TUESDAY, MAY 9, 1967 THE MICHIGAN DAILY PAE TTiiMir TUESDAY, MAY 9,1967 THE MICHIGAN DAILY i l1vLI lnitc.G .r ir .r .. nomin . b 'Reveal Story Behind Unsuccessful Peace By JOHN M. HIGHTOWER WASHINGTON VP) -President ' Johnson had a man ,in Warsaw early last December read; and waiting to open secret peace talks with a representative of North Vietnam who never showed up. This peace probe failed. The reasons why are disputed between the U.S. and Polish governments. But the secret diplomacy which led to Warsaw produced the near- est approach yet to a U.S. and Communist statement on how the war might be settled. The statement may yet play an important part in bringing the war to an end, if it is ever to end through negotiation, some high officials here believe. The Warsaw maneuver, initiated and directed by Polish diplomats, had another result. Indirectly at least it led President Johnson to prohibit all U.S. bombing near the' North Vietnamese capital of Hanoi for more than four months. North Vietnam was invited through Polish and other diplo- matic channels to take some re- sponsive step of de-escalation but never did so. The story of this peace effort, from mid-November until two weeks ago when the bombs fell again at Hanoi, has been obtained from various official and diplo- matic sources. So far as official Washington is concerned, it can now be told be- cause the episode has ended in failure to produce either peace talks or a scaling down of the war. At the State Department, press oficer Robert J. McCloskey said he had no comment on the story. During the period there were three brief truces, at Christmas, New Year's, and the Vietnamese lunar new year in February. Johnson personally wrote a let- ter to President Ho Chi Minh of North Vietnam. Pope Paul VI, U.N. Secretary General U Thant, British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, Soviet Prime Minister Alexei N. Kosygin and others took a hand in the search for negotiations. In a sense the kickoff man for these endeavors was Januz Lew- andowski, a Polish member of the International Control Commission which operates in both Saigon and Hanoi. Lewandowski went to Hanoi in late November and on his return to Saigon about Dec. 1 he arrang- ed a secret session with Henry Cabot Lodge, then the U.S. am- bassador. Lewandowski told Lodge he be- lieved North Vietnam was pre- pared to open secret exploratory discussions with 'the United States. He did not interpose the condition that the United States would have to call off unconditionally the bombing of the north. The Polish diplomat gave Lodge a 10 point statement of topics and principles for the proposed talks. The statement constituted a Polish summary of what the United States would be willing to talk about, presumably based on pub- lished declarotions and previous Lewandowski talks with Lodge. Lewandowski said the North Viet- namese were also willing to talk about these points. President Johnson and Secretary of State Dean Rusk speedily ad- vised Lodge that the United States was willing to talk on the basis of the 18 point statement though some points would need clarifica- tion. Lodge suggested to Lewandowski that the talks shift to Warsaw, and Johnson instructed John A. with a North Vietnamese repre- Poland, to be ready for a meeting Gronouski, U.S. ambassador to sentative. Gronouski met with Polish For- eign Minister Adam Rapacki to disuss a U.S. desire for clarifica- tion of a couple of the 10 points. Rapacki warned Gronouski such clarification might block the whole project. Rapacki's strong resistance to the clarification proposal caused some concern in Washington where officials were not sure the Polish had any commitment from North Vietnam to go into the talks. Some high officials here doubted that Rapacki was in fact relaying U.S. views and readiness for talks to Hanoi. While these efforts were under way in Warsaw Dec. 6-12, the Johnson administration decided not to suspend air raids against North Vietnam, partly because there had been so many diplo- matic moves in the past and part- ly because the Communists were making terror strikes in the vicinity of Saigon. Informants now say an impor- tant element in the administration decision not to suspend the bomb- ing plan was an attack by Com- munist forces on Saigon's main airfield and an unsuccessful try to blow up a major bridge in Saigon. On Dec. 13-14 U.S. planes raid- ed transportation targets on the edges of Hanoi. Some explosives- whose source is controversial-fell in the city and there were loud protests that the United States was bombing the civilian popula- tion. Prbbe The plan for U.S. North Viet- namese talks fell through. Polish diplomats said privately that the United States had blown up the most hopeful peace initiative in a long