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Eighty-one years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
. ZACHARY SCHILLER
Thoughts on bombing motives
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mich.
News Phone: 764-0552
Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 1972
NIGHT EDITOR: TONY SCHWARTZI
SGC case: Pathetic irony
CENTRAL STUDENT JUDICIARY
(CSJ) may rule tonight on the charge
of "gross fraud" in the all-campus elec-
tions last month.
The charge has been brought by a
unique Left-Right coalition of SGC mem-
bers and others, who claim that several
hundred ballots were stuffed in favor of
GROUP Party. They call on CSJ to or-
der a new election.
Meanwhile, five SGC members continue
a crippling boycott of the Council. They
say they will continue their quorum-
breaking absence from all SGC meetings
"until the election charges are totally
resolved."
CSJ has spent this week struggling
with the task of inspecting each of 5,229
ballots cast for possible frauds. There is
some doubt now as to whether the court
can finish the ballot inspection in time
for tonight's hearing, or even before
exams.
ALAN LENHOFF
Editor
Editorial Staff
SARA FITZGERALD...............Managing Editor
TAMMY JACOBS ..................Editorial Director
F THE LAST MONTH had seen little or
no changes in the University situation or
the world situation, there might be no
problem in CSJ taking a long time to
reach a decision. But that has not been
the case.
Until CSJ rules on the charges, SGC
will be unable to take any major courses
of action on anything. Even if there
were no boycott, the incredible mishand-
ling of the whole election and the be.
havior of SGC officials over the past
month has destroyed whatever integrity
the Council may have had.
As exams approach, the importance of
deciding on the fraud charges cannot be
overstressed. The war is being escalate
and SGC is in no position to organiz
or lead any campus action.
BEYOND THE FACT that students may
now be represented by illegally
elected officials, we are faced with a pa
thetic irony.:
The needed campus response to illega
government actions has been temporarily
thwarted here by the incompetency an
suspected illegality of our own studen
government.
-DAN BIDDLE
T HE LATEST bombings of the
North Vietnamese capital and
major seaport have justifiably
provoked anti-war Senators to in-
vestigate the Nixon Administra-
tion's stance on Indochina, par-
ticularly through ' testimony of
Secretary of State William Rog-
ers and Secretary of Defense Mel-
vin Laird before the Senate For-
eign Relations Committee.
One can say "justifiably" be-
cause of the awesome toll the
bombings have had on civilians in
North Vietnam. This has been
confirmed, not only by the Viet-
namese themselves, but also by
numerous foreign observers in Ha-
noi and Haiphong.
However, there are grounds oth-
er than moral ones on which one
can sharply question the Presi-
dent's bombing order. The simple
fact is that bombing Hanoi and
Haiphong cannot change the
S course of fighting in the south-
except, perhaps, to strengthen the
resolve of anti-Saigon forces there.
OF THE THREE reasons given
t by Rogers for the bombings, by
far the most significant is that,
"we're doing, it to give the South
Vietnamese a chance to defend
themselves against the massive
invasion by the North Vietna-
e mese."
d Two of President Lyndon John-
e son's top advisors, as well as his
secretary of defense and the Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency (CIA),
repudiated five years ago bomb-
Y ing of the two cities as ineffec-
-tive militarily.
Walt Rostow, Johnson's Na-
tional Security Advisor, said he
believed that, "We are wasting a
good many pilots in the Hanoi-
Y Haiphong areas without commen-
d surate results."
t Secretary of Defense Robert Mc-
Namara said in 1967 that, "there
continues' to be no sign that the
bombing has reduced Hanoi's will
to resist or her ability to ship
necessary supplies south."
In November of the preceding
year, he had observed that, "At
the scale we are now operating, I
believe our bombing is yielding
very small marginal returns not
worth the cost in pilot lives and
aircraft."
To round off the list, the CIA
McGeorge Bundy, the security
advisor before Rostow, argued in
a May, 1967, memo to Johnson
that Ho Chi Minh anCd his col-
leagues simply are not going to
change their policy on the basis
of losses from the air in North
Vietnam.
reported that "as of July, 1966,
the U.S. bombing of North' Viet-
nam had had no measurable di-
rect effect on Hanoi's ability to
mount and support military oper-
ations in the South."
IF IT HAD no effect in 1966
and 1967, why should it suddenly
become so devastating in its mili-
tary impact in 1972?
Rogers answers to this, "Be-
fore, we were fighting what was
sort of a guerrilla war . . . Now
it's a totally different concept
militarily. There is a major inva-
sion and they've committed all of
their divisions except one outside
North Vietnam."
