A PROFESSOR PRAISES A YOUNG GIRL'S LETTER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000300100007-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 21, 1998
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: August 10, 1965
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved For Release 2000/08/27 : Cl
FOIAb3b
CPYRGHT
Front Eoii ~iher
?aqC i' e
pROVIDra1CE, R.I.
)3ULLE T IN
E. 145,776
AU G 10 19S5
CPYRGHT
1 Professor praises a young girl's letter
I wish to thank you for
?]ublishing the "letter "Mass
suicide" in the July 26th edi-
tion. I am a visiting professor
of English, from Canada, and
nave frequently complained
about things American since
my return here this summer.
Now I must. say that I was
moved and heartened by the
letter from Christien )?rowne,
a letter which revealed amaz-
ing son itivity and inte'lli-
gence. Would that the adults
around us cared' as much or
could thiirk so clearly.
The situ^ticr. in Viet Nam
worsens daily. The American
government rind especially,
one i5resiL?ncs, the President,
the State Derartment and the
C.I.A. insist on presenting the
:ct. ideological terms.
There has been a persistent
refusal in recent years to ac-
kno. 'lydge the popular base
r,' rwnhit'ions in countries
lied- Cuha, the Dominican
Re- V;; t Nam and China.
This is particularly ironic in
view of America's birth from
revolution. The British might
well have charged during the
war for independence that the
?el,clliOn was led by Commu-
nists, had the charge bccn
available to them. The war
in Viet Nam is between well-
fed people and hungry people.
It is, moreover, a war for self-
determination, and the cur-
rent slaughter, hunger' and
disease and the consequent
do-spair of the Vietnamese are
the best allies communism
has,
It is not possible to imagine
what kind of "victory" is
possible in such a war. Anni-
hilation may very well be its
ultimate and logical outcome.
What astonishes an outsider
like myself (though most
Americans seem totally com-
placent about it) is the tone
of indignation and surprise at
the idea of an American
bomber being shot down by
a North Vietnamese missile.
It seems to be expected that
the current bombing of a
foreign, self-governed power
should be carried out without
retaliation or even defense
and that Hanoi is not playing
the game when it shoots down
attacking planes. How incredi-
ble! This is. I readily confess,
a state of nand I cannot
fathom.
The worst aspect of the
current conflict in Viet Nam
and of American foreign "pol-
icy" (to give it a flattering
title) in general is what I
s*,ould call the programmed
deceit of the American peo-
ple. They are not seen t'
he fit to understand the com-
ploziti,; of their world, as
are their elected officers:
they are lied to. as in the
Ray of Pigs incident and
the Dominican invasion; and
they are currently being
duped into accepting an es-
calation of the Viet Nam war
by the use of stages of in-
volvement. This is a system
whereby the President voices
America's desires for peace
while increasing the military
build-up so that it becomes
increasingly difficult to extri-
cate the combatants.
All the current national
and international conflicts
az'e between the haves and
have-nets. No amount. of po-
litical double-talk and'no ve-
neer of ideological jargon can
obscure that basic issue. The
CPYRGHT
ve-nots cannot be kept
om their natural aspira-
d dignity.' We can either
pport that struggle and win
spect, not only from our
rt to unpopular dictators
d a small wealthy class, in
ly the conflict but our self-
Bice they must make and
tness the disintegration of
informed, responsible, vo-
1, generous and human(,.?
Ad it is late, very late, but
Approved For Release 2000/08/27 : CIA-RDP75-00149R000300100007-4