Edited and managed by students at the
University of Michigan
Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual
opinions of the outhor. This rust be noted in all reprints.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 1972 News Phone: 764-0552
Fighting which enemy?
ICE PRESIDENT Spiro Agnew has let loose another
tongue lashing against the press.
Speaking before a convention of Jaycees, Agnew cri-
ticized the "failure" of the press to report accurately on
the wsar in Indochina. He called the reports from Vietnam
"overwhelmingly lopsided" in favor of the North Vietna-
mese.
The vice president has particularly harsh words for
those who delete the word "enemy" when referring to
the North Vietnamese.
The charges Agnew levels must not be taken lightly.
Ordinarily, an administration intrusion into the
freedom of the press would be cause enough for righteous
indignation. The administration, it is assumed, acts as it
chooses, without constraint from the press. The press, in
turn, must be free to write as it chooses-favorably and
unfavorably-about administration activities.
But, ever since the Nixon administration came into
power, it has heaped torrents of abuse upon the press,
most often through the vice president's tempestuous
tirades.
And now - when the administration's war effort is
faltering-the vice president has seen fit once again to
dictate what shall be considered objective reporting.
IT IS understandable that Agnew calls the North Viet-
namese his enemy. He is near the helm of an ad-
ministration which is waging war against them. But the
press has no automatic enemies and friends-these titles
are earned. And several members of the press-includ-
ing th United Press International and The Daily-do not
deem the North Vietnamese their enemy.
Agnew quoted a UPI official's explanation of their
policy: "We're reporting on what the two sides are do-
ing, and neither is the enemy of the UPI." He also quoted
an editorial writer who said, "the word implies that the
North Vietnamese are our enemies, and they're not. They
are just the poor devils we're beating up."
Agnew finds it "incredible that in a war in which
thousands of Americans have fought and died, there is
any difficulty deciding who is the enemy."
The vice president is right. There is no difficulty
deciding who is the enemy. Our enemy is the Nixon ad-
ministration, the Thieu regime, and economic imperial-
ism.
AND SO LONG as these enemies continue in power, we
shall continue to consider them as such, rather than
affix this title to the armies which fight for independent
nationhood in Indochina.
ROSE SUE BERSTEIN
Co-Editor
NIGHT EDITOR: CHRIS PARKS
NIGHT EDITOR: PAUL TRAVIS
ASSISTANT NIGHT EDITOR: PAUL RUSKIN
DITORIAL PAGE EDITOR: ROSE SUE BERSTEIN
PHOTO TECHNICAN: DENNY GAINER
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We Don't Stop at Schools Anymore . .
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WASHINGTON -- Sen. George
McGovern has made skillful use
of his own party reforms to bring
the Democratic presidential nom-
inatitn almost withsin his grasp.
He neo' faces te task of gaining
support from all factions of his
party for the race against Presi-
dent Nixon. But, ironically, Mc-
Govern's image as a party re-
former may come back to haunt
him at the convention.
Since last December, former
Massachusetts Gov. Endicott Pea-
body has been a declared candi-
date for vice president. In March,
he became the first candidate ever
to capture a primary election for
vice president with a victory in
New Hampshire.
Subsequently, he made the rounds
of state caucuses trying to win
over more delegates. He tells me
he now has more than 200.
But Peabody isn't waiting around
for the presidential candidate to
choose him as a running mate. In-
stead, the -whole purpose of Pea-
body's campaign is to force the
party to throw open the conven-
tion so the vice presidential can-
didate can be nominated in a
truly democratic manner. Pea-
body is busy raising money these
days and he has already reserved
70 hotel rooms in Miami for his
organization.
If anyone besides George Mc-
Govern were the likely Democratic
nominee, Peabody's crusade would
probably beehopeless. Btit Mc-
Govern is the man who led the
fight to make the nomination of his
party's presidential candidate more
democratic. He might find it hard
to say no to an effort to do the
same for the candidate for vice
president.
PERILS OF HENRY
White House adviser Henry Kis-
singer has described in a top-
secret report the perils of nego-
tiating with the North Vietnan-
ese-.
As far back as 1967, he ar
ranged for two French intermed-
iaries to carry a peace aifering
to Hanoi. This led to secret talks
whiefs continued in Paria irons
Jtly through October. The nego-
tiations finally bogged down over
what Kissinger called "elliptical
references full of double mean-
ings."
The intermediaries' last attempt
to break the deadlock illustrates
how frustrating it is to deal with
the North Vietnamese. The inter-
mediaries phoned North Vietnam's
Mai Van Bo at his Paris home.
One intermediary did the talking,
the other listened on on et'ten-
lion Here is an excert rotms
the secret transcript:
The intermediary said: "We
would like to see you urgently."
Bo replied: "Tet etisoihitg
seas to say. Tthe situatton ts atior-
sening. There is no teason to etk
again.
The intermediary nssted:
"There is something new and very
important."
Bo repeated: "There is nothing
new to say. The situation is wor-
sening. There is no reason to talk
again."
Again the intermediary insist-
ed: "There is something very im-
portant - perhaps the most ini
portant juncture of our -xchang-
es.
But Zo again repeated noad for
word the original phrase.
No wonder the Bible says:
'Blessed are the peacemakers."
ducted by joint teams of U.S.
special forces and South Vietnam-
ese rangers. These were called
MACSOG teams. Unhappily, ith e
raiders often found their enemy
waitisg for thens and atuffered se-
vere casualties.
