Vietnam and the Left:
Pachter, Henry
Henry Pachfer I assume each of the respondents will begin by rejecting your condition—to discuss the Vietnam war "apart from urgent expressions of anxiety. - . and indignation." That would...
...It seems to me that none of the Administration's critics has advanced a program or line of procedure that offers an alternative to withdrawal or escalation...
...The temptation to do so is very great if, as in the present case, the U.S...
...We have only to think back to the Algerian war...
...I do not mean to say that withdrawing from Vietnam means a great victory for the U.S...
...government could easily increase the pressure beyond the point where its enemies must give up...
...policies in South East Asia...
...There are a few would-be Lenins among us who would use the present conflict to change the sytem...
...Here again I must reject the question which has been put to me: we don't have the choice between an agreeable and a disagreeable policy...
...I am convinced that the war in Vietnam can be settled by a package deal with China and that the role of pacifists at this juncture may be to prepare the American public for the changes of attitude which are necessary lest the U.S...
...Am I advocating defeatism...
...Something very similar is happening to the United States in the Vietnam war...
...It will make the defense of Thailand, Burma and India impossible...
...it has become so cruel and now shows so many symptoms of a colonial war, that the nature of the war itself determines my conclusions as to its likely outcome and the necessary adjustments on the part of the United States...
...Their theory has been that it is necessary and possible to humiliate the U.S...
...off cheaply and honorably...
...The Administration seems to think it possibl to "differentiate" between Peking, Hanoi, and the National Liberation Front in South Vietnam...
...citizen, but objectively, on the premises of this country's structure...
...Your question 4 therefore is well put: what kind of pressure shall we bring to bear upon the government to change its policy...
...Nor do they think this is necessary...
...The pickets achieve the masochistic aim of getting arrested but fail to become heroes of a new movement...
...It follows that you ought to have asked a fifth question: if our action is not meant to "bear witness," then what other advice can we give the Administration...
...We must believe that the Administration is inconvenienced by the war in Vietnam...
...The majority may change in either direction: it may ask the Administration to use all available means to "win the war," as it did in the Korean war...
...withdrawal or wishes to be bribed by Johnson's generous offer of a Mekong Valley Plan...
...It is conceivable that a government threatens escalation in order to reach its policy aim...
...Such a military disaster, on top of the political disaster, would make things even worse for the U.S., and it might therefore be the part of wisdom to withdraw...
...Though after the foregoing I don't have to answer your second question, I am thankful for it...
...It certainly will increase neutralism in Germany, and thus deprive the U.S...
...these countries will not even wish to be defended by a nation which has failed...
...Much as I welcome the news that for once we do differentiate, I still feel that no question in Southeast Asia can be solved without China's consent...
...Withdrawal from Vietnam will jeopardize also the U.S...
...Are we to compete with the Vietcong in this race...
...Despite the rather belligerent noises which have come from Mao's lieutenants recently, these very protestations seem to indicate to me that China is waiting for an overture...
...Those who have spoken of "Titoism" in Hanoi, have not offered a single proof that anyone there wishes to negotiate with the U.S...
...and with it all colonialists...
...Question 3: I would be in favor of a saving our few friends through a holding operation and even of military build-up if there were any chance of success...
...position in Berlin and may in fact kill what remains of NATO...
...on anything but a U.S...
...is not at the point of revolution and that U.S...
...Morgenthau caved in when asked: What if the Vietcong don't wish to negotiate...
...citizens are not prepared to overthrow the system in order to prevent the war in Vietnam...
...The only other way left, therefore, is Peking...
...Though China wishes to humiliate the U.S., she also wishes to deal with us...
...That would be like talking about hell without fire...
...The kind of demonstration that is merely a disturbance of traffic or of public order not only alienates the majority (which is not necessarily a wrong) but is manifestly misdirected...
...government of its only ally...
...Unless one can fight the Communists to a standstill, which does not seem possible in the present case, he cannot hope to contain them with economic aid...
...But it is plain as day that the U.S...
...Possibly the government is in possession of information which is not accessible to me, and therefore has come to a different conclusion...
...As soon as the atrocities became known and as soon as the military admitted they could not win without such atrocities, the colonial war turned into a civil war, and eventually even de Gaulle decided that France must withdraw...
...I am not sure that this question must always and automatically be answered in the negative, but neither am I sure that we can be confident...
...The price is too high, not in the estimation of this or that U.S...
...The Vietnam war is plainly not due to a crisis of the system but on the contrary, seems to have its origin in external factors which really are a disturbance of the system...
...The question no longer is one of winning or losing, or of carrying out a policy, but of the price to be paid...
...In contrast to the breast-beating, conscienceridden Liberals, I don't think that one gets credit for ethical behavior in foreign policy...
...The teach-ins have not taught me anything except that the professionals who give advice to the government use the same information as those who wish to be the government's advisers...
...or it may ask the Administration to make peace...
...I would support a policy designed to save South Vietnam...
...but if that policy can be carried out only by terrorism, brutality and wanton murder of children, then it apparently defeats its purpose...
...We just have to admit that we are beaten or are likely to be beaten, if not now then a few years from now...
...An effort to influence public opinion could not neglect the means of direct action and of civil disobedience—provided these were successful and are related to the present question...
...They choose not to see the difference between changing a policy and changing the system...
...All reports indicate that our boys cannot take that kind of warfare...
...government failed to reckon with the kind of escalation which it cannot, but its enemies can, increase to the breaking point namely terrorism, torture, fanaticism, the deliberate holding of entire populations as hostages...
...I would not be satisfied with the argument that "the ma-jority" apparently supports the government...
...I simply mean: we must admit defeat...
...all its plans are stalled, and it finds itself in an impasse out of which we must help it to retreat...
...Their aim is political, not economic, and those who think in terms of an accommodation have forgotten the history of Soviet relations with the West...
...I think that withdrawal will be an unmitigated disaster...
...The conduct of this war is inseparable from its causes and consequences...
...gets entangled in a series of jungle wars which will be increasingly difficult and increasingly unpopular...
...Even supposing that they are dependent upon the Hanoi government (which is not necessarily the case)—what reason should either of them have to let the U.S...
...Basically, it does not look like a bad idea to try to reach the Vietcong via Moscow, but Moscow's influence in that area seems to weaken...
...To make the question of withdrawal a question of the American system means to defeat the purpose of peace...
...Particularly Mr...
...But the U.S...
...One may wish to prevent the functioning of organized society when and if one is dealing with a truly revolutionary situation...
...By the criterion of success or failure, a policy leading to such a choice is erroneous, nay disastrous...
...all they do is to advertise the impotence of a non-existent peace movement...
...I don't think the present demonstrations are of this type...
...The question arises: how much confidence should we have that the government knows what it is talking about and what it is leading us into...
...The latter, by the way, when pressed hard for an answer, have been forced to declare that they have none...
...The Vietcong are winning, and as long as they feel they can win, they will not be brought to the conference table...
...or the start of a new lease on U.S...
Vol. 12 • September 1965 • No. 4
