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Middle Earth various issues, 1967-1968
Page 5
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Middle Earth page five From the other side of the tracks ... by Julius Lester Reprinted from the Guardian, radical news weekly, New York. (LNS) Guardian: The government has finally done what it could have done at any time in the past three years-stopped the bombing of North Vietnam. With the stopping of the bombing, the nation sighs with relief, assuming that the end of the war is in sight. In all probability, it is. Some kind of cease-fire agreement will probably be reached, while negotiations continue and the United States will withdraw a respectable number of troops from Vietnam. That the war should end at the conference is galling. There is only one just conclusion which the war should come to - total defeat for the United States. Yet it can't end this way. Despite the propaganda from the Vietnamese and the US, it is clear that neither side is able to win a clear-cut victory. The North Vietnamese have been fighting a defensive war and no matter how many planes they manage to bring down, twice as many planes have deposited millions of tons of bombs upon the land and the people. How long the Vietnamese could endure such, omly they know; but they have come now to the conference table, an indication, perhaps, of the military reality of three years of constant bombardments. With the bombing of North Vietnam stopped, there remains nothing to negotiate except a cease-fire in the South and provisions made for some kind of government. It is of course unthinkable that the United States will withdraw all of its troops anytime in the near future. And not only will US troops remain in South Vietnam, American business interests, which have set up shop in the South, are not about to withdraw either. The May 12, 1967 European edition of Time Magazine reported the following: "The largest U.S. base in Vietnam is Cam Rahn Bay, once a sleepy village of fishermen. It is now well on its way to becoming one of the great ports of Asia, and plans are already in progress to make it a major commercial and industrial center once the war is over. The basic buildup has progressed so far in Vietnam that some amenities are now being added, such as semi-permanent housing for U.S. troops. A new $1-million U.S. embassy is under way, and in the works are much-needed city-bypass roads for Saigon, Danang, and Qui Mhon, plus an $1-million bridge from Cam Rahn Bay's military peninsula to the civilian mainland. To ease the housing pressure in Saigon, engineers are finishing up a 16,000 acre U.S. city at Long Binh, 15 miles away." It is not surprising that there has been a branch of Rockerfeller's Chase Manhattan Bank in Saigon for several years. And it should not be surprising that the U.S. has no intention of relinquishing the investments it has already made in South Vietnam. After all, that's what the war has been about--the economic exploitation of South Vietnam and Southeast Asia. By coming to the conference table, North Vietnam has put itself in the position of having to negotiate a settlement of total destruction. If negotiations fail, the U.S. will have the excuse it needs to resume bombing on a level designed to bring a speedy end to the war. This would mean blockading or bombing the port of Haiphong and the bombing of Hanoi. If the negotiations fail (or if the U.S. sabotages them), most Americans will demand the destruction of the North. Thus, the North Vietnamese have to negotiate a settlement. Maybe conditions within the North are already such that they have no other choice. What, then, happens to the South? What, then, happens to the plans for re-unifying the country? The NLF is coming to the Paris talks, and eventually, the Thieu government will show up. While Thieu has been adamant in his stand on the impossibility of a coalition gobernment, if he won't change his mind, he can be re- [drawing of three planes going down with smoke in the shape of a dollar symbol, a Vietnamese man with a large hat and a gun looks on to the right. Cartoon signed "Blanco -66-"] placed. And it is interesting that South Vietnamese President "Big" Minh is back in South Vietnam with nothing to do. He is a popular figure in the South and possibly is the only man who could unify the country under a coalition government. With the North Vietnamese and the NFL unable to win a clear-cut victory, it seems that South Vietnam will become a permanemt political entity in Asia. Reforms will be made in South Vietnam under a coalition government and with U.S. approval. While such a solution is not what so many Vietnamese have died for, it is the best that can be expected under the circumstances. And the U.S. will have won another battle if it is able to keep Vietnam divided and maintain economic control over the South. If this analysis proves correct, some segments of the American left will accuse the North Vietnamese of selling out to the South. While that may not be the way it will appear, political realities cannot be denied. And the overwhelming political reality of the world today is the ability of the U.S. to blackmail practically every country in the world. Gen. LeMay was reflecting military reality when he made his now famous statement about bombing Vietnam "back to the Stone Age." It is a beautiful fantasy to think that the war will end with a Vietnam unified under the leadership of Ho chi Minh. The war will end and perhaps that is the overriding necessity for North Vietnam at present. If it is, our responsibility as radicals will be to understand the political realities facing the North Vietnamese and support whatever course of action they find necessary. It is the romantic revolutionary who insists on a fight until the last man is dead. The realist recognizes the value of living to fight another day. Also, one cannot escape the fact that if any people on earth deserve a rest from the struggle, it is the people of Vietnam. May at least one generation of their children have the opportunity to grow to adulthood without the sound of bombs and bullets as a normal part of their day. and to that we say: amen (Ed.) Cartoon by Blanco, from Palante, a Cuban Humor Weekly (Ed.)
