Newspapers / Wilkes Community College Student … / May 19, 1969, edition 1 / Page 4
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PAGE 4, THE COUGAR CRY, MAY 19, 1969 Vietnam (Continued from Page Three) outside support it received could be justified. Rather than support ing or urging reform, however, our government continued to sponsor the main cause of the problem, which was the cruel regimes of Bao Dai and Diem. Between 1955 and 1960 only 1.4 per cent of the total American aid to Saigon was spent on much needed agricultural reform. The strategy of the Vietcong is to gain popular support; as a counter strategy the United States should try to recruit grassroots support in order to deny it to the Communists. Our continued emphasis on military force is alienating the very sup port that is so vital to the United States and Saigon. Indiscrimi nate bombing of villages and search-and-destroy operations that drive the peasants from their homes have made two mil lion homeless people regard the United States as their enemy. We are more likely to make enemies thn friends if two civi- ian casuaiites are the price for one Vietcong casualty. The American Military tactics have made the United States lose popular support at home and among its allies, as well as in rural Vietnam. Pictures of ter rified refugees make such good Communist propoganda because their claims cannot be disputed. Government officials maintain that American criticism of the war only makes the Communists more determined. Even if this is true, the crux of the problem is that the opposition on moral grounds is in my opinion still justifiable. If the South is ever to sur vive in its own right, then a high degree of social and political organization is essential. Yet American aerial bombardment has created an ever growing no man’s land where even life it self is impossible. Certainly the V ietcong cannot organize in these areas, but it is a shallow victory indeed when Saigon is also denied the same opportunity. The failure of relying too heavily on military power alone was amply demonstrated by our bombing raids on North.Vietnam. As pure military strategy it was futile; infiltration of troops and supplies into the South quadrupled during the bombing raids of Jan- uary 1966. This accent on military power ignored the nature of the war as a limited one. Bombing raids on the North put the war on a global context by forcing North Vietnam into closer ties with China and Russia. By putting the war on solely a military level. the United States seemed to be defeating its own purpose of fight ing a limited war. American stress on a military solution made the war more dif ficult to end because it created an atmosphere unsuitable for a negotiated settlement. Continuing Americanization of the war con vinced the North that our pro posals were insincere and that we held no intentions of ever leaving Vietnam. To begin ne gotiations, we were only willing to make a military concession of the bombing of the North. On the other hand, we demand ed that North Vietnam make a political concession of withdraw ing troops, thus acknowledging the Vietcong to being Hanoi pup pets. Supposedly this administration and the past one resigned them selves to the fact that the mili tary victory is impossible. Yet vfe continue to believe that "we are winning the war by killing inweasvcv^ TOiTTtoeTS ol Vietcong and North Vietnamese. Head- counts can mean \i\tie il a. re cent newscast was correct in reporting that the ComTOunists consider the ratio in their favor when, on the average, five Viet cong are sacrificed to kill one American soldier. The •Sunday paper indicated that the United States may still be bogged down in search of a military solution; rather than technical or econo mic assistance, the United States presented South Vietnam with . squadron of twenty jet bombers. The first casualties to fall to American military power were the best interests of South Viet nam. Now related primarily to a global and American au dience, the U.S. commitment to South Vietnam has become less and less directly related to the conditions in that coun try or to the wishes of its people. Washington’s com mitment to South Vietnam has in fact become progressively overshadowed by the Admi nistration’s concern for the global credibility of Ameri can military power. Nor are pacification programs allowed to obstruct implementa tion of military strategy. In summary, American inter vention in V ietnam hasbeen mar - red by our efforts to impose a militaTy solution on a non- military problem and by our iailure to diiierentiate between communism and nationalism. Only by giving precedence to social, economic, and political considerations above military force will the United States be able to find a workable solution acceptable to the South Vietna mese and Americans alike. -Gail McNeil The Crucible (Continued from Page One) tion and as close as possible physically. No one will be seated more than fifteen feet from cen ter stage. Rehearsals have been conduct ed in such a way as to make the message of the play most obvious and most immediate. There will be a number of strange things present not ordinarily included in a production; as symbolic elements of witchcraft and Black Magic. These elements are used to symbolize, for the characters, their belief in the omnipresence of the Devil, The play will be presented on Wednesday, Thursday, and Fri day, May 21-23 at the VFWhome nightly at 8. Deanes List Additions WILKES COUNTY, Jenny Clay Eller ASHE COUNTY, Henry Wayne Phillips The feeling that you’ve done a job well is rewarding; the feeling that you’ve done it per fectly is fatal. -Bulldozer, San Bruno, Cal.
Wilkes Community College Student Newspaper
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May 19, 1969, edition 1
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