time. U.S. officials simply said that the bombing gave the N4orth Viet- namese-or the Poles-a con- venient excuse to end that peace probe, if they needed one. But per- haps the bombing did have a real effect. Word was sent to the North Vietnamese that the United States would continue not to bomb Hanoi and would welcome any response action by North Vietnam. This proposition remained open during the various holiday truces, but nothing ever came of it. Viet Cong Claim Huge U.S. Losses Pentagon Cites Captured Papers In Exposing Hanoi's 'Exaggerations' TWO OBJECT: Supreme Court Rejects Pleas Of New York Demonstrators WASHINGTON (IP)-Top Viet Cong leaders in South Vietnam in- formed Hanoi late last year that Communists troops killed 88,000 i Americans during the first nine months of 1966, Pentagon sources disclosed yesterday. If that 'claim were correct, the Viet Cong would have wiped out well over one fourth of the peak U.S. strength in Vietnam in Sep- tember, 311,000. Defense figures for the same period, however, showed 3,558 American dead-and about 41,000 Commmunist killed. This amazing disparity between Government Still Fighting Poverty War WASHINGTON UP) - President Johnson said last night the gov- ernment is not backing away "from our commitment to fight poverty" despite the cost of the war in Vietnam. "Nor will we-so long as I have anything to say about it," the President said. "We have just begun." Again Johnson said people are wrong who claim the administra- tion is "spending too much or wasting too much on a losing battle to help poor Americans." Johnson told some 450 people attending a conference on women in the war on poverty that some Americans complain "we are spending too little, that we have 'backed away from our commit- ment to this war, because of our commitment to the other war-in Vietnam. "I say no-we are not backing off," Johnson said. "We are staying for the long pull." Johnson said the federal gov- ernment will spend $22 billion this year through all social programs to help the poor in America, and that sum will rise to $25.3 billion under the 1968 budget. He said that is 2 2 times as much as was spent in 1960. "To those who believe we are spending too much, I want to ad- dress a special word," Johnson said. "You and I are against crime in the streets, violence and de- linquency, the dulling effects of dependency on welfare. "We want our fellow men to be productive and responsible citi- zens," he said, not dropouts from our society. Johnson said the government has spent over $100 billion in the past six years to break the vicious circle of unemployment, bad hous- ing, bad schools, discrimination. what the Viet Cong claim to be achieving militarily in South Viet- nam and what is actually happen- ing was shown in a captured Com- munist document. The paper, among many seized in the fighting, was a report on the war by the presidium of the Communist military organization in South Vietnam, the Central) Office. Pentagon sources say it illus- trates how the Viet Cong may be deceiving their leaders in Hanoi, as well as their troops, about the progress of the Communist effort to overthrow Saigon. Officials feel the enemy's mask- ing of the true military situation may be one reason the North Viet- namese continue pressing the war despite growing allied power. In short, they appear to be victims of their own lies. U.S. officials last March spoke of. how the Viet Cong were deli- berately understating their battle losses while exaggerating Amer- ican casualties 20 to 40 times. The Associated Press asked for specific examples of distorted claims. Pentagon sources, while unwilling to provide copies of the documents because of intelligence reasons, gave excerpts from some captured papers. A report by the Viet Cong mil- itary staff of the Communist's Region 4 last November claimed 5,754 U.S. troops killed in the Chu Chat district northwest of Saigon '- tween Feb. 1 and Sept. 20, 1966. The Pentagon said actual U.S. losses were 276. Another Communist document, stamped top secret by intelligence experts because it contains a wealth of information about ene- my plans, stated that 48,522 Amer- icans were, as the Viet Cong phrased it, "put out of action" during the firht half of 1966. The Pentagon places American losses during the same period at 2,477. -Associated Press PARTY WITHOUT TRUMAN With former President Harry Truman not being able to attend, a birthday cake sits before his empty chair at the birthday party given for Truman by Henry Talge, left. Talge is reading the announcement of the Eddie Jacobson Memorial Foundation-an award to be given each year to a member of the U.S. Senate who has given distinguished service in foreign policy objectives. ARMY BAFFLED: Militar Junta Expertences Smooth Takeovear of