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Middle Earth page five From the other side of the tracks ... by Julius Lester Reprinted from the Guardian, radical news weekly, New York. (LNS) Guardian: The government has finally done what it could have done at any time in the past three years-stopped the bombing of North Vietnam. With the stopping of the bombing, the nation sighs with relief, assuming that the end of the war is in sight. In all probability, it is. Some kind of cease-fire agreement will probably be reached, while negotiations continue and the United States will withdraw a respectable number of troops from Vietnam. That the war should end at the conference is galling. There is only one just conclusion which the war should come to - total defeat for the United States. Yet it can't end this way. Despite the propaganda from the Vietnamese and the US, it is clear that neither side is able to win a clear-cut victory. The North Vietnamese have been fighting a defensive war and no matter how many planes they manage to bring down, twice as many planes have deposited millions of tons of bombs upon the land and the people. How long the Vietnamese could endure such, omly they know; but they have come now to the conference table, an indication, perhaps, of the military reality of three years of constant bombardments. With the bombing of North Vietnam stopped, there remains nothing to negotiate except a cease-fire in the South and provisions made for some kind of government. It is of course unthinkable that the United States will withdraw all of its troops anytime in the near future. And not only will US troops remain in South Vietnam, American business interests, which have set up shop in the South, are not about to withdraw either. The May 12, 1967 European edition of Time Magazine reported the following: "The largest U.S. base in Vietnam is Cam Rahn Bay, once a sleepy village of fishermen. It is now well on its way to becoming one of the great ports of Asia, and plans are already in progress to make it a major commercial and industrial center once the war is over. The basic buildup has progressed so far in Vietnam that some amenities are now being added, such as semi-permanent housing for U.S. troops. A new $1-million U.S. embassy is under way, and in the works are much-needed city-bypass roads for Saigon, Danang, and Qui Mhon, plus an $1-million bridge from Cam Rahn Bay's military peninsula to the civilian mainland. To ease the housing pressure in Saigon, engineers are finishing up a 16,000 acre U.S. city at Long Binh, 15 miles away." It is not surprising that there has been a branch of Rockerfeller's Chase Manhattan Bank in Saigon for several years. And it should not be surprising that the U.S. has no intention of relinquishing the investments it has already made in South Vietnam. After all, that's what the war has been about--the economic exploitation of South Vietnam and Southeast Asia. By coming to the conference table, North Vietnam has put itself in the position of having to negotiate a settlement of total destruction. If negotiations fail, the U.S. will have the excuse it needs to resume bombing on a level designed to bring a speedy end to the war. This would mean blockading or bombing the port of Haiphong and the bombing of Hanoi. If the negotiations fail (or if the U.S. sabotages them), most Americans will demand the destruction of the North. Thus, the North Vietnamese have to negotiate a settlement. Maybe conditions within the North are already such that they have no other choice. What, then, happens to the South? What, then, happens to the plans for re-unifying the country? The NLF is coming to the Paris talks, and eventually, the Thieu government will show up. While Thieu has been adamant in his stand on the impossibility of a coalition gobernment, if he won't change his mind, he can be re- [drawing of three planes going down with smoke in the shape of a dollar symbol, a Vietnamese man with a large hat and a gun looks on to the right. Cartoon signed "Blanco -66-"] placed. And it is interesting that South Vietnamese President "Big" Minh is back in South Vietnam with nothing to do. He is a popular figure in the South and possibly is the only man who could unify the country under a coalition government. With the North Vietnamese and the NFL unable to win a clear-cut victory, it seems that South Vietnam will become a permanemt political entity in Asia. Reforms will be made in South Vietnam under a coalition government and with U.S. approval. While such a solution is not what so many Vietnamese have died for, it is the best that can be expected under the circumstances. And the U.S. will have won another battle if it is able to keep Vietnam divided and maintain economic control over the South. If this analysis proves correct, some segments of the American left will accuse the North Vietnamese of selling out to the South. While that may not be the way it will appear, political realities cannot be denied. And the overwhelming political reality of the world today is the ability of the U.S. to blackmail practically every country in the world. Gen. LeMay was reflecting military reality when he made his now famous statement about bombing Vietnam "back to the Stone Age." It is a beautiful fantasy to think that the war will end with a Vietnam unified under the leadership of Ho chi Minh. The war will end and perhaps that is the overriding necessity for North Vietnam at present. If it is, our responsibility as radicals will be to understand the political realities facing the North Vietnamese and support whatever course of action they find necessary. It is the romantic revolutionary who insists on a fight until the last man is dead. The realist recognizes the value of living to fight another day. Also, one cannot escape the fact that if any people on earth deserve a rest from the struggle, it is the people of Vietnam. May at least one generation of their children have the opportunity to grow to adulthood without the sound of bombs and bullets as a normal part of their day. and to that we say: amen (Ed.) Cartoon by Blanco, from Palante, a Cuban Humor Weekly (Ed.)
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