Other inteligence teams slipped
inside North Vietnam to g.sthe
intelligence and to guide U. S.
planes by clandestine radio to
bombing targets.
The MACSOG teams and the
Gray Ghosts have now combined
to harass the North Vietnamese
on their home grounds. The kmer-
icans no longer accompany t h e
raiders into North Vietnam. But
crack raiders, skilled at hit-and-
run warfare, are slipping into
North Vietnam from Laos and
landing by boats on the North Vuet-
namese coast. They are striking
at the nerve, centers of the North.
The secret intelligence reports
indicate these Gray Ghosts are
giving the North Vietnamese a
lesson in guerrilla warfare.
INTELLIGENCE NOTES
* The Arab extremists who re-
cruited four Japanese terrorists
to shoot up Lod airport in Tel
Aviv are loosely affiliated with
extremist groups around t h e
world. Intelligence reports claim
that the Arab group has t i e s
stretching from Japan's United
Red Army to South America's Tu-
pamaros. The Ar-ab extremists
have even hadhcontact with a Jew-
ist Maoist group, called Matzpen,
inside Israel.
9 The Air Force has been
showering North Vietnam not only
with bombs but with propaganda
leaflets. There - has been criticism
inside the Pentagon, however, that
the leaflets are 'amateurish and
aren't likely to influence the North
Vietnamese. The Voice of Aner-
ica has also stepped up its broad-
casts to North Vietnam from six
to 13 hours a day.
Copyright, 1972, by
United Features Syndicate.
Letters to The Daily should
be mailed to the Editorial Di-
rector or delivered to Ma r y
Rafferty in the Student Pub-
lications business office in the
Michigan Daily building. Let-
ters should be typed, double-
spaced and normally should
not exceed 250 words. The
Editorial Directors reserve the
right to edit all letters sub-
mitted.
Henry Kissinger
THE GRAY GHOSTS
The Gray Ghosts are raising
havoc inside North Vietnam. They
are blowing up military installa-
tions disrupting communications
lines and spotting targets f or
American bombers.
They are called Gray Ghosts be-
cause they usually wear gray fa-
tigues and disappear like ghosts.
But they are really South Vietnam-
ese commandos and Meo tribes-
men, who have been recruited and
trained by the CIA to operate be-
hind the lines.
In the past, they have harassed
the Ho Chi Minh trail complex.
They planted electronic devices to
measure the traffic, laid booby
traps on the trails and staged hit-
and-run attacks against parks and
supply depots.
Sometimes, the raids were con-
Letters to The Daily
Who killed Marat?
To The Daily:
PRAISE AND thanks are due
to the Residential College Sum-
mer Theater for presenting a play
as difficult and important as the
Marat/Sade by Peter Weiss.
Anita Crone's review (Daily, June
17) was couched in superlatives.
Perhaps it may be the time to
follow such ringing bravos with a
word of criticism concerning the
interpretation of this piece by
the group.
Is this really the "Marat", the
furor of the revolution, whose fame
as a socialist. spread all o v e r
Europe?
Admittedly; he suffers from
itching and paranoia. But this is
not the reason Charlotte Corday
must murder him. She must mur-
der him because he "noses out
traitors undauntedly, continues
fighting in the spirit of the revolu-
tion, spews poison and incites to
msurder and plunder." In spite of
Iis sickly body his mind contin-
ues the struggle of the revolution.
"I amt the revolution". He uses
"Action" and "works untiringly
for change".
This strong revolutionary char-
acter is not sufficiently emphasiz-
ed in this presentation, contrary
to the intentions of the socialist
Peter Weiss. Mimic makes him too
much of a fool, a lunatic; through
his gestures he becomes too much
of a hunted animal, helplessly
creeping on all fours (as after his
imaginary speech before the Na-
tional Assembly, after having Jost
stirred up the people). The False
conclusion seems at hand that in a
foul body lives a foul mind, who
cannot possess Truth.
IS THIS really the Marquis de
Sade, who according to Weiss is
"extraordinarily fat," "clumY"
and who "breathes asthamatical "
and only 'with great effort?"
In the Residential Colle e po-
duction we see slim, good-loking
de Sade, honorably greyed, ,,ho
breathes neither asthamai.cally
nor with effort. He appears so
pure, so calm, so superior, so
aesthetic that Marat would pre-
sent him no obstacle. But de Sade
is also the person who places the
ends above the means, who 'dug
the criminal out of himself"',
The following scene may serve as
an example:
In the text Charlotte Corday
takes up the whip in order to
arouse "sadistic" lust in the Mar-
quis. This is to express the per-
version of de Sade's extreme in-
dividualism. This was missed as
Charlotte Corday tenderly car-
esses the Marquis' bared back
with her wonderful long hair. Such
a love scene would delight. even
the society, whose norms e Sade
has utterly rejected. Lenfelit's is
a remarkable theatrical perfwm-
ance in presenting an asonized
mein in the face of such "afflic-
tion".
Of less importance is
that the role of Duppet. :i -
aggerated. The text ref;r. i cr-
ly love, to noblesse, so dlsg-
uished tones. Courtly love is also
tender, feeling, soft and is more
than merely rubbing alernately
his own and Charlotte Cord:'s
sexual organs.
-Fritz Hippe
June 19