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...
...I asked him what was going on...
...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...
...About half...
...Yes -- how much of South Vietnam did the Saigon government actually control by the end of the war...
...K was making me keenly aware of my lack of a Harvard education...
...Are you implying that we've failed ?" "No...
...Hanoi originally wanted hine, but the Americans persuaded them to accept a stronger force...
...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...
...longitudinally, 40 yards...
...As you know -- the United States does not support -- filthy dictatorships...
...K picked himself off the floor and set back to work...
...The war is over...
...Dr...
...Richard Broo khiser Alternative June-September 1973 13...
...before that I was a full professor at Harvard -- so I've really been a expert for quite some time...
...It would seem our peace-keeping efforts have not been completely efficient...
...Is that official...
...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...
...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...
...A proud group...
...K bristled...
...The ICCS is pulling out...
...he shrugged and added them to the laze...
...Because they might have hit something...
...How...
...Dr...
...The end of the peace is just around the corner...
...Too much so," he sighed, stuffing his pockets with paper clips...
...No one knows...
...How were the members of this Commission picked ?" "We were all chosen from neutral nations -- Cuba, Bulgaria, Tibet, or Massachusetts...
...What was the Commission supposed to do...
...More ominous still is the conspiracy between the press and airline officials...
...I merely meant -- " "Because if you are," he continued, I won't have it...
...But as the country shrank, the job got much easier...
...He waved from the back of the speeding boat...
...But if the North Vietnamese were so stubborn, why didn't the Americans drop their bombs on the port instead of in the water...
...Really, you can't go anywhere in Vietnam studies without realizing that the most crucial battles were fought in the polls...
...I demurred...
...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...
...Here's the key to the washroom, would you leave it at the desk...
...Our duties are to police the entire area of South Vietnam and to prevent all military Infiltration...
...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...
...his answer was lost in a round of mortar fire...
...K added his identification papers to the pyre and thrust a Russian phrase book in his back pocket...
...And how much credit -- went to South Vietnam...
...I brushed the plaster off my pad and tried to get on with my interview...
...5.37...
...K shouted back...
...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...
...K of the ICCS he was bustling around his office, emptying his desk, and burning his papers in the center of the floor...
...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 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...
...There has been peace in Vietnam for eleven years !" "Then when do you expect the peace to end...
...How's that...
...How much aid did the Americans give Hanoi...
...We're a proud group...
...And how many men do you have for this purpose...
...Certainly not...
...Latitudinally, 400 miles...
...Dr...
...We actually caught some infiltratbrs once, trying to sneak over the border disguised as peasants grazing their tanks -- " "Pretty exciting, eh...
...Fourteen...
...K waded hip-deep into the surf and threw his suitcase into a waiting barge...
...No" -- A rocket exploded directly overhead --"but it's in the air...
...One last question --when do you expect the war to end...
...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...
...But it has ended...
...Six months of delicate negotiations and 8000 tons of bombs in Haiphong harbor -- do you want some back issues of The Nation...
...K, how long have you been a Vietnam expert ?" "I've been on the International Commission of Control and Supervision since 1973...
...The Bulgarian was so surprised, he mistook our report of their capture for a clerical error and set them all free...
...Dr...
...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...
...Several thousand hamlet chiefs and military men followed his example -- what shall I do with these pencils...
...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...
...Now -- you were saying...
...but it gets much larger when the tide is out...
...He asked for my white shirt which he fastened to the end of a golf club and stuck out the window...
...The United States just sent its first 100 advisers to Hanoi...
...Naturally, the Saigon people raised hell -- dead set against Massachusetts -- but we persuaded them of our good faith...
...I shouted...
...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...
...And how much now...
...I danced away from a falling beam...
Vol. 6 • June 1973 • No. 9