Greece WASHINGTON OP)- The Su- preme Court let stand yesterday disorderly conduct convictions of 17 New Yorkers who participated in the Times Square area in mid- summer 1964. However, the 7 to 2 ruling drew from the dissenters, Justices Wil- liam 0. Douglas and Abe Fortas, objections that the majority failed to state its views on the free speech questions raised for the defendants by the New York Civil Liberties Union. "Where First Amendments rights are involved as they are here," Douglas wrote, "we have been meticulous to insist upon clear cut violations of ordinances protecting law and order, lest broad or fuzzy applications be used to suffocate or impair the exercise of those constitutional rights." The unsigned majority opinion was only one sentence, saying the appeal, heard last month, had been "improvidently granted"- meaning that the high court should never have taken the case. In another major decision, the court gave new protection from prosecution to distributors of pub- lications some consider obscene. It said "girlie" magazines and spicy paperbacks were covered by the First Amendment free speech provision. In a 7 to 2 decision it threw out obscenity rulings against publish-f ers and retailers of 10 magazines and two paperbacks.a "Wa have concluded, in short, that the distribution of the pub- lications in each of these cases is convicted under state obscenity, protected by the First and 14th laws. Amendments from governmental However, the majority decided suppression, whether criminal or that the magazines and paper- civil," the unsigned opinion said. backs before the court cannot be The ruling, in cases from Ar- legally held obscene-and there- kansas, Kentucky and New York, fore the court did not resolve the followed seven months of delibera- contents question. tion. Justices John M. Harlan, and This caused Harlan and Clark Tom C. Clark dissented. to complain that "the court dis- The sweep of the obscenity rul- poses of the cases on the issue that ing was a surprise. The court took was deliberately excluded from re- the three cases ostensibly to de- . cide whether knowledge of the view, and refuses to pass on the contents of a publication must be questions that brought the cases shown before a retailer -can be here." U.S. Protests Hanoi Parade Of Pilots Captured in North WASHINGTON {P)-The United. 39, and Lt. James R. Shively, 25, States yesterday protested in all based in Thailand. They were strong terms the parading through downed Friday during a strike six the streets of Hanoi of three miles east of Hanoi, according to American pilots shot down over an American spokesman in Saigon. the Hanoi area. The State Department spokes- The State Department fired off man said "we are concerned that a protest to the International American prisoners of war were Committee of the Red Cross in paraded and put on display at the Geneva and indicated that further press conference. It is a flagrant action would be taken through di- violation of the Geneva conven- plomatic channels if the Geneva tions of war." Red Cross group did not get a re- Article 13 of the convention dress from the North Vietnam stipulates that prisoners of war regime. must at all times be protected Press officer Robert J. McClos- against acts of violence or in- key disclosed that the protest to timidation and against insults and Geneva called attention especially public curiosity. to what he said were indications "We have repeatedly called on that one or more of the three Hanoi to live up to the Geneva pilots were wounded and ailing. Convention. The United States is Geneva Treaty . sending a protest through the In- Pointing out that North Viet- ternational Committee of the Red nam had signed the Geneva con- Cross." vention on the treatment of war Accounts from Hanoi indicated prisoners in 1957, McCloskey said that Col. Hughes appeared to be "they don't seem to give a damn suffering from a back injury and all about taking care of their re- was wounded. Larson was said to sponsibilities to adhere to the be in a state of shock. Geneva convention." The United States has long Press reports from Hanoi on sought to influence Hanoi through Saturday identified the U.S. pilots the International Committee of as Lt. Col. James L. Hughes and Lt. the Red Cross to give better treat- Col. Gordon Albert Larson, each ment to American prisoners. ATHENS (P) - The military junta in Greece appears to have run into an unforeseen develop- ment. It may not have expected its takeover to go so smoothly. As a result, some diplomats be- lieve, the officers in charge are being forced to face this critics' question earlier than anticipated: What do they intend to do with the government they now rule? The army established itself in power with remarkable speed after the