AMERICA AND THE TERRIBLE LOGIC OF VIETNAM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP77M00144R000500080104-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 5, 2004
• Sequence Number: 104
• Publication Date: May 14, 1975
• Content Type: OPEN

May 14,. 19 5 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-Extensions o
16 tourist promotion agencies in the
United States, we have one in Canada.
I find this especially frustrating because
this country abounds in spectacular
scenery, fascinating events, interesting
places, and friendly people. We have a
proud heritage and history. that offers
excitement and interest to the American
and international traveler alike. With
our Bicentennial around the- corner, I
think it is important for us to make the
most of an opportunity to familiarize as
many people as possible with the. out-
standing qualities which comprise the
United States. Understanding our unique
past will provide strength for the future.
During the hearings on the bill, I was
dismayed with the administration's
lackadaisical attitude toward tourism. ]t
is high time the administration wake up
to the needs and impact of the tourism
industry.
Compared to other countries, the
United States is almost shameful in its
tourism expenditures. While we were
spending $9.1 million in 1973, Ireland
spent $24.7 million, Canada $21.6 mil-
lion, Israel $18.3 million, Turkey $14 mil-
lion, Greece $12.7 million, France $11
milion, Belgium $10.9 million, and I could
go on and on.
H.R. 5357 takes a significant first step
in the direction of recognizing the critical
need for total Government commitment
to this vital American industry, tourism.
ileged to know and work with Dr. McGov-
knows well the enormous dimension
ern
of her self-sacrificing compassion for
others.. It is a distinct pleasure to speak
on Dr. McGovern's behalf today, and I
am sure that my colleagues join with me
in tribute to this fine person. _
AMERICA AND THE TERRIBLE
LOGIC OF VIETNAM
HON. PHILIP M. CRANE
OF ILLINOIS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Wednesday, May 14, 1975
Mr. CRANE. Mr. Speaker, many in the
United States speak of the end of. the
war in Vietnam as if it represented some-
thing other than victory for Communist
aggression and something other than de-
feat for both the United States and the
cause of freedom, independence, and
self-determination in the world.
The United States committed more
than 500,000 men to battle, and lost more
than 5 0,00.0, in order to prevent aggres-
sion from succeeding. We failed in that
attempt. We failed not because of a su-
perior enemy or overpowering odds but,
quite to the contrary, because of a fail
ure of will. Because success did not come
quickly, we welcomed defeat. This is
what the Communists counted upon and
events have proven them correct.
HON. WILLIAM M. KETCHUM
OF CALIFORNIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Wednesday, May 14, 1975
Mr. KETCHUM. Mr. Speaker, I am
honored today to call to the attention of
the Congress the accomplishments of one
of Kern County, Calif.'s most active and
dedicated residents, Dr. Elcy McGovern
of Bakersfield. Dr. McGovern has served
her community and Nation in countless
ways with dedication and selflessness.
On Saturday, May 24, 1975, she will be
honored by Kern County Economic Op-
portunity Corporation. I am proud to be
@ble to participate in this way.
Dr. McGovern has made a notable
contribution to the educational program
in the county of Kern, and has shown a
great sensitivity to the needs of people.
Her retirement from the education field
did not curtail her interest. For the past
7 years, she has contributed her time,
energy, and knowledge in her service to
the Kern County Economic Opportunity
Corporation.
Her complete dedication and support
to the agency has been demonstrated in
her active membership on the executive
board, as an appointee of the superin-
tendent of schools. She has served as a
member of the by-laws and procedures
committee, evaluation committee, per-
sonnel committee, delegate agency com-
mittee, executive committee, and as sec-
retary of the board of directors.
Certainly, she is deserving of this rec-
ognition. Everyone who has been priv-
While many in the Congress believe
that the abandonment of South Viet-
AMERICA AND THE TERRIBLE LOGIC OF
-.? VIETNAM
(By Peregrine Worsthorne)
It was a disturbing experience to be in
Washington during this past week. At one
level, in rejecting utterly the Administra-
tion's case for last-ditch aid to give the
South Vietnamese a final chance, the Con-
gress and the media have reason on their
side. Why pour further American money and
equipment down the drain? After all,
Churchill refused to send those RAE' squad-
rons to succour France In 1940. But he did
so - with an anguished heart, knowing that
Britain's very life depended on Saying "no."