It sounds plausible enough -
except for the fact that it is con-
tradicted by Secretary Laird.
Laird advised the White House
that while petroleum stocks, tank
and truck parks in the Hanoi-
Haiphong area are of great mili-
tary significance, even if these
were destroyed, little effect would
be felt on the battlefield for weeks
or even months.
WE ARE FACED with the fact
that there was no real military
purpose behind the waves of B52s
that flew over Hanoi and Hai-
phong, each dropping 30 tons of
bombs before their engines could
be heard.
The bombings were an essential-
ly political, rather than a mili-
tary act. This has been attested
to by several spokesmen for the
U.S. Command in Saigon.
One official, for instance, said
that the purpose of the strikes was
"strictly political."
The Nixon Administration is in-
tent on proving that it will never
agree to the installation of a gov-
ernment in Saigon which is any-
thing but vigorously anti-Com-
munist. And it is willing to go the
length of bombing the civilian
population in North Vietnam's
cities to prove its point.
THE VIETNAMESE have with-
stood intense bombing for several
years in the past: it is foolhardy
to believe that even the bloodbath
created by the latest bombings
will convince the Vietnamese peo-
ple to end their struggle.
With all of Nixon's hoopla about
the U.S. prisoners of war, it is
certain that the bombing cam-
paign will increase the number of
POW's.
During the Johnson Adminis-
tration, the heavy bombing over
the North resulted in one pilot be-
ing lost in every 40 sorties flown.
according to McNamara. One can
only assume that with increased
anti-aircraft protection, the num-
ber of pilots downed will increase
beyond this amount. And thus, the
war will go on.
There is one factor on which
the Administration cannot count.
McNamara, referring to this in
1967, said that, "an important but
hard to measure cost is domestic
and world opinion: there may be
a limit beyond which many Amer-
icans and much of the world will
not permit us to go."
LET US HOPE that we have
reached that limit in the present
bombings.
-Associated Press I
CARLA RAPOPORT ...............Executive
ROBERT SCHREINER................. News
ROSE SUE BERSTEIN...............Feature
PAT BAUER............Associate Managing
LINDSAY CHANEY............. Editorial Page
MARK DILLEN4.............Editorial Page
ARTHUR LERNER............Editorial Page:
PAUL TRAVIS .. ................ ...... Arts
GLORIA JANE SMITH.........Associate Arts
JONATHAN MILLER........Special Features
TERRY McCARTHY............Photography
ROBERT CONROW "..................Books
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NIGHT EDITORS: Linda Dreeben, Chris Parks, Gene
Robinson, Zachary Schiller.
COPY EDITORS: Robert Barkin, Jan Benedetti, John
Mitchell, Tony Schwartz, Charles Stein, Ted Stein.
DAY EDITORS: Dave Burhenn, Daniel Jacobs, Mary
Kramer, Judy Ruskin, Sue Stephenson, Karen Tink-
lenberg, Rebecca Warner, Marcia Zoslaw.
ASSISTANT NIGHT EDITORS: Mark Allshouse, Susan
Brown, Janet Gordon, Meryl Gordon, Scott Gordon,
Lorin Labardee, Diane Levick, Jean McGuire, Jim
O'Brien, Martin Porter, Marilyn Riley, Linda Rosen-
thal, Marty Stern, Doris Waltz.
ASSISTANT DAY EDITORS: Dan Biddle, John Glan-
cey, Nancy Hackmaier, Cindy Hill, Jim Kentch, John
Marston, Nancy Rosenbaum, Paul Ruskin, Ralph
Vartabedian.
Sports Staff
JOHN PAPANEK
Sports Editor
ELLIOT LEGOW
Executive Sports Editor
BILL ALTERMAN.......... Associate Sports Editor
AL SHACKELFORD. ....Associate Sports Editor
BOB ANDREWS ............. Assistant Sports Editor
SANDI GENIS .............. Assistant Sports Editor
MICHAEL OLIN...... .. Contributing Sports Editor
RANDY PHILLIPS.... ... Contributing Sports Editor
NIGHT EDITORS: Chuck Bloom, Dan Borus, Chuck
Drukis, Joel Greer, Frank Longo, Bob McGinn.
ASSISTANT NIGHT EDITORS: Mark Feldman, Rob
Halvahs, George Hastings, Roger Rossiter, Rich
Stuck.'
