Confronting some lessons of a Vietnam experience -Daily -Larry Rubbin~i Fighting the enemy within By STEVE ANZALONE Editorial Page Editor THE MORATORIUM has been a dramatic and instructional confrontation between traditional American ideals of democracy, freedom, and the right to dissent and the real ideals that con- stitute our present administration. For too long, people like Richard Nixon have made themselves comfortable with the liberals' response to the escalating tactics of the antiwar movement, "Sure wx support and encourage dis- sent, as long as it doesn't destroy property and doesn't infringe upon the rights of others." The moratorium is forcing the former vice president to show his true colors-that he really does not sub- scribe to the most basic American ideals at all. Bringing the war home means first identifying the enemy. Too many Americans have been mis- lead into believing that the enemy of American democracy is incarnated in Moscow, in Havana, in Peking, and in Hanoi. But the 'response of the premiere of North Vietnam and the response of Nixon and Agnew to yesterday's moratorium should serve to convince the unconvinced that first we must conquer the enemy within. In regarding the words of Pham Van Dong and those of Nixon and Agnew, we are forced to discover againl that American values are being expressed more accurately by he whom we are told is our "enemy." U.ye Daily-Jay Cas~sidy n pursuit of a passing peace The letter from Hanoi Dear American Friends, Even since the beginning, progressive Ameri- can people have been fighting against the aggres- sive war in Vietnam. In autumn of this year, a great number of Americans, encouraged and sup- ported by many peace-loving American personali- ties, again staged a broad and strong movement all over the United States to demand the Nixon Ad- ministration to put an end to the aggressive war in Vietnam and immediately bring home all American troops. Your struggle is a noble reflection of the legi- timat° and urgent demand of the American people, which is to safeguard the honor of the United States and save their children and broth- ers from a useless death in Vietnam. It is also a worthy and timely rebuff to the ob- stinate attitude of the United States Administra- tion in intensifying and prolonging the aggressive war in Vietnam. regardless of the protest of public opinion in the United States and the world. The Vietnamese people and peoples of the world wholeheartedly approve and acclaim your just struggle. The Vietnamese people demand that the United States Administration withdraw totally and without conditions American troops and those of foreign countries in the American camp out of Vietnam and let the people of Vietnam decide themselves their own affairs. The Vietnamese people eagerly desire peace, but it must be peace in independence and freedom. So long as the U.S. Administration refuses to put an end to its aggressive war in Vietnam, the people of Vietnam will continue their resolute struggle to defend their fundamental national rights. Our people's patriotic struggle is exactly the same as the one for peace and justice that you have been carrying out. It is our firm belief that with the unity and courage of the two peoples, with the approval and support of peace-loving peoples in the wotd. the struggle of the Vietnamese people and pro- gressive American people against the U.S. aggres- sion will be completely successful. Wishing you a great success in your autumn struggle. Yours sincerely, Pham Van Dong Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam By CHRIS STEELE Associate City Editor AFTER THE years of protest and teach-ins and yesterday's moratorium it seems some- how unreal to think of the war as ever end- ing. For a few hopeful moments after John- son withdrew and the Paris talks started, the idea of a resolution to the conflict could ac- tually be conceived in the mind. It was a conception that one could turn over and grasp and react to with some feeling, in some tangible way. But then it all faded away and peace be- came as hard to think of in realistic terms as it had ever been. With each successive protest the desire to think of the ways to peace--the terms and alignments from which peace will be formed -overwhelms the imagination. The((Il administraItion on11 tle 111 oratori untl "The leaders and sponsors of tomorrow's mora- torium, public officials, and others leading these demonstrations should openly repudiate the sup- port of the totalitaritan government which has on its hands the blood of 40.000 Americans." -Spiro Agnew Oct. 14 There rec By RICK PERLOFF r THEY SHUFFIlED their feet unknowingly to quicken the passage of time. Men iaughed with their co-eds, while those who had come alone said little until the line began to move visibly and they wer ure Oh What a Lovely War was about to begin. Why did they com? to the Fifth forum, n they were asked. It was free, said most, but others shrugged and added that there was little else to do. A LAZY WEDNESDAY in Anil Arbor on Moratorium '69. They were advertising on the Diag:{ "March on Washington, Nov. 13, 14 and 15: tickets for Allen Ginsberg reading at 4 p.m. we need people at the supermarkets, ; transportation will be provided." By 11:30 they had the routine perfected. Each ad- vertiser waited for his turn to come and then " spoke to the point. It ran