This, however, has not all been the mood
of Congress..It has elevated its determina-
tion to refuse further aid into an act of al-
most heroic virtue, treating President Ford's
Impassioned pleas with derisive contempt.
as if it was upholding American pride and
honour while he was seeking to Impugn
.them.
When the Secretary of State went before
the Senate Appropriation Committee to
argue the President's case, he was treated like
a criminal in the dock, with the Senators
seeming to take pride in proclaiming their
faith in American Impotence, in the point-
lessness of further intervention, as if their
recognition of the inevitability of defeat was
a form of high courage which would earn
them an honoured place in history.
I watched them filing out, their heads
held high, posturing proudly before the tele-
vision cameras, for all the world as if sealing
the fate of South Vietnauf was their' finest
hour, the moment when they walked with
destiny.
LITTLE SENSE OF SFIAME
What is extraordinary and shocking about
the manner- in which the United-ftate?'has
observed the collapse. of its client state-is its
undertones of--ee'lf-congratulatto7li, not so
-much a. traumas, -more a cavse-far satisfac-
tion. Only the President and"the'Sb&etary of
State sist on using the language of shame,
and iney are mocked -for it; more than
mocked; castigated and reviled; accused al-
nam was virtuous, history may tell a far..
different story. The distinguished deputy,
editor of the London Telegraph, Pere-
grine Worsthorne, was in Washington
during; the time in which Vietnam was
abandoned. His reports are instructive.
Mr. Worsthorne notes that:
It was a, disturbing experience to be in
Washington during this past week ... Con-
gress . has elevated its determination to
refuse further aid Into an act of almost
heroic virtue, treating President Ford's im-
passioned pleas with derisive contempt, as if
it was upholding honor while he was seek-
ing to impugn them.
When Secretary of State Kissinger ap-
peared before the Senate Appropriations
Committee, Mr. Worsthorne reported:
He was treated like a criminal in the dock,
with the Senators seeming to take pride in
proclaiming their faith in American im-
potence, in. the pointlessness of further in-
terven-Sion, as if their recognition of the in-
evitability of defeat was a form of high
courage which would earn them an honoured
place In history.
Mr. Wo:rsthorne declared that:
I watched them filing out, their heads
held high, posturing proudly before the tele-
vision cameras, for an the world as if sealing
the :fate of South Vietnam was their finest
hour, the moment when they walked with
destiny.
I wish to share with my colleagues the
report of this perceptive British observer
as it appeared in the London Daily Tele-
graph and insert into the RECORD at this
time the article, "America and The Ter'
rible Logic of Vietnam," 'by Peregrine
Worst-borne :
most of an un-American activity.
It could be that this will be only a passing
phase, and that as the reality of the Com-
munist take-over in Saigon begins to impinge
there will be a recovery of concern about the
consequences of the American washing of
hands; washing of hands ceasing to be re-
spectable once it is seen to be taking place
in, a? bloodbath. But I doubt It. For it is diffi-
cult to exaggerate the extent to which there
is now a vested interest among all those who
observe foreign affairs to see no evil; to make
the best of a bad job.
So much moral capital has been. Invested
in the effort to get America out of Vietnam,
so many newspaper editorials, political
speeches, and pulpit sermons, such a wealth
of passion, that it seems almost impossible
for the American people to recognise that
this withdrawal crusade-for such it has
become-may also lead to disaster, just as
the crusade to get America in led to disaster.
Indeed the way in which America is trying
to end its involvement In Vietnam is
strangely similar to the way in which it all
began.
The Washington establishment then, those
Kennedy New Frontiersmen, could not bear
to see the ugly possibilities inherent in the
original involvement, so' utterly convinced
were they of its moral necessity. There is
exactly the same belief In the possibility of
limited consequences, about the decision to
- What disengage. noticed in Washington last week
was the same kind of moralising fantasies
that caused America to mislead herself about
Vietnam in the first plaoe,.repeating them-
selves like some -dreadful echo from the past.
"Because America's motives are so right
In getting out,! the argument runs, "no evil
Approved For Release 2004/11/29: CIA-RDP77M00144R00050008 1Q4
 E 2420 Approved F~ ff 1128 81 P171t ens:44ROQ0 emar s04-7 ay'1k, 1975
x enstons o1 sear s
can flow from it. The American retreat from
empire will be quite different from all other
retreats from empire, Just as the American
advance into empire had been assumed to be
going to be quite different from all other ad-
vances Into empire. Surely the world will
understand. America to abandoning her allies
for the best of motives; dishonouring bee ob-
ligations out of high-minded altruism. When
we do these things, it Is not like other nations
doing them, because we are Americans, God's
elect."
