HO: ' WHY FIGHT SANTA CLAUS?'

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000800160041-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 15, 1998
• Sequence Number: 41
• Publication Date: April 9, 1965
• Content Type: NSPR

NEW YORK
JOURNAL AMER _,A N
Sanitized - ApproveAdpF~or R eI(e5ase : CIA-R
FOIAb3b
CPYRGHT
ON TIIE LINE:
by Fight Santa Claus?''!
By BOB CONSIDINE
OLD HO CHI MINH comes arun-
. ning to the conference table pretty
soon the chances are that he'll be pro-
pelled more by the prospect of Ameri-
can dollars than the fear of Ameri-
can bombs.
LBJ's promise of
massive economic de-
velopment for that
part of the, world
which includes both-
North and South Viet
Nam could prove to be
as decisive a weapon
as the A-bomb was in
the war against Japan.
Ze .have an unblem-
fished record of forgiv-
ing and forgetting, for
flattening. an oppo-
a
r s ans. u tnere's
stubborn good heartedness in there,'
too, and that never hurt either side in
any war or dialogue. -
The revelation by "Sen.`Xilton
Young (R.-N. D.) that th :CIA4has on
its payroll a, number of h`igh' ranking
Communist officials, who are paid to
keep the U. S. informed on what's.
cooking in the conspiracy against
freedom, made us wince a bit at first
sight. But, as the Senator pointed out
In his matter-of-fact way, we've got
to. know these things if we are to
survive and there's no way that a,
hard-working American-born spy cal;
' get ahead in Communist governments.;
So we find a guy here, a guy there,
who is venal or may not like the way;
things are running at home, and we'
open a numbered ,account for him in~
some nice bank in Geneva. Or where-
ever he wants it.
nent and then picking him up, dusting
him off, and setting him up in business
so' he can undersell us. Billions of dol-
I Lars went into the task of breathing life
back into Italy, West Germany and in Central America has proposed that'
k Japan-three dire foes who cost us a the U. S. get rid of Fidel Castro by the
!million casualties and $330 billion in simplest device employable.
goods and Services. "Put six of his top people on the
We'd do the same for North Viet- payroll," he suggests. "Bank the money
Nam in a minute. Nobody knows that for them in Miami, not to be with-
better than Ho. If he gets himself too drawn until they dump him. in the
deep in' this war he has every right to name of a .free and democratic' Cuba.
expect to see most or all of his hard- It would be a lot cheaper and much
won industrial complexes blown to less bloody than another Bay of Pigs.
rubbish. In such an extremity; he'd And quicker."
probably'be forced to call openly on
The dollar
is Red China for help, and that would
mean the end of his little country,
and of him.
The President's speech offered him
:'an, opportunity to say to his people,
"Why fight Santa Claus?",
I SEE NOTHING shameful about Eastern Europe that is as determined
using the lever of the dollar. It's a about doing business with the U. S. as
f th it brethren are with bury-
better cricket- than nausea fumes. It
saves lives, gives enemies pause, and
tends to make friends, though not in-
`'variably this practice is denounced at
times as "dollar diplomacy," just as
the missionaries' were once accused of
?Converting vast assemblies of "rice
gyn... ~;;:. .~ .::~,.~,..,.....w-...~...y.=.?....., s
-
v-...,-- r--.-- role in breaking tough criminal cases,
and those who reap same are some-
itimes rubbed out foi their stoolie roles.'
But justice gets served amid this sor-
did commerce. There Is A solid com-
munity of Communist business men in
the Soviet Union and all through ,
some o
ing us..They are prevailing, too.
The buck, like the old gray mare,
may not be' what it used to be. But At
still has A helluva kick..
.l QNf~f llbdlln~ ~~fMM - _ _
Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00149R000800160041-5