HE war in Vietnam is now front page news. The facts behind the news are, however, little known to the general public. The American press, faithfully followed by British journalists, has set itself to deliberately distort or suppress the historical background, We are told that North Vietnam is a threat to the Free World and to peace. It was John Foster Dulles, in his -Holy crusade against Communism, who started this distortion. After Dien Bien Phu, when the best forces of the French colonial army were destroyed by General Giap and his guerrillas, the remainder of the French forces withdrew, creating a vacuum in terms of the cold war. Anthony Eden took the initiative when the Americans threatened to use atomic weapons against General Giap’s forces. He summoned the nations with interests in that area to a conference at Geneva under the joint chairmanship of Great Britain and the Soviet Union. The United States refused to take part in the deliberations but agreed to abide by their decisions. The Conference, which met in 1954, decided first of all that during an interim period, to give the country time to settle down, it should be divided along the 17th parallel: but that in 1956 free elections should be held over both North and South and the country then united. It was also decided that there should be no military intervention except for technical aid, and that the number of troops entering the country for this purpose should be limited. A Control Commission, consisting of contingents from Canada, Poland and India, three countries with no direct interest in that area, was set up. Its function was to guard against infringements, and to make periodic reports to the chairmen, who remained in permanent session. The puppet regime set up in the South was the direct creation of the USA. Almost at once military aid
was sent in under the guise of technical assistance. Even at the commencement, the numbers of “advisers” were vastly above the figure stipulated by the Conference. Of course, this aid is now openly made up of combat troops, planes and heavy artillery. Indeed, what fighting there is, is effectively being carried out by American troops. It is needless to stress that the 1954 clause about free elections has been ignored. When I was in both Hanoi and Saigon, some years ago, there was not even a postal link between the two parts of the counrty. Of the complaints made to the North, about eighty per cent. have been found to be justified. The war has now hotted up, and America, which has no direct legitimate interest in the area, except her holy war against Communism, is pushing the world to the brink of war. The people of South Vietnam want unity with their brothers of the North. Upon my visit I was convinced that Ho Chi Min is revered in every part of the country. He is affectionately styled as ‘Uncle Ho’ no less in the South than in the North. The political position in the South is chaotic. Only national unity will bring an end to the deep religious feuds which rage there. The Co-Chairmen have, up to now, been far too complacent. Britain has been stalling because of her ties with America, while the USSR is reluctant to act because of Mr. Krushchev’s dispute with the Chinese on co-existence. They must act now, or it will be too late.
John Baird
Readers of The Week will no doubt know of Mr. Baird as the former M.P. for Wolverhampton, who was a courageously outspoken supporter of the Algerians during the war with France. He is at present seriously ill in hospital. We are sure that Week readers will join us in wishing him a speedy recovery.
Durham Students
condemn
Vietnam war
T its meeting on March 7, 1965
the Durham University Labour
Club passed the following motion
unanimously, It is being sent to
Harold Wilson, Mr. Terry Pitt (Head
of Research), Mr. William Warbey,
M.P., and the Durham City Labour
Party and Mr. C. F. Grey, M.P. (for
Durham City):
“Durham University Labour Club
deplores the support given by the
present government to the United
States action in Vietnam. It calls on
the Government to give full support
to the motion put to the House by
William Warbey, M.P., calling for a
cease-fire and a negotiated settle-
ment.”
Attention is drawn to the follow-
ing points:
(a) A recent poll in the US has shown
that 81% of all Americans are
against the war in Vietnam.
(b)In August last year the Inter-
national Secretary of the Labour
Party said: “Mr. Wilson had,
when he was in Washington this
year, warned of the dangers of
the extension of the conflict into
North Vietnam...”
(c) Although the present government
appears intent on safeguarding
“British interest” East of Suez,
this does not entail support into
Vietnam. —
(d) There is no evidence at all to
support the idea that the US is
supporting democracy versus
Communist dictatorship in Viet-
nam or in any other part of S.E.
Asia. All the evidence is that the
North Vietnam Government has
much more popular support than
the oligarchies in Saigon, and this
applies in the South as much as
in the North. This really implies
a full US withdrawal from
Vietnam.