together like a' poem. Bvst rnders stond on the 2)avement. or re- "To allow government policy to be made in the streets would destroy the democratic process and invite anarehx'' -Richard Nixon Oct. 13 THIE ESSENCE of American policy from the beginning of our intervention in Vietnam has been the defense of a small dictatorial elite whose interest lies in their continued economic and military control of the country. And around defense of this group have centered most of the plans offered for the resoiution of the war. From th old enclave theory for the defense of the South to the present plans for Vietnam- ization of the war, all the proposals coming from Administration and near-Administra- tion sources have been designed for the perpet- uation of control by this elite. And, although this consideration presents no justification for American involvement in the xxar, it does remain a significant problem in possible peace settlements. Will we aban- don the elite who have come to depend on the support of this country for their continued survival? THE CURRENT plans call for an increas- ed integration of South Vietnamese troops into the combat operations to allow for phased withdrawal of American forces. The South Vietnamese would then be able to continue the war on their own until some compromise was worked out in Paris. This plan is plainly beyond the realm of the possible. The government of the South is in- capable of sustaining a war effort on its own without massive military and economic aid from this country, even with that aid it seem- ed unlikely that a government as unpopular as that of the South could long survive. And as for the hope for a compromise in Paris there is almost none. The leaders of North Vietnam believe that continuation of the present American policy can only help them-all they need to do is sit tight. If they agree to enter a coalition it would only be to their benefit to try to take control of it or destroy it. And to that challenge posed by the leaders of the North we can only justifiably reply why shouldn't they? This country must not designl its plans fox' peace around the same ideals by which it has justified the war. The political and economic maintenance of the political and economic dictators of the South should never have brought this country into that war and that consideration should not control the re- solution of the war. FOR THAT reason, the only just solution is immediate withdrawal of all American forces. The consequences of that action are plain. The Communist forces 'ill succeed in their drive to oust the present leaders of S o u t h V~etno .m In the interests of preservation of life, this e untry should, as Senator George McGovern has eu-sted, offhr political asylum to any of those in the South who feel their lives would be in dancer. But having granted this. the United States must adopt total with- drawal as the only reasonable solution to the war. illy wUS nothing else we could do' to find one by crocus planting or stadium marching or somehox affecting the war, THE DRAFT BOARD march began short- ly after 10 a.m., and the people in the first group said little to each other during th? picketing. They marched diligently around the building, forming an oblong circle. There would be chanting later, but one girl from out of town was deeply saddened by the coldness of the picketers. She had tried to provoke conversations from many she said, but no one cared. Just a radical marching machine. The 30 from Women's Liberation s u r- rounded the second floor draft office and shouted "We are fighting, we are strong. End the War." The out-of-town female was bothered. "They shouldn't be fighting." she said. "We've had it planned for over a week," said one Women's Liberation member, ad- mitting, "it's not spontaneous." That seemed precisely the point. The The men in the Selective Service office smiled when the women left. They have a right to dissent, one said, ready to return as usual to business. Wasn't the curious about what the women wanted; wasn't he stimulated to talk with them? No, he had seen protests before, and it was a pretty clear cut issue. The women spoke to the secretaries in the office and the secretaries politely gave them information on the draft. Nothing m o r e, nothing less. The women had their view and the draft men had theirs. Nobody said much to any- bcdy else, nobody cared. In the barber shop downstairs one older gentleman continued to read his paper when asked his impressions of the pro- t. st. "I'd rather not discuss it he said," sh:king his head. "They were cleaner than usual," said ano- ther in the barber shop, looking up briefly and then returning to his hair. gether on the Diag as much by the bore- dom of everyday student life as by opposi- tion to the war. Why they were there, few could articu- late. What they would accomplish, few knew. That everyone else would be there seemed reason enough. One girl waiting outside an auditor- ium was asked why she waS going to class. "I have an exam," she said, adding quick- ly. "Does that absolve me?" BUT HER question was the wrong o n e. The search on Moratorium Wednesday did not simply concern absolution. It was for the solidarity found at Woodstock, the re- lease of frustration, some semblance of pur- pose. But this rarely came across. And the feet keep shuffling. AMP Affirhinn" 471ailit