, direct action, community Contact: managing editor Marjorie should not be in any War fighting for NewJersey was discharged from projects, -ndother activities, the Colvin, YU 2-4998 San Francisco, the Army because he refused to America: VDC u-gei;,ly needs your financial for inclusion of articleaaor-.to re- fight in Vietnam. He went on a help. Your contribution, however- 0, No Mississippi Negroes should "hunger strike, Negro boys can seMvebundles for distïibjtta#jv-after small, will help us "mount anti-war : be fighting in Vietnam for the ..do.-.the....saxae..-thing. —We_ can.- *Sï_ -publtcation-Septembeï- s* 1/ ; aWhite Mans-ireedom," until - all write "and ask our "sons it they"- activities. - the Negro People are _£ree in do- the -same - * •-—. «•<•«*» — Mississippi. - Enclosed -i« my—contribution to help- HR! do the same" thing. We "can" r write and ask our sons if they finance" thé' VD"C s~~a.ntï- war activ'it " 2. " Negro" boys should hot honor the - Editor: Fhilip Sugar. . ^.._. draft here in Mississippi. know what they are fighting for. ies ~ -Mothers should encourage their If he answers Freedom, tell Name The Vietnam Day Committee News him thats what we are fighting Adress sons not to go. is published by the Vietnam Day 3. We will gain respect and dignity for here in Mississippi. And if he says Democracy tell him the Committee, 2407 Fulton St. , Berk­ as a race only by forcing the Make checks payable to United States Government and truth we don't know anything eley, Calif o r nia.(549-0811) (549- the Mississippi Government to about Communism, Socialism, 0812) (845-6637). If you would like Make checks payable to Vietnam Day come with guns, dogs and trucks and all that, but we do know that to work on this paper, see Philip to take our sons away to fight Negroes have caught hell here Committee, 2407 Fulton, Berkeley, Sugar (549-1385), at the VDC office. and be killed protecting Miss. under this American Demo­ California J Ala., Ga., and La. cracy. WHO ARE THE BERTRAND RUSSELL Comments on U.S. Foreign Policy AGGRESSORS ? ILS. Policy- "Experimental Slaughter" (The following is the text of a state­ longer be said with any justification. by David Warren ment made by Bertrand Russell for Events of recent years and pre­ consideration by the World Confer­ sent policies of the United States On July 21, 1954 the body of the Geneva Conference declared that it had ence of Peace which opened at Hel­ make clear beyond doubt that the been agreed that the "introduction into Vietnam of foreign troops and mili­ sinki July 11, 1965.) threat to world peace is- American tary personel as well as of all kinds of arms and munitions" would be The problem which confronts all imperialism. Any honestobserver strictly prohibited. those interested in peace today is the of the world scene, conversant with present policy of the United States. the facts, must come to that con­ In the period fstafting July 7, 1954 (when the U.S. recognized Ngo Diem Those who are in power in the United clusion. as the "leader of the Republic of Vietnam") to the end of 1959, the U.S. in­ States of America have committed It is the reckless behaviour of the troduced into the southern region the following: 2000,000 firearms, 400 that country to a systematic pro­ U.S. Governement which brings the million bullets, 700 tanks, 8000 armored carsand trucks, 250 aircraft gramme of exploitation and foreign world to the brink of nuclear war. and 85 warships. The military "advisors" rose from 683 in 1954 to over domination. The probable results are so awful 6500 in I960. Since I960, military assistance has totaled over $10 billiorj The essence of the problem may that people will not face them. and the number of troops has increased to the present 125,000. be sumed up in the following way: U.S. policy means that if major The United States of America main­ war should be averted for the mom­ As Senator Morse (Dem. , Oregon) said in his Senate speech of Aueust-5 tains over 3,600 military bases in ent, there will be a new crisis soon. 1964, "I have been briefed many times... and all this time witness afterl the world. American power challenges the witness from the State Department and from the Pentagon have admitted This vast international system aspirations of mankind. under examination that they had no evidence of any foreign troops in South pf military controls exists because Until the U.S. Government --its Vietnam from North Vietnam, Red China, Cambodia, or anywhere else. American capitalism controls sixty military and the C.I. A. --abandon The sad fact is that the only foreign troops that have been in South Vietnam per cent of the world's resources, the doctrine of counterrevolution in any numbers have been American troops. " although the United States contains and cease opposing the struggle for only six per cent of the world's political and economic independence, Objectively then, one might wonder why the U.S. made such a vast com­ population. the world will stagger from one mittment even before I960, the year when the insurgency started. One The peoples of the world are in crisis to another. might wonder why the insurgency started in the first place. To answer revolt against these conditions, Until people are prepared to op­ this, one would have to go into the long history of the Vietnamese people's which mean for them poverty, dis­ pose and overthrow governments struggles for territorial, economic, social, national, and cultural integri-l ease and unrelieved misery. which support chemical and napalm ty against China, France (1888-1940), Japan (1940-1945), France (1946-1954),! It is obvious that no nation can warfare, the U.S. will continue its (cf. Hammer, The Struggle for Indo-China, 1954), and to the present, the retain by force of arms the control policies of experimental slaughter. United States (cf. Burchett, Vietnam, Inside Story of Guerilla War, 1964). and benefit of nearly two-thirds of I call upon people throughout the Essentially, however, the Vietnamese people believed that their strucrai"" the world's resources without meet­ world to demand an end to the U.S. had at last ended in iyb4 at Geneva when it was declared that, "the settle­ ing resistance from the people who ' war of agression in Vietnam. ment of political problems, effected on the basis of respect for the princi­ suffer as a result. It follows that ples of independence, unity and territorial integrity, shall permit the Viet­ the majority of the peoples of the Si lent CITIZENS namese people to enjoy the fundamental