letters to Congress and opinion polls, Johnson always triumphantly drew from his pocket the latest figures of his own private public opinion polls (which may have been provided by the CIA, the FBI or personal sycophants). Apparently even these figures have now changed. Johnson is reported. to be in a gloomy mood. He appears to be at the "nadir of his career," said the May 1 New York Times.
"Mr. Johnson's war has gone awry," the New York daily explained. "It is troubling the home economy and putting a crimp in his ambitious domestic plans."
On top of this, the president is becoming. increasingly. con-. . cerned at "criticism of the Vietnam war. -
"He plainly fears that the mounting criticism ultimately may make it impossible for him to fight the present limited war for limited objectives, and this gives him a rising sense of frustra-_ tion and offends his rather basic sense of patriotism. "
Besides the principle of the thing, political considerations. are involved. "The Administration's inability to.solve the Vietnam problem (U.N. Secretary General Thant said last week, 'The situation in Vietnam is going from bad to worse.') has put the President in a political bind between liberals who urge greater Peace efforts and conservatives ‘who advocate stronger military measures.
In other words, as against the warmongers, who want to plunge
ahead no matter what happens, Johnson is beginning to feel the weight of the countersentiment, arising at a grass-roots level from Maine to.. California. , ei art 2
. Speaking even more plainly 3 in its editorial. column, the: New. = York Times said that in Washington: and the U.S. as a whole "there is a growing feeling of impotence in the face of the social and political upheaval in Vietnam -- factors with which, it has become evident, American military power cannot deal and for which American diplomats have no adequate. answer." ;
Still: worse from the viewpoint of America! s imperialist rulers, "There is:*broad agreement about Vietnam, as every public opinion poll shows: the country wants out, and its representatives in Washington know it and agree."
But they don't know how to accomplish it without a terrific loss of face. How to find an "honorable oun? "For the moment , everyone is groping in the dark." vO a wid eld
It was against this background of crisis in the administration, that Johnson made a small concession. "Official sources" in =. Washington said April 28 that "President Johnson alone would. decide whether American planes would cross into Communist China on ‘hot pursuit! missions." The decision would not be left to either generals in the field or the Pentagon. ..
In view of the anonymity of the’ ‘source, . ‘the record of deliberate lies and the arrogation to one man alone -- and one suffering from megalomania -- of the power to decide whether or not to take the fatal step that could mean: nuclear destruction for all of humarity, there was not much cause for shouting over the concession.
More to the point was the satisfied observation of Hanson W. Baldwin, in the May 1 New York Times. This well-known American military expert said that the war in Vietnam has to a limited degree become "a proving ground of new military technology." The fights between American and Soviet-built fighting planes indicated to him that the American product was- superior -- "the "battle is the payoff.'" And he added: ;
"Vietnam, in a different way and to some extent a more limited degree, has become, like the Spanish civil war of 1936-39, a proving ground for new weapons , new tactics, new ideas." 7
What Baldwin aid not say -~ no doubt deliberately -- was that Spain was used by Hitler and Mussolini as a proving ground in their preparations for World War II. Will Vietnam turn out to be the proving ground for World War III? ae
In the light of this very serious possibility, it is quite ; evident that redoubled efforts must be made by the antiwar movement, . particularly in the United States, to stop the warmongers and turn them back. The slogan for this is "Withdraw U.S.Troops Now --: The Country Wants Out!"
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IMPRESSIVE ANTINUCLEAR MARCH IN BRUSSELS
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