MORSE COMMENTS ON GALLUP POLL AND JOHNSON'S COURSE
Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon had some. pungent things to say in the U.S.Senate June 21 concerning Johnson's intimations at a press conference June 18 [see World Outlook June 24] that he intends to take the escalation of the war in Vietnam up another notch despite the sharp rise in antiwar feeling among the American people as indicated by the latest Gallup poll.
"The President warned of increased air raids on ‘North Vietnam and enlarged ground action in South Vietnam" as a concession to the sector that wants a bigger military effort in Vietnam, said Morse.
"The President could have pointed out to these people that even in March, the tonnage of bombs dropped was exceeding the monthly rate of | tonnage dropped in all of Europe in World War II.
“This” is “no Small war. From the standpoint of the use of American air power and- ‘pombing power it already is a massive war.
_ ."Bombing Vietnam.with more bombs than we dropped all across the face of Europe is hardly a policy of military restraint.
"In the sense of our air bombing, this is total war. Far from forcing the enemy to negotiate, it’has not even ‘prevented them from increasing their assistance to the Vietcong." ms
This should. be evidence enough, continued Morse, that something is basically wrong with the policy being followed by the Pentagon, the State Department and the White House.
"Tt should be evident by now that the administration believes the only. thing wrong with its policy is that it has not yet used enough force in southeast Asia to bring a peace settle-
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ment. on.our terms. How much force will. be enough, Mr. President, I ask. you?:-1t appears that the world is going to find out soon from the President, if he carries out the announcement made at his most unfortunate press conference last Saturday.
"A: part” of. the picture. which the President did not fill in will be the increasing takeover of the war in the South by the United States. General Ky has been compelied to use his military forces to institute a police state totalitarianism. If this is what is meant by 'pacification,' his troops will do more fighting against the Buddhists and, students than they did against the Vietcong. 5 “Mr. President, this is one of the sad things about this war, that we are killing American boys in Vietnam while the Vietnamese themselves are. engaged in a religious war. We find this under the leadership..of the little tyrant, Ky, who never fought the French. In fact, we find that the military dictatorship which the Johnson _ administration is supporting in Vietnam is composed of a majority . of military officers who never fought the French. A good many of ' them were on the side.of the French against their own people, as a matter of fact. That is the record of the unconscionable course of U. Ss. outlawry in South Vietnam.
--. MOf ‘course, this fact is generally known in many parts of the world but not by enough Americans. I say most respectfully that I am satisfied when the American people do come to know and to understand, the Johnson administration will find an even greater dip in the polls in support of the President of the United States."
So long as the buildup.of forces continues in Vietnam, Morse said, there will be no peace. And without peace, U.S. troops will be maintained in Vietnam.
"When I read” the Gallup poll, which reports that a rising proportion of public opinion is ready to pull out of Vietnam altogether -- and which I happen to believe would be a mistake -- I have a hunch that the American people recognize that the type of war being fought in Vietnam is not going to permit any withdrawal of the half million American troops it will take to suppress the enemy. We are not fighting a foreign invader; we are going to become the occupation force because we are the invader. We, the United States, are the aggressor. While we can maintain that position in South Vietnam, we will never be able to create a.strong and stable enough government to enable us to leave. Indeed, as the economic and military strength of China grows over the years, the necessity for continuous U.S. occupation-of Vietnam to maintain a pro-U.S.Government will probably grow with it." —
Johnson's policy offers no way out, in Morse's opinion. "For we see no end to this road if we continue to follow the road down which the administration is leading us. We see no end but continued occupation of this part of Asia and probably larger areas of Asia as we become more. and more involved. in a larger and larger war. there.
"AS. more and more of our people come to appreciate the consequences of the military buildup, more and more are going to conclude that orderly withdrawal is preferable to eternal occupation ofa. country 8,000 miles away." :,
“Morse stated that in "my judgment, the continuation of the President's war -- and it has now become the President's. war in. southeast Asia -- will involve more and more men, more. and more - casualties, more and more costs and finally, more and more. danger of our leading mankind into a third world war."
.. While saying many true things, Morse's position is not at all a revolutionary one. He reveals the bourgeois limitations of his opposition to Johnson by indicating-.once again that his differences are purely tactical. He in fact advocates a policy of maintaining . U.S. troops in Vietnam but of keeping them in "enclaves" as proposed &y General Ridgway, General Gavin and George Kennan.
‘The dangerous and even insane character of Johnson' s policy is well enough indicated by the fact that a sector of the American ruling class is very fearful of the final consequences of Johnson's course. It is these fears that are reflected in Morse's position.
“The antiwar movement should not allow itself to be misled by figures like Morse but it should not hesitate in the least to broadcast the true things they may say about Johnson's war in Vietnam.