Business Staff
ANDY GOLDING
Business Manager
BILL ABBOTT .......... Associate Business Manager
HARRY HIRSCH ................ Advertising Manager
FRANCINE HYMEN ......... Personnel Manager
DIANE CARNEVALE................ Sales Manager
PAUL WENZLOFF.............Promotions Manager
STEVEN EVSEEFF...............Circulation Manager
DEPARTMENT MANAGERS AND ASSOCIATES: Classi-
fied: Judy Cassel, Jim Dykema, Dave Lawson; Cir-
culation: William Blackford; Display: Sherry Kastle,
Karen Laakko; National: Patti Wilkinson; Layout:
Bob Davidoff; Biluing: L'Tanya Haith.
ASSISTANT MANAGERS: Debbie Alcott, Ray Catalino,
Linda Coleman, Pankaj Kumer Das, Sandy Fienberg,
Nelson Leavitt, Susan Morrison, Sharon Pocock,
Ashish Sarkar, Pat Saykilly, Alan Weinberger, Carol
Wieck.
A better idea.?
IN A PAROXYSM of concern for its con-
sumers, Ford Motor Co. has ; an-
nounced the recall of 400,000 faulty Tor-
inos and Mercury Montegos.
This amounts to nearly the entire 1972
model run of those cars.
The problem which has- caused this
Naderistic reaction on the part of the
mother company is a defect which could
cause the rear wheels to simply fall off
the family Torina or Montego.
According to a Ford spokesman, the
company has received reports of rear
axle bearing deterioration caused by a
multitude of factors.
In extreme cases the condition could
cause a rear axle shaft to detach from
the rest of the car - while it is in mo-
tion. In fact, just that has happened on
at least five occasions.
So Ford has sent out letters asking the
cars' owners to take them into their
dealers. There, one would imagine, the
nice dealers will immediately fix the
bearings of the cars.
However, the nice dealers have no in-
tention of fixing the cars. Ford, as usual,
has a Better Idea.
The dealers have been instructed to in-
stall retainer plates - which will make
noises before (hopefully) the bearing
failure becomes crucial.
Isn't it nice. toknow that Ford cares
enough to give its customers their own
Early Warning System - if it works?
-T.J.
.TAMMY JACOBS
Meanwhile, back on
Washington streets. ..
WASHINGTON, (April 15) - By the time the police bullhorn had
blared its third warning, the crowd had begun to thin out, pushing back
away from the hard-core demonstrators - the ones who were willing
and eager to "get busted."
They had come to Washington once again - this time to show
their strong feelings against the air war in Indochina, then mounting
around the demilitarized zone.
As the fourth warning sounded, those remaining began to sit
down, forming a small mass of 225, encircled by a coterie of mounted
park police.
OVER AT THE POLICE buses a young guard stood, waiting to
arrest and process the protesters.
He was getting time-and-a-half, he said. It was his day off.
"But it isn't nearly as good as MayDay," he added. "Then I
worked 14 to 16 hours a day. I laughed all the way to the bank."
Neither he nor any of the others sported the familiar tear gas
cannisters.
"We don't need 'em," he said. "The horses do pretty well to dis-
perse the crowd."
The horses, prancing nervously in their lines, looked quite willing.
"They move sideways, not forward, into the crowd. They're pretty
well-trained," he said reassuringly. "Don't kick much at all."
Horses, he felt, were most effective on a smaller group such as
this. "Any protest around here will !draw about a thousand kids. But
most are just curious."
During MayDay, he remembered "there was much more of a
mob. I think MayDay was the turning point."
The mass arrests of some 12,000 people, he decided, was extremely
effective. "Broke the back of the protests, around here at least."
"Large, crowds just don't come down to tear up this town any-
more; not since they learned they'd get put in jail for doing it. Now
they stay where they belong."
THE HORSES WERE still prancing. Held in check by the moun-
ties, they seemed eager to start "dispersing."
The guard seemed secure, knowing exactly how to handle this
familiar situation. Still, looking at the horses, and then at the seated
protesters, he admitted quietly, "demonstrations are scary."
In the end, the horses weren't really needed. These protesters
hadn't come to trash, to "tear up the town." They had come peace-
fully, with dignity, to get arrested; to show their feelings in what they
felt was the most poignant and dramatic way possible.
So, with the horses as a mute warning, the other policemen moved
in and one by one, lifted the limp protesters and carried them to the
waiting buses.
SURPRISINGLY, IT WAS the others, the ones who had opted
against "getting busted", who proved most disruptive.
Finding out almost by accident that 800 people crossing the same
street at the same time can block traffic, the group proceeded to do
just that.
