Johnson is not a professionally trained diplomat nor has he had any extensive experience with the intricacies of international negotiation. But he is an:old and inveterate poker player -- and
-6< -
that background alone gives him-an unclouded vision of the high stakes and the basic rules of any prospective bargaining session. He knows that the first requirement for negotiation over Southeast Asia is the assurance that he can bargain successfully. He knows ~and he intuitively respects -- Hanoi's current upbeat assessment of its mission to invest and overcome South Vietnam. He asks rhetorically why would Communist North Vietnam want to come to the bargaining table --. and why would it be interested in serious negotiations -- when it seems to hold so many high cards?" [Newsweek, March 8.]
Looking for a Sellout
"The Johnson Administration is neither willing to accept defeat nor bold enough to face the consequences of an extended war, and so it is in a tight spot. This is the real background to the constant talk in Washington about so-called negotiations from positions of strength.
- . "The aim of the Johnson Administration is quite clear -- to get at the conference table what it could not get on the battlefield. It wants to bind the south Viet Nam liberation forces hand and foot, and strengthen the positions of the U.S. forces and the puppet regime.so as to get a breathing spell. Isn't it too much wishful thinking on Johnson's part to hope to grab back at the conference table what it has lost on the battlefield? Can anything ever be so easy for the United States? Peace in Viet Nam can_be readily achieved, but it can be only after the U.S. aggressors have withdrawn from south Viet Nam an sertainly not before. The United States must stop its aggression and intervention in Indo-China and let the Indo-Chinese peoples settle their own problems." [Translation of February 19 Renmin Ribao editorial, published in the February 26 issue of Peking. Review. Emphasis added by Peking Review. ]
y The Real Stakes are Very High oe
"PALO ALTO -- American air attacks on North Vietnam are a prelude to U.S. bombing of Red China's nuclear test sites, Sen. Wayne Morse (D - Ore.) charged at Stanford University Wednesday.
"Morse, a long time foe of U.S. policy in South Vietnam, was asked if he thinks we have escalated the war to improve our position at the bargaining table.
ITLL tell you what it is -- it is preparatory to boning the nuclear test sites in Red China,! Morse replied.
"tThey intend to provoke her and provoke her until she makes a misstep, then we'll hit the nuclear site in Red China and when they do that, the big show is on.!
"we said that in this event, it is doubtful Russia would refrain from entering the war on Red China's side.
~Te --
"tvyou can't win a war in Red China by bombing from the air,! he told an audience of 2,000. ‘If the war escalates and China sends troops into Vietnam, then we will have to send_300,000 American sole diers, and that's a minimum, into Vietnam.'" [Exclusive dispatch to the Los Angeles Times, March 4, ]
Insanity Is Involved
"Imagine a nice sack with a few billion cubic meters of Chinese sand hanging in the air. Underneath, a ladder; on the ladder, a fireman armed with an ax; below, a funetionary of the Vietcong saw-— ing the steps he can reach. Each time a step goes, the fireman climbs a step and swings the ax over his head; when he reaches the top of the ladder (this is the 'position of strength!) he will hit the sack. . SO
"At least that's how I visualize ‘escalation! and its captivating gradual method,
"As to what will happen when the fireman hits the sack with a harder ax-blow than usual, you would have to be a prophet to say.
tA number of American experts believe that intimidated by such energy, the sack will collapse.
"That just what bothers me. There's a chance, in that case, for a lot of sand to come pouring down." [anaré Frossard. in the Paris Le Figaro, March 4.]
LEFT WING COMMUNISTS WIN IN KERALA
By Kailas Chandra
BOMBAY, Mar. 6 -=- The Left Communist party led by E.M.S. Namboodiripad emerged as the largest single party, capturing 40 seats in the 1353-member legislative Assembly of Kerala state in the midterm elections held on March 4. Twenty-eight of these are held under detention, along with the Communist leaders recently arrested and detained by the Union government under the so-called Defence of India Rules. Namboodiripad, the only leader outside prison, has been elected, trouncing his Right CPI [Communi st party of India] rival by a margin of 7,500 votes.
The Congress party has, however, become the second largest group in the new Assembly with 36 members. The "Kerala Congress" -a group of rebel Congressmen who forced fresh elections in the state by. voting the ministry led by R. Shanker out of office -- has secured 23 seats.
~ Bue oe
'. . One of the significant outcomes of the elections in Kerala was the total rout of the Dangeite "Rightist™ Communist party which seeured only two seats out of 78 candidates it had fielded as part of the “United Front of Left" with the Revolutionary Socialist party [RSP] and "progressive" independents. The RSP also did not secure any seat in the Assembly. ,
The Samyukta Socialist party [SSP] which had an electoral” ~ Yadjustment" with the Left CPI got 12 seats while the Muslim‘ League, a party representing the Muslim minority.in the state, got six. Ten “independents, some of whom were supported by the Left CP, have been returned. The Swatantra party has also made its appearance in the state politics for the first time by returning one member to the Assembly. (Results from two more constituencies are still to be announced, )
- -On the. eve of the elections an attempt was made to form a united front of the various left parties in the state. The Right CPI and the RSP could not agree with the Left CPI on the question of seeking an electoral adjustment with the Muslim League in some constituencies, - :
Although no party has secured a clear majority in the 133member Assembly, the Left CPI is.in position to form a government in coalition with, or with the support of, its electoral allies, namely the SSP, independents and perhaps the Muslim League. The Right CPI will be left with no alternative but. to support such a ministry.
The Union Home Minister G.L.Nanda had, however, said before the elections that the Left Communists would not be released even if elected to the Assembly, as their arrests were not related to the Kerala elections. During a recent visit to Kerala, Nanda boasted that he was "allowing pro-Peking