Eleven Years of Peace
Brookhiser, Richard
I~e independent thinker" who "stands , alone...with less than a care for Villification (sic)program" against 9 Expanding on this courage motif, eclared "I am badgered at airports this moment...
...A proud group...
...I~e independent thinker" who "stands , alone...with less than a care for Villification (sic)program" against 9 Expanding on this courage motif, eclared "I am badgered at airports this moment because I do exactly as any other members of Congress do...
...K added his identification papers to the pyre and thrust a Russian phrase book in his back pocket...
...his answer was lost in a round of mortar fire...
...but it gets much larger when the tide is out...
...Dr...
...The war is over...
...How's that...
...We actually caught some infiltratbrs once, trying to sneak over the border disguised as peasants grazing their tanks -- " "Pretty exciting, eh...
...5.37...
...The Senator states that "a young reporter at an airport asked me: 'Who do you Eleven Years of Peace When I went to interview Dr...
...Are you implying that we've failed ?" "No...
...Is that official...
...The United States just sent its first 100 advisers to Hanoi...
...The end of the peace is just around the corner...
...No" -- A rocket exploded directly overhead --"but it's in the air...
...Dr...
...He discussed the "kitty of more than one million dollars to 'get Hartke' "which he claims ha., been raised by business, but went on "] say, with Tonto, my faithful Indian guide, they are going to have to find the silver bullet- maybe they have one...
...But it has ended...
...One last question --when do you expect the war to end...
...No one knows...
...K of the ICCS he was bustling around his office, emptying his desk, and burning his papers in the center of the floor...
...he shrugged and added them to the laze...
...More ominous still is the conspiracy between the press and airline officials...
...Latitudinally, 400 miles...
...Here's the key to the washroom, would you leave it at the desk...
...Ex-president Thieu was so disheartened by the repudiation of his policies that he blew his head off, after cleverly tying his hands behind his back...
...Because they might have hit something...
...Richard Broo khiser Alternative June-September 1973 13...
...Dr...
...Several thousand hamlet chiefs and military men followed his example -- what shall I do with these pencils...
...I danced away from a falling beam...
...He asked for my white shirt which he fastened to the end of a golf club and stuck out the window...
...How were the members of this Commission picked ?" "We were all chosen from neutral nations -- Cuba, Bulgaria, Tibet, or Massachusetts...
...Dr...
...But the North Vietnamese have invested heavily -- in the reconstruction of their country -- scrap iron, tank rippers, Phantom jets -A sonic boom shook a framed copy of the Bill of Rights off the wall...
...I shouted...
...We're a proud group...
...Now -- you were saying...
...Hanoi originally wanted hine, but the Americans persuaded them to accept a stronger force...
...We've been hollering for a new Bulgarian ever since -- don't suppose they'll want to send one, now -- " "Whatever happened to President Thieu...
...K shouted back...
...K wouldn't stay to answer, but his rage was apparent even as he zigzagged low to the ground, between the piles of dead and dying...
...K bristled...
...But as the country shrank, the job got much easier...
...I asked him what was going on...
...I merely meant -- " "Because if you are," he continued, I won't have it...
...K waded hip-deep into the surf and threw his suitcase into a waiting barge...
...Our duties are to police the entire area of South Vietnam and to prevent all military Infiltration...
...longitudinally, 40 yards...
...How much aid did the Americans give Hanoi...
...Six months of delicate negotiations and 8000 tons of bombs in Haiphong harbor -- do you want some back issues of The Nation...
...He held up several fistsful and reluctantly cast them into the flames9 "What a waste, what a waste -- " The rocl~et barrage was so intense I had to shout to make myself heard...
...But the South Vietnamese claim to see a light at the end of the tunnel -- " He shoved off just as the first wave of black-pajamaed shock troops broke through the defenses...
...But if the North Vietnamese were so stubborn, why didn't the Americans drop their bombs on the port instead of in the water...
...As you know -- the United States does not support -- filthy dictatorships...
...He waved from the back of the speeding boat...
...Naturally, the Saigon people raised hell -- dead set against Massachusetts -- but we persuaded them of our good faith...
...Shortly after the peace, we encouraged him to resign so that the government could hold free elections and broaden its base --" "And the new base included --" "Eleven Vietcong generals, who began to kill, maim, and disembowel in the most democratic manner possible -- paper clips -- blotter -- pens -don't tell me they destroyed my pens...
...K was making me keenly aware of my lack of a Harvard education...
...Varying the courage theme slightly, he discussed his suffering at the hands of the airline Gestapo: "When he is searched at airports because he is investigating a horrendously malfunctioning agency of the federal government, he does not expect to be felt over with a cattle prod at airports...
...Yes -- how much of South Vietnam did the Saigon government actually control by the end of the war...
...It would seem our peace-keeping efforts have not been completely efficient...
...The Bulgarian was so surprised, he mistook our report of their capture for a clerical error and set them all free...
...I demurred...
...K, how long have you been a Vietnam expert ?" "I've been on the International Commission of Control and Supervision since 1973...
...In fact, during 1972, America was riven between the advocates of immediate withdrawal, who wanted all soldiers on a given signal to run from their positions, dive into the ocean, and swim out to troop ships waiting beyond the three-mile limit, and advocates of precipitate withdrawal, who would have made them throw down their guns first -- but in the ensuing elections the more militant faction won out --" A spray of bullets interrupted the doctor...
...Too much so," he sighed, stuffing his pockets with paper clips...
...What was the Commission supposed to do...
...Fourteen...
...K picked himself off the floor and set back to work...
...There has been peace in Vietnam for eleven years !" "Then when do you expect the peace to end...
...Certainly not...
...I brushed the plaster off my pad and tried to get on with my interview...
...How...
...before that I was a full professor at Harvard -- so I've really been a expert for quite some time...
...And how much now...
...Really, you can't go anywhere in Vietnam studies without realizing that the most crucial battles were fought in the polls...
...sist on immunity of movement to and bm the House and Senate --on grounds Constitution (sic) Law, not on a point personal privilege or arrogance.- that am advised repeatedly how unpolitical I am to claim absolute immunity without shieled (sic) laws for news men, unpolitic to observe, and demand observance of respect and official courtesy for the office I hold under the Constitution and particularly its First Article...
...And how much credit -- went to South Vietnam...
...About half...
...The ICCS is pulling out...
...And how many men do you have for this purpose...
Vol. 6 • June 1973 • No. 9