April 21 coup. The coup itself was virtually bloodless. And there have been no violent or passive demonstrations since. New Government Greeks are waiting to see what the new government comes up with in the future. It seems clear from the leaders' vague and sometimes contradic- tory statements that they simply do not yet know. They have promised a "new Greek state," a revised constitution and a new government. They have spoken about strengthening the executive branch over the legis- lative. New Greece Brig. Stylianos Patacos, the in- terior minister and one of the most powerful new leaders, in- dicated doubt to one group of for- eign reporters as to whether there would be a Parliament in the "new Greece," but to another group he said definitely there would be. The new constitution, expected to be placed before the people inI a referendum, is not expected to be ready in the very near future., Speculation There has been some specula- tion on what the new government would be like. The executive branch could be strengthened by making the pre- miership an elected position, like the U.S. presidency, instead of appointive by the king. An alter- native would be to keep appointing the premier as in the past, but to give him a mandate for four or more years during which he could not be ousted by a parliamentary vote of no confidence. A new Parliament, most agree, would be cut from 300 members to 150. Analysts do not exclude the pos- sibility that the junta's military leaders will run for office as civil- ians in any future elections. South Arabia Hopes for Change In Britain's Plans To Withdraw World News Roundup LONDON (P)-Britain was re- ported yesterday to be standing fast on plans to quit South Arabia next year-despite new pleas to stay on in strength by leaders of that troubled region. Informed sources also disclosed that a special British envoy will fly black to the Middle East this week with high hopes of face to face talks with top men among South Arabia's self-exiled nation- alist groups. He is Lord Shackle- ton, minister without portfolio. On the eve of a state visit by King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, in- formants outlined a series of pro- posals awaiting endorsement of the British Cabinet in the next few days. Leaders of the country's fed- eral regime urged the British t1- rough Shackleton recently to rM7 defer independence day and to provide ironclad commitments for the defence of the new state against aggression. Faisal himself, who fears an Egyptian military thrust into South Arabia, also wants the Brit- ish to provide these guarantees. French Fold Is Here! By The Associated Press NEW YORK-A member of the journalism jury that screened en- tries for the 1967 Pulitzer Prize in national reporting said today the five man panel "never even saw" the entry of the ultimate winners --Stanley W. Penn and Monroe W. Karmin of the Wall Street Journal. Paul Sann, executive editor of the New York Post, said columnists Drew Pearson and Jack Anderson were the unanimous choice of the jury ,not only for their series on the financial affairs of Sen. Thomas J. Dodd (D-Conn), but also for their disclosures involving the actions of Rep. Adam Clayton Powell (D-NY), as chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. * * * WASHINGTON-AFL-CIO Pres- ident George Meany denied yester- day renewed reports of widespread subsidies from the Central Intel- ligence Agency for U.S. labor pro- grams over seas. Meany denied a Saturday Even- ing Post report that some $2 mil- lion was funneled from the CIA through American unions. I Eli A completely unique method of folding laundered shirts. minates unsightly wrinkles and crushed or curled collars. Shirts store neatly in 1/3 less space. Better than shirts on hangers. Ask for French-Fold from. Ir IT'11'11 TTI n VlT11i1i 1 tH I f 1f HIf IHITTIIITIII IIIl 1' ,ar t r 4. .1 r III11 im I CINEMA II presents GEORGE SEGAL TOM COURTENAY KING RAT (1965; directed by Brian Forbes) "Best since BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI" -N.Y. Journal American TUESDAY NOON, MAY 9, 11:30 A.M.-1:15 P.M. William Sloane Coffin, Jr. Chaplain Yale Univ. Recruiting STUDENTS for VIETNAM SUMMER 1967 asks What Are YOU Doing During VIETNAM SUMMER 1967? I W', .' Penm Iron by 2RRO' The shit that's boat ironed. and stays ironed. This luxuriou blend of 65% was 1a f . w ° 1b r P Ii lW11 Vii111 ii llilIlilial list t I e ',.I t f s'" ;hr l ! Y e r at the STUDENT CENTER-METHODIST+ (Huron & State) CHURCH q~ Yt I'e '3 rF w N p3 MS B{ r1 Is V. !. a# r' i e~ t' i 311 9M li I I1 S 'S. (Lunch: Brown bag or 25c; coffee free) Martin Luther King, Jr. Dacron* polyester, 35% cotton is completely machine washable and tumble dries to a wrinkle-free 'I I .M I ii II~iIIIIIIIIIIfIIf"I I. I -- "t I