As American intervention began, so Is It
ending-in self-deception, self-righteousness.
and Utopian dreams, with one form of eu-
phoria replacing another, one lot of puerile
assumptions about the innocence of Amerl-
earlier lot about the innocence of American
entry.
It seems to me terribly Important that this
state of affairs should be properly understood
in Western Europe. The truth is that Amer-
ica is getting out of Vietnam in the same
dangerous way as she got in; that is to say,
In a gioud of unknowing, the only difference
being that whereas the mistake in the past
sprang from a naive innocence about the
dangers of one form of rhetoric-the rhetoric
of power-the mistake today springs from
naive innocence about another form of
rhetoric: the rhetoric of impotence.
But the appalling lesson that they learnt
about the dangers inherent in the use of
power has not taught them to be cautious,
as it should, about the inherent dangers of
the non-use of power. The price and cost, and
potential tragedy of the destruction of Amer-
ican power are today no more understood
than a few years ago were the price and cost,
and potential tragedy of its creation.
MCCARTHY-LIRE ATI!OSP51ERE
make the extraordinary case the back-
lash a ainst - tless its intelii-
gonc a- M nr and invert gpgr~~at~ion~s had
got met of centre -Slit so ow has 4-.h. regC-
t10" ?g",,,c++v,n
It has meant nothing, less than the de-
moralisation of a large part of the Americaun
foreign policy establishment, most of those
work at some point has involved them in
.?ork, either directly or tangentially. So
they wake up each morning waiting to read
some revelation in the newspapers which will
involve them In ruinous "scandal."
With so many members of Congress bent
on cleansing the Augean Stables, how could
it be otherwise? The atmosphere is not wholly
unlike that of the McCarthy years, witll CIA.
links-now held to be tantamount to Fascist
links--replacing Communist links as the
smear.
On visits to Washington over the years I
have been staying at the Metropolitan Club,
which is the equivalent of White's, the
Travellers and the Athenaeum rolled into
one. It is there, at lunchtime, that the ea-
tablishment meet. During the Kennedy years
it was, for a British visitor, a wonderfully
touching and nostalgic experience to listen
to the American pro-consuls discussing the
business of empire like characters out of Kip-
ling. The place was alive with the small-talk
of great affairs. But no longer.
That necessary confidence that binds a
governing class together in mutual trust has
melted away under the heat of Congressional
inquiry and media attack. Nobody trusts
anybody.
The point that needs to be understood
seems to me this: 15 years ago the relation- almost more alarming, since an American
ship between the White House and Congress, political and social climate that can induce
between the media and both, the vocabulary paronla among Its leaders is itself a matter
of public discussion in the Press and televi- of the gravest possible concern.
sion, the moral mood. all these might have Perhaps Congressional obstruction, and
led me to expect, and guard against, the ex- media criticism and a general popular mood
cesses of imperial adventure. of deep disillusion with American foreign
Today there is cause to expect, and guard policy have driven the Administration mad.
against, the excesses of post-imperial guilt. But that is the most disturbing conclusion
Whereas the mood in Washington then was of all, since, if this Administration does not
pregnant with one form of imprudence, so renew American faith in the defence oLfree-
today is it pregnant with another. doe, there is none other on the political
Approved For Release 2004/11/29: CIA-RDP7
Both the President and the Secretary of horizon more likely to do better--or even
State have warned about this, but the latter half as well.
is assumed to be lamenting only his own It would be nice to end on a note of cheer.
predicament, and the former echoing only "Come on," I said to an old Washington
that lamentation awe a puppet. (Quite friend whose judgment over the years I have
wrong, incidentally, lord is very much his come to respect, "tell me something Comfort-
own man, and very much more impressive ing" He thought for a long while, brow fur-
than is yet apparent). rowed by the strain, and I began to fear the
I
'd P]ERINa worst. Then, tbo my infinite relief, his face
a 4.r 0N
What, then, is it that they fear? Layne e began to lighten'
'The destrticttonaf Israel" he saSd, "that's
specific.. It Is that: I going to set The alarm bells ringing., Nothing
Communist China will lose Interest In else will bring us to our senses and stop the
rapprochement with the United States, the
whole value of which. ,from Peking's point How dark must be the tunnel of despair
of view, rested on assumptions about the de- if that Is the only light of hope at the end
termination of the United States to resist the of it.
