PATHS TO PEACE IN VIETNAM: A QUAKER REPORT
Paths to Peace in Vietnam A Quaker Report Out of a deep concern for the situation in Vietnam the American Friends Service Committee recently appointed a working party of scholars and others...
...The ICC would have to be enlarged or reorganized and given a firmer mandate in order to meet the objections on both sides to its present composition and functioning...
...The present military hierarchy in Saigon can be expected to do all in its power to resist efforts to end the war on terms it would regard as unfavorable...
...The United Nations itself would in normal circumstances be the natural springboard for the launching of negotiations, the overseeing of a cease-fire, the policing of elections, and the carrying on of necessary peace-keeping activities...
...It is imperative that we do so if we are to keep this area from becoming an explosive center for bitter anti-Americanism in the future...
...Ten—In every effort to achieve a settlement, the long-range goal of stability in Southeast Asia must be kept in mind...
...Such arrangements would not be simple and the early inclusion of an international force is likely to be required...
...No one can foretell what might emerge in terms of local political forces...
...This is easier to do if it comes under the auspices of an international body...
...But it is possible that the non-military elements that paved the way for the overthrow of the Diem regime and that have since been suppressed would re-emerge and could help speed the process of reaching a settlement...
...Any pronouncement by the United States must also affirm that the future of Vietnam should be decided by the Vietnamese themselves...
...The Asian Institute for Economic Development and Planning could greatly expand its efforts to train government officials...
...The article below is the chapter which explores approaches to peace in Vietnam.—The Editors...
...Our goal, however, must be to bring the war to an end...
...For example, the National Liberation Front, which had no place in the framework of the original body, must be included now...
...Paths to Peace in Vietnam A Quaker Report Out of a deep concern for the situation in Vietnam the American Friends Service Committee recently appointed a working party of scholars and others familiar with the situation to examine the problem in depth...
...A more complicated problem is the official representation for the present Republic of Vietnam, or South Vietnam...
...They are often wracked by diseases, plagued by hunger, and death comes at the early age of 40...
...In an inflammatory situation with anarchy and chaos near the surface, transitional steps of government are not easily carried out...
...It is often said that by making unilateral moves the United States is giving up bargaining counters or even "blue chips" as if the Vietnamese situation were part of a complicated game...
...The following progression is set forth, not as a rigid pattern, but as suggestive of the wide possibilities...
...Some difficulties would arise in reconvening this group as originally constituted...
...The provisional government would also be responsible for conducting elections, again under the scrutiny of an international umpire...
...A political settlement in Vietnam, with orderly withdrawal of American and allied military forces, will not be easy to arrange...
...In his policy declaration giving the Four Points, Premier Pham Van Dong said, "Any approach tending to secure a United Nations intervention in the Vietnam situation is also inappropriate because such approaches are basically at variance with the 1954 Geneva Agreements on Vietnam...
...One suggestion for achieving this is that the current Saigon government be pressed to establish a council of notables representing a wide cross-section of civilian and religious leaders who, in conjunction with the Saigon government, could form a negotiating authority...
...It is a course set with emotional booby traps and logical ambushes...
...Neither Hanoi nor Peking belongs to the United Nations...
...Further steps could include refraining from provocative tactics such as patrols in force, unprovoked attacks, and efforts to expand the areas of occupation...
...The type of regime developed in negotiations and elections would make an important difference...
...These enclaves could be sanctuaries for refugees fearing reprisals and bases for logistical support that might still be needed for international forces...
...Many persons in the United States have suggested a major role for the United Nations...
...Unfortunately, in this case the United Nations faces the particular difficulty that it is not acceptable as a mediating body to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, to the National Liberation Front, or to the People's Republic of China...
...Eight—The final act of the Geneva-type conference should be an international agreement guaranteeing Vietnam's neutrality and its freedom from any outside interference...
...but before any serious negotiating is possible, the United States needs to make clear first that it does not plan to continue its military involvement and is starting on immediate steps of de-escalation and, second, that the Vietnamese, including the National Liberation Front, must decide their own fate...
...There should be guarantees against armed intervention or infiltration from either North or South Vietnam in the affairs of the other state, but it should be made clear that nothing in the agreement precludes eventual reunification of North and South should the Vietnamese so decide...
...Such a council might initiate a representative referendum in Saigon and other urban centers on the issue of whether or not the government should enter into negotiations with the National Liberation Front...
...system and with opportunities for diplomatic consultation at headquarters...