Warned to leave the intersection by the omnipresent police bull-
horns, the crowd merely moved on to the next block.
This lasted over an hour, until both police and dwindling crowd
tired of the game.
The last protesters picketed ITT, then headed uptown, for the
long trek to the South Vietnamese embassy, where they held their
last stand, then dispersed.
HOURS LATER, the horses} were being fed and cared for; the
young policeman was probably on his way to the bank, laughing;
some of the protesters were waiting at Washington churches for rides
back home, and other ,protesters were paying their $50 collateral into
the coffers of the D.C. police system.
And hours later, also, American planes began the methodical
bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong.
Ironic, isn't it?
4
-Associated Press
Letters to The Daily
Earthquake aid
To The Daily:
A DEVASTATING E A R T H-
QUAKE has left thousands of
people dead and thousands more
homeless and suffering in Iran.
In that" earthquake - prone
country more than 60 per cent of
the people live in villages of lit-
tle mud huts where an average
of eight people live in each room.
With such poor housing, a 'quake
can easily kill thousands in a
very short time. These are not just
victims of natural disasters but of
the corrupt dictatorship of Iran.
The province of Fars, where the
latest quake hit, is the same
province where the Shah of Iran
spent about one billion dollars
on his two day "bash" to cele-
brate "2500 years of Iranian
Monarchy."
The effects of the earthquake
were heightened by the impover-
ished condition of millions of peo-
ple caused by a government that
wastes millions of dollars on sec-
ret police, military power and
decadent extravagance.
After a similar earthquake in
1968 large sums donated by for-
eign countries went into the poc-
kets of the Shah's generals and
the Iranian Red Cross.
The Confederation of Iranian
Students is waging a campaign to
help the earthquake victims di-
rectly without dealing with the
representatives of the Shah.
Locally, the Concerned Iranian
Students are conducting a bucket
drive to help the victims of the
recent earthquake.
-Concerned Iranian
Students of Ann Arbor
'April 18
which, within the American con-
text, implies Communism.
I have known Monterroso for 25
years and as far as I know no
one has ever accused him of Com-
munism. He is a Guatemalan who
has left his country because it is
ruled by a politically repressive
regime. No more and no less.
It is instructive, in this respect,
to read part of an interview, pub-
lished in the magazine Excelsior,
Mexico, February 13, 1972. Since
immigration authorities have now
become literary critics, perhaps
they can explain to us how, the
following quote from the above
cited interview fits within the
Communist view of the role of
literature in society:
"In your opinion, does litera-
ture have a social or political pur-
pose?"
"It is a social product which at
times aspires at a political pur-
pose, but we must understand that
literature by itself has no utility,
nor can it be used to transform
anything, be it society or man.
"The transformation of man is
too problematic a task to discuss
in this brief conversation; as far
as the other is concerned (the
transformation of society), it is
the responsibility of politicians
and men of action to convert
ideas into practical actions.
"Literature itself, that is, poetry,
novel, short-story, and so on, is
completely inocuous and even
harmless: it is the opiate of the
middle-class and, like the movies,
a dream factory, a series of images
built upon wind.
"I don't know why it has so
much prestige, nor why, at times,
writers are asked and, in many
cases. required to write novels like
stration was "led" by the Rev.
Carl McIntire.
In fact there were two separate
demonstrations, one led by Rev.
McIntire which consisted of twelve
to fifteen people, and one led by
the U of M College Republicans
and Young Americans for Freedom
which consisted of forty-five to
fifty people.
This was explained to Daily re-
porters on the scene, who were
also given written statements by
the CRs and YAF.
By ignoring these facts, the
Daily has given its readers t h e
false impression that the R e d
China protest was entirely the
work of a religious zealot with
a microscopic following, rather
than expressing the views of the
two largest political youth groups
in the nation - CRs and YAF.
Six paragraphs were given to
Rev. McIntire, but not one word
to the largest protest. Thisd type
of reporting can only serve to
further tarnish the Daily's poor
reputation.
-Robert J. Edgeworth, grad.
Vice Chairman
College Republican
National Committee
GROUP action?
To The Daily:
THE GROUP PARTY, cam-
paigned in the recent SGC elec-
tions with a promise of "less poli-
tics and more action." Perhaps
now they could demonstrate their
commitment to action by remov-
ing their glued-on campaign stick-
ers which deface buildings, signs,
and lamp posts around the cam-
pus.
-John Tolan, Grad
p
9 7--Nl'
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