Soviet Union. Any sign of a diminution of
that deternninatio:n--and how can acceptance
of defeat in Vietnam not be taken as such a
sign?--will? therefore, tend to undermine the
delicate relationship between the United
States and China.
This in turn will prompt China to look for
a new source of strength against the Soviet
Union, to replace the flattering American
giant: obviously Japan. which must also be
reconsidering its total military reliance on
the United States. The logic of Vietnam, In
short, is to compel both China and Japan to
come together, a diplomatic and military
revolution of Incalculably dangerous
significance.
The North Koreans will use this moment
of American disarray to launch a new attack
on South Korea. and China will no longer
have the incentive to use Its influence to
prevent such a move.
The:re are two American defence treaty
commitment. Is it conceivable iii the present
American mood that Congress would allow
this to be honoured?
Communist parties in Western Europe,
sensing American lack of continuing sen-
sitivity to the spread of Communist influ-
ence will grow less cautious, and, be encour-
aged to do so by the Soviet Union. Because
the United States has adopted a, low profile
in face of a Communist take-over in one
Nato ally, Portugal, this will encourage the
French and Italian parties to expect the
same passive reaction to similar political de-
velopraent there, with results that would de-
stroy the cohesion of Nato.
West European Conservative and Social
Democratic forces, sensing a turning of the
tide In world affairs, will begin to grow re-
signed and fatalistic.
And. most important of all, the United
States, itself, observing these developments,
about which in the present condition of frac-
tured political leadership It will be able to do
nothing, will grow increasingly Isolationist,
concluding that its only sensible course is to
concentrate exclusively on protecting its own
interests.
A by-product of this would be neros eco-
nomic nationalism since, in the absence of
satisfying and promising outletei for the use
of Arneric:an power In the diplomatic and
security areas. the full thrust of American
pride and purpose would be degraded into
areas of economic domination, where Amer-
ican power can still get results.
STOPPING THE SOT
Such are some of the fears of the American
Administration, quite openly expressed. Are
they reasonable or paranoid? In my view
RESOLUTION OF JACKSONVILLE,
FLORIDA CITY COUNCIL
.HON. CHARLES E. BENNETT
OF FLORIDA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Wednesday, May 14. 1975
Mr. BENNETT. Mr. Speaker, today I
would like to insert in the RacoRn a reso-
lution of interest to all my colleagues.
This resolution, passed by the Jackson-
ville. Fla. city council on April. 8, 1975,
strongly urges Congress to focus Its at-
tention on the needs of permanent pro-
grams administered by local govern-
ments. These permanent programs have
been neglected and underfunded by
Congress due to the emphasis on tem-
porary public service programs. This res-
olution merits our close attention. It
makes sense to me. The text of the reso-
lution follows: -
RssoLVTION 75-855-104
(A resolution urging the Congress of the
United States to alleviate unemployment
by increasing funding of presently exist-
ing permanent programs rather than by
creating temporary public service employ-
ment programs; providing an effective
date.)
Whereas, the economic condition of this
country to deteriorating; and
Whereas, fiscal legislative remedies in the
past have taken the form of programs de-
signed to create temporary public service
Jobs; and
Whereas, there an nVmerous presently
existing meritorious permanent programs ad-
ministered by local governments which are
not adequately funded; and
Whereas, economic stimulus would be just
as effective and have a greater utility to so-
ciety if the Congress of the United States
Increased funding to presently existing per-
manent programs administered by local gov-
ernments In lieu of funding tempi rary pub-
lic service employment programs; now, there-
fore -
Be it resolved by the Council of the City
of Jacksonville:
Section 1. The Congress of the United
States is urged to alleviate deterioration of
the economic health of the nation with fiscal.
legislation that would increase funding of
presently existing permanent programs which
are in dire need of funds rather than by
creation of temporary public service employ-
ment programs.
Section 2. The Council Secretary shall pro-
vide copies of this resolution to the Honor-
able Lawton M. Chiles, Jr" the .Honorable
Richard B. Stone, and the Honorable Charles
E. Bennett.
Seotion S. Thi .UctElluoa abash become ef-
fectdse upon signiture- by am Wagor? or upon
M yor's: Sig-
becoming affection ,without t ho