freedoms, guaranteed by demo­ world must accept their circumstan­ cratic elections by secret ballot... [toj be held in July 1956. " ces or come into open revolt against (Excerpts from the August 13 edi­ American domination and exploita­ torial of the Daily Californian, by As President Eisenhower explained in his memoirs, Mandate for Change tion. Konstantin Berlandt, summer edi­ tor) he advised Diem not to permit those elections and to order the United Na These are the e s s e nt i a 1 facts We are like the silent citizens of tions elections teams out of the south because U.S. intelligence sources, t which lie behind the appallingly bru­ Nazi Germany. indicated that President Ho Chi. Minh) (twice elected, 1945, 1950) would poll tal war of aggression which the Un­ If we are ever called to task foi over 80% of the vote in a free election. Naturally, when Diem did just ited States is now waging in Vietnam. the horror in Vietnam we will reply) that, it was expected in Saigon and in Washington that«the people would not Let no one be in d o u b t : the "We were helpless. We didn't know react to the fiat favorably; and the U.S. and its puppet regeim prepared fori conditions which have caused this con­ what was happening. " flict in Vietnam exist throughout Latin Like the German citizens we have an uprising by building a strong police force. watched, with trepidation but with­ American and the greater part of out protest, the escalation of geno­ One might wonder why it took four years (1956-1960) for the population to the world. cide. react to the cancelling of elections. For one, Diem promised that elec­ What is one to think of a war in We are opposed to the war in Viet­ tions would someday be held. For another, all of the Viet-lcfeinh who which the most powerful industrial nam. We are opposed to Americans fought the French in the southern provinces withdrew above the 17th paral­ nation on earth uses all the ingenuity murdering Vietnamese under the lel in compliance with the Geneva Agreements and stayed there patiently and resources at its disposal to an­ authority of our government for the vague and sickly reasons of national until they realized that free elections would never take place in their home­ nihilate the people of an agricultural pride and '(possible" Communist land. And lastly, Diem held an "election" where he defeated Prince Bao country thousands of miles away? s no w-Daumg. And we are agaihs'f Dai by polling 99% of the vote (!) and in one province he was unanimously Eight million Vietnamese have been Americans getting killed. elected with a vote 245% of the number of people living there! (cf. Fall, placed in virtual concentration We are not convinced that as Viet­ The Two Vietnams, 1963). camps. nam goes, so goes the rest of the It was at this time that the U.S. recognized the "Republic of South Viet­ In one year alone, fifty thousand world. History is not so simple thai nam" (sic!). Indeed, it is erroneous to refer to "South" or "North" as the air attacks with napalm were con­ one incident can decide its entire course. accords of 1954 state that the 17th parallel "military demarcation line is ducted by the United States and its provisional and should not in any way be interpreted as constituting a poli­ We are not convinced that our na­ puppet Government. Weapons of tional honoris more sacred than the tical or territorial boundary" (emphasis added). mass slaughter are being used ex­ lives of Vietnamese and Americans. perimentally on civilian populations In fact, we are not convinced that By this time, those soldiers of national liberation returned to their in South Vietnam. stavinß in Vietnam is not less detri-, homes in the south to support and protect their families. The conglom­ The United States , furthermore, mental to our national honor than- eration of Buddhists, Catholics, farmers, and city dwellers formed what seeks to overcome the determined pulling out. Humility might boost is known as the National Liberation Front (NLF) of which the "Viet Cong" resistance to its policy of domina­ our honor. (or Viet "Reds") is the military arm. This body enjoys the support of tion by pursuing a course of armed Furthermore, we feel it is weaker over 80% of the people and controls over 75% of the territory in the south­ conflict with China. still to argue we should stay in Viet­ It is greatly to be feared that the nam because we have given our word. ern provinces (NY Times, October 16, 1964). It has been true since long before men who have power in the Pentagon, Machiavelli put it on paper: a nation We may now return to the original question, who are the aggressors in in the centres of Western capitalism keeps her word only as long as it is Vietnam? They are those people who violated the Accords of Geneva that and in the inner reaches of the Cen­ advantageous to herself. called for free national elections, that prohibited the introduction of troops tral Intelligence Agency are , at this We are opposed and yet our pres­ and weapons into the country, and that stipulated that the division of Viet­ moment , preparing to destroy by ident has proclaimed there is gene­ nam was only temporary and was not to be made political or territorial. bombing all of the industrial cities ral agreement about our Vietnamese of China. policy. . . . Our voices are unheard. We sit silently by while indefensible The U.S. and its puppets Diem, Khanh, Quot, Ky, et al. were the only This criminal act, which will bring acts are being made in our name. parties to violate those agreements for over six years. It was they who the world to the verge of all-out nu­ . . . We are responsible: we are spent vast amounts of money to keep down, the impoverished masses while clear war , must be faced by the responsible for every death in Viet­ French and U.S. industry took billions of dollars out of the country in the peoples of the world and opposed nam. . . . Our silence makes us re­ form of oil, rubber, paper, textiles, and dairy, agricultural and industrial with all the vigour and resolution sponsible just as it made the German people responsible for the death of products (cf. Business Week, July 12, 1965). Now the majority of the at our disposal. 11 Jews and ever people have voted with their bodies to elect the NLF and to support it in It has been said in. the past that proteäterf. Y man who its task to drive the aggressors from its soil. all parties to the Cold War a r e to blame for the arms race and for the threat of nuclear war. It can no Vietnam Day Committee