The Nation's Pulse
Rusthoven, Peter J.
The Nation's Pulse by Peter J. Rusthoven Angola: Applying the "Lessons" of Vietnam In the 402 years since Portugal first colonized it, the African nation of Angola has seldom, until recently,...
...For one, I am generally hostile to Soviet attempts to obtain further influence and possible control of additional sectors of the globe, since such attempts do little to expand the quantum of human freedom still extant in this world...
...Accordingly, CBS (you know, the people who respond to criticism by saying that all they do is report the news) was going to make Angola the first and longest story every night in order, said Walter (Vietnam heavy on his mind), "totry to play our small part in preventing that mistake this time...
...c) "The poor seek a new international economic and social order...
...The House soon followed suit with a similar vote...
...In addition, the FNLA and UNITA have been (and to some degree apparently still are) receiving money and, equipment from the United States...
...As of this writing, the Administration is continuing to provide indirect support for the anti-Soviet forces in Angola by a number of devices not forbidden by the Congressional vote—as, for example, by persuading Gulf Oil not to make a mineral royalty payment of some $100-plus-million that would have gone to the MPLA...
...One s the Popular Movement for the Liberaion of Angola (MPLA), a Communist-orimted outfit backed by the Soviet Union ind Cuba...
...In the United States, recent interest in kngola centers on the question of Ameri:an "involvement" in the present armed :onflict...
...The Nation, displaying ponderous vituperation, editorialized thusly: "We can thank principally Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon for this extraordinarily destructive legacy...
...They are reeiving support in the form of troops from pie Republic of South Africa, which eems motivated in large part by MPLA rrorist activities directed at South Afrian citizens...
...For all these points and one more—namely, that America must never again become involved in a foreign conflict—"Vietnam" is cited as conclusive authority...
...UN admonitions against Portuguese "repression," diplomatic pressure on Portugal to end one of the last exercises in African colonialism, and sporadic student demonstrations directed at American corporations doing business in Angola—all kept the story alive until at last, Portugal abandoned its Angolan interests and turned its attention to the developing mess within its own borders...
...moreover, such adventures will invariably cost immensely in terms of both money and lives, and are doomed to failure in any event...
...If such continues to be our publi response to critical events throughout th world, then Vietnam will indeed have le a tragic legacy, one far more serious tha any found on the standard list of trauma which conventional wisdom asserts I have flowed from that lengthy conflict i Southeast Asia...
...Reportdly, these two organizations have little a common beyond their joint opposition 3 the Soviet-backed group...
...And further in its pages, Sean Gervasi, a sage from...
...In this developing evangelical religion of absolute noninvolvement (at least for the United States), "Vietnam" has become the prime doctrinal tenet...
...The New York Times, i criticizing Soviet aggression in Angol...
...Sevareid's patented, soberly vacuous ditties, this one on how U.S...
...Immediately after this pretentious preface there followed several stories designed to reveal "covert" American involvement in yet another "local" conflict, capped by one of Mr...
...Now I am not sure whether sending aid to the anti-Soviet factions in Angola is the wise course for American foreign policy, and I propose no extended consideration of that topic in this space...
...Among many candidates, allow me to present Statesman-Philosopher John Tunney, the boy Democratic Senator from 'he Alternative: An American Spectator March 1976 27 the State of California, who led the fight to cut off further American aid with these words: "For the past thirty years, we have given the military adventurists what they wanted and they have gone everywhere and done everything, getting us involved in everybody else's business from Asia to Latin America, and now, so it seems, Africa...
...And occasional minor uprisings against colonial administrators have also, from time _to time, merited a paragraph or two of reportage in the larger organs of the daily press...
...I do not know how many of these fa( tors are actually implicated in the preset pother over Angola...
...No attention is paid to the advantage given our foes by this public, unilateral disavowal of an entire set of military and economic options which ouropponents would otherwise be forced t weigh at their peril...
...It is clear, however that such factors should be accorded ser ous consideration in formulating prop( American policy in the internatiom arena...
...On the very day that American aid to Angola was, with appropriate suggestions of conspiratorial malfeasance, "revealed," the CBS Evening News took to the air with a much ballyhooed statement of network policy on the matter...
...If this indeed is an accurate e: pression of the American citizenry's pos Vietnam view of our global responsibil ties, we need have little doubt that thou who wish us ill will act, to our detrimen on that basis...
...Moreover, Angola reportedly has some strategic importance as a port for naval vessels in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans—at least our State Department seems to think so, and so, apparently, do the Soviets...
...Vietnam, anchorman Walter solemnly and sonorously informed us, was positively the worst, the most divisive, the most deadly, golly, just the most godawful experience this nation had ever endured...
...cussion of Angola takes no account ( them...
...Conspicuously absent from this litany, of course, are references to the expansion of Soviet influence or control, or to any possible duty on the part of this nation to stand up to such expansion...
...But by and large it is only in the last fifteen years or so that Angola has, to use the idiom, been "in the news...