...Until such intentions are made clear, neither the Saigon regime nor the National Liberation Front and Hanoi will take seriously any overtures on our part to negotiate...
...This will be especially true of governments in Saigon, such as that headed by Premier Ky which has consistently avoided any positive endorsement of negotiations right up through the 1966 New Year peace offensive, even while the United States was indicating to the whole world its willingness to negotiate...
...Such a presence might also be of help in guaranteeing against reprisals...
...The United States would certainly owe an obligation to assist persons who felt they might be in jeopardy because of the United States military withdrawal...
...The United Nations is already actively engaged in development in this area...
...The North Vietnamese are extremely suspicious of American intentions because, so often in the past, talk of our willingness to negotiate has been accompanied or followed by increased military efforts and because the bases the United States is now building at Cam Ranh Bay, Nha Trang, and Da Nang appear to them to be of a larger and more permanent kind than required by the present war in Vietnam...
...At the same time, the United States should make clear that it is willing to sign and support such agreements as may be developed guaranteeing a settlement...
...North Vietnam, like South Vietnam, could then become an observer at the United Nations with full opportunities to take part in the economic and social programs of the U.N...
...negotiations...
...Any future part that the Americans play will require a high degree of respect for the people of Vietnam...
...If major obstacles arose in setting up a new Geneva-type conference, it might be necessary to convene a new group of concerned powers, possibly through the good offices of the United Nations Secretary General...
...It is important, therefore, that while we ask for negotiations we also announce immediate steps of de-escalation such as the cessation of bombing in both North and South Vietnam and a freeze on further troop build-up...
...Two unilateral steps then constitute the sine qua non for negotiations...
...Six — The provisional government would direct the demobilization of armed forces on both sides and the withdrawal from South Vietnam of all outside forces, both North Vietnamese and American, under the surveillance of the international presence...
...Major questions such as reunification should be left to the Vietnamese after the establishment of responsible government in South Vietnam and the achievement of relative stability...
...A natural starting point is the International Control Commission (ICC) set up for the Geneva Conference of 1954...
...guarantee of the neutrality of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam...
...Under its auspices plans for the Mekong River development have been laid, projecting a technological revolution affecting the lives of more than thirty million people...
...Special legislation would be needed to bring them into this country...
...Pham Van Dong, premier of North Vietnam, has insisted on the importance of full United States participation in any agreement...
...Five—The phased withdrawal of United States forces cannot be blueprinted this far in advance of...
...This will require an end to censorship of the press, restored freedom for political discussion and organization, and the institution of some officially recognized body for public representation...
...Each day these people rise at dawn and struggle through until the night to wrestle existence from the soil...
...More important than the quantity of aid offered is the spirit in which it is offered...
...Such supervision might be carried on by the International Control Commission (ICC), which was set up by the Geneva Agreements and is composed of representatives of Canada, India, and Poland...
...Seven—Successful negotiations may still leave some elements in South Vietnam in danger of reprisals...
...Aid must be openly extended without strings attached...
...Underlying the immediate steps would be the broader objectives: the achievement of universality of membership in the United Nations and the development of accepted processes for the achievement of security through peaceful settlement, peaceful change, and the promotion of human rights...
...Ever since the Korean War they have viewed the world organization with great suspicion as a tool of the United States...
...Some exploratory efforts, preferably quiet and private, would clearly be necessary before a decision on the best way to solve this problem could be made...
...The object of such elections might be a Constitutional Assembly or an actual permanent government...
...There is a large non-Communist sector of the population, of which the Buddhists and intellectual communities represent only a part, which is vitally interested in ending the war...
...Nine—The way may then be open to fulfill the long-delayed promises of massive economic aid to the people of Vietnam...
...This pronouncement will have to be supported by immediate and meaningful actions to prove our good faith...
...The United Nations could assist this process if both the People's Republic of China and the Democratic Republic of North Vietnam are no longer outlaws but participants in the world community of nations...
...This would require that the issue of Chinese representation in the United Nations be solved...
...The drawing into enclaves would be a temporary move preparatory to complete withdrawal and dismantling of bases...
...This will require vast amounts of United States aid, but will be far less costly than the continuation of the war...
...In general the United States will have to seek means to facilitate the economic and social revolution in the entire area, not as part of a tactic to "stop Communism" but as part of a positive program of dealing with the pressing needs of the people...
...One—The United States could call for a general cease-fire for all parties, supervised by an international body to keep order and prevent reprisals...
...Such a referendum might be conducted under international auspices, thus providing a precedent for the elections that will have to be conducted after a treaty is negotiated...
...On the pessimistic side is the cruel nature of the current civil war, which may lead to personal vendettas in the villages and mass reprisals...
...Some means must be found to permit them to express themselves...
...The American people have a responsibility to assist in the repair of the damage wrought to both South and North Vietnam by the war...
...This assurance could erase doubts stemming from the refusal of the United States to endorse the 1954 Geneva Accords...
...Predictions have varied greatly as to the number of persons on either side who might need to seek sanctuary...
...To the indigenous problem of poverty has now been added the fantastic destruction of modern war...
...For our part I will ask the Congress to join in a billion-dollar American investment in this effort as soon as it is under way...
...Both sides have indicated willingness to use the ICC as a point of departure...
...On the side of optimistic predictions is the amazingly favorable experience of the amnesty and exchange of persons between the two zones after the first Geneva Conference...
...Following the example of the United Nations' response to the Congo crisis, a special emergency reconstruction fund could be established under the United Nations which would mobilize the skill and experience available through other international agencies...
...This would be costly, but the war is now being conducted at an infinitely greater expense...
...The horror of the alternative makes us persevere in making proposals, no matter how tentative or easily betrayed by the next headline...
...The United States in its conduct has done little to allay this suspicion, and indeed in the midst of the whole escalation-negotiation see-saw in the fall of 1965, the State Department was engaged in convincing as many national representatives as possible that the government of mainland China should not be given the credentials for representing China in the United Nations...
...In his April 7 speech President Johnson said: "These countries of Southeast Asia are homes for millions of impoverished people...
...A precedent is already at hand in the case of Cuban refugees...
...No solution in Vietnam is possible without a clear and unequivocal pronouncement by the United States that it intends to end the war with a settlement that will include withdrawing its forces and dismantling its military bases...
...While these initiatives are in progress, a whole series of forces, international to local, need to be brought to bear on the problems...
...Its suppression of any expressions in favor of a peaceful settlement has made open organized opposition to the war impossible...
...With Peking as a member, and with some agreement reached for self-determination in the whole area of Vietnam, steps could be taken for some type of U.N...
...Insofar as the provisional government can establish stable authority, the function of the international forces could be minimized, and yet they might be needed to restrain certain militant elements on either side which might attempt to sabotage the negotiations...
...Full advantage should be taken of the cooperation already achieved by the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East...
...Provisions for commercial and cultural exchange, freedom of movement, and postal service between the two countries might well be included...
...The Asian Development Bank, soon to be in operation, with one billion dollars in resources, could be given a larger role...
...Three—Once the Geneva-type conference has been convened, its first task would be to encourage Saigon and the National Liberation Front to reach agreement on the formation of a Vietnamese Provisional Executive to maintain temporary administration of South Vietnam and take measures necessary for the establishment of a provisional government...
...However, the experience of Algeria and the Dominican Republic can be cited to show that at least under some circumstances, a provisional executive has been a possible formula...
...Even then it would be difficult to arrange a fair vote because of unsettled political conditions, intensified by the large number of displaced persons...
...Steps to convince our adversaries of our sincerity are evidently necessary...
...The logical group to form such a conference would be the original Geneva powers, which could be assembled on request from concerned parties by the co-chairmen, Britain and the Soviet Union...
...The result of their study appears as a report now released as a hook, Peace in Vietnam: A New Approach in Southeast Asia, just published...
...The pronouncement should make clear that the National Liberation Front would be included in any negotiations and in any political settlement in South Vietnam as a party in its own right and not an appendage of the Hanoi delegation...
...Variants as to order of announcement or extent of action may be necessary...
...Expertise in these areas has been developed through years of varied experience...
...It is likely that as the provisional government, with the help of international police, takes over control, the United States forces should be-withdrawn as rapidly as possible into three or four enclaves...
...Two—At the same time, a Geneva-type conference should be called together to reapply the principles of the Geneva Agreements of 1954 to the current situation...
...And I hope tonight the Secretary General of the United Nations could use the prestige of his great office and his deep knowledge of Asia to initiate, as soon as possible, with the countries of that area, a plan for cooperation in increased development...
...Such a declaration would probably open the way for desirable changes in the present political situation in Saigon...
...U Thant as Secretary General has made some helpful offers to mediate, and he may yet play a valuable role...
...Four — International supervisory forces should be brought into South Vietnam under the aegis of the negotiating conference as early as possible...
Vol. 30 • May 1966 • No. 5