...has aptly commented as follows: "Thee was a time when the United States woul have responded to such a massive an menacing intervention with its own sho of force, but that is something the Amer can people would never countenanc now...
...The basic background of this :ontroversy is relatively straightforward...
...True, some interest was generated towards the end of the nineteenth century, when the Portuguese mortgaged the colony to Germany and Great Britain to secure a little operating cash...
...For those reactions indicate that a significant portion of American opinion-making and political leadership firmly believes, and is determined to persuade the American public, that such participation and influence is inherently suspect and dangerous...
...It must never, ever happen again...
...The most dramatic example of this mind-set toward United States actions in the field of foreign affairs comes courtesy of the Columbia Broadcasting System, with particular honors due Walter Cronkite and Eric Sevareid...
...In the early 1960s, the story centered around the launching by native Angolans of their final struggle for independence...
...I believe Mr...
...It is this American aid, of course, which is the source of the current brouhaha which goes by the name of "Angola...
...This Angola-equals-Vietnam theme was the instantaneous chorus of much of the, rest of the media as well...
...City University of New York and consultant to the United Nations, presented a repetitive tour de force, in which he noted: (a) "The United States must withdraw from Angola if it is to avoid a disaster which will have even more serious consequences than the debacle in Vietnam...
...The Nation's Pulse by Peter J. Rusthoven Angola: Applying the "Lessons" of Vietnam In the 402 years since Portugal first colonized it, the African nation of Angola has seldom, until recently, been a focus of world attention...
...Among strong competition, Mr...
...American involvement in the "internal affairs" cif such countries is itself "immoral., militaristic adventurism," and perhaps "imperialistic" as well...
...Regardless of whether American aid is desirable, however, one feature of the recent public discourse on Angola is disturbingly clear—namely, that the entire discussion has been "informed" and dominated by a set of so-called "lessons" of Vietnam, the import of which appears to be that any American involvement and/or intervention in overseas conflicts will and must be thoroughly unsuccessful, dangerous, and foolhardy...
...must quit sending aid to Angola "to avoid a repetition of Vietnam...
...Opposing this ,r,ganization are the National Front for he Liberation of Angola (FNLA) and the mailer National Union for the Total In[ependence of Angola (UNITA...
...Regardless of whether such measures prove wise and/ or successful, however, the sampling of reactions by various sectors of the press and an apparent majority of both Houses of Congress which have been outlined above scarcely bodes well for effective American participation and influence in international affairs...
...b) the U.S...
...28 The Alternative: An American Spectator March 19...
...This pattern, with slightly shorter introductions, was repeated for the next several days...
...Having thus by implication condemned, in addition to the Vietnam war, the Marshall Plan and our involvement in Korea and Lebanon, Tunney proceeded, after a scant three days of debate, to muster a 54-22 margin in favor of prohibiting additional direct military or economic assistance to Angola...
...Gervasi has made his point...
...No pretense to consideration of any strategic factor is made, save for the asserted unimportance of any region not found within the borders of the United States (with the possible exception of one or two countries in Western Europe...
...Since the granting of independence, the battle among various Angolan factions for military and political supremacy has made Angola a regular feature on the ..:vening news...
...It makes our system of government nearly impossible to operate on the constitutional principles which we are undertaking to celebrate this Bicentennial year...
...Editorial cartoonists graced the issue' with their unique brand of self-righteous oversimplification...
...No mention is made of how this unreflective obsession with "no more Vietnams" affects the world's view of the significance of American power or the seriousness of American commitment...
...emblazoned over a large, block-letter ANGOLA, which in turn dominated a scene of wartime destruction...
...Small countries, says the doctrine, are simply "not vital" to American interests, and hence worth no sacrifice or risk...
...My initial instincts, I will admit, tend to favor such assistance...
...It is clear as well that the mindles recitation of the so-called "lessons" ( Vietnam which has dominated public di...
...Those who fear that such sophisticated, complex analysis of international affairs is limited to the solons of the media may take heart: Congress swiftly demonstrated that it too boasts individuals and scholars capable of drawing the difficult analogy between Angola and Vietnam...
...If we try to preserve that order as it has been, we shall spend a century fighting `two, three, many Vietnams' " ; and (d) the U.S...
...must "avoid other Vietnams and Angolas in the future...
...My personal knowledge of the various factors involved in making such a judgment is far too limited-to permit arriving at a confident conclusion...
...three groups seek power in Angola...
...Confad of the Los Angeles Times carried away top honors for his effort featuring the caption, "If You Liked Vietnam, You'll Love This One...
...intervention in Angola would be as foolish as (you guessed it) Vietnam...
...Traditional consid erations about the need for swift execu tive action based on confidential informs tion in conducting the foreign affairs c this nation are similarly given shot shrift...
...Although the exact nature and :xtent of Soviet and Cuban intervention is tnclear, in essence the Russians are conributing substantial amounts of military :nd economic aid, while thv Cubans have ent anywhere from 3,000 to 7,500 soltiers to assist the MPLA...
Vol. 9 • March 1976 • No. 6
