HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1971-11-11, Page 221DER1CH SIGNAL, -STAR) THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11; 1971..1'
The 'Blue Thumb- fe-'
ra
Th� destruction of
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By G. MacLeod Ross, could not back awarfrom South
Now that the Supreme Court E,as•L.Asia
has disposed of an suggestion "The United States is
that the so-called "Pentagon determined , the Republic of
Papers" are a State secrt'et,'it Vietnam shall not be lost to the
behoves America primarily, and Com-unists for la`ek of any •
her Allies secondarily, to extract , supportwhich the . t,',S.
' and; learn the legion .of lessons' Government can render". Here°'
wh�ieh' a tide" froihi:* the'''war. Inthen, :ere• all=`the press lira for a
w Vietnam. A war born of political „ Crusade in the grand manner.
and' military ignorance; a Meanwhile• the "Mad tog of
deplorable succession of badt Asia" had had his"name changed
decisions based on bad from• " C o ho n i a l ism" to
judgement and compounded of ."Communism". 'One adviser
inexperience of the East. The declared:. "We are the greatest
conditions into which the power ,n the world if we behave
",advisers" bath civilian and like rt," and he found it "hard to
military' propelled ' successive conceive of a problem that could
Presidents can only be described not be solved by the resolute
aaYquivk,,sands._„,...„„......,,„. „,, ,,..7„.... ,,.....-app:llc,ati•en-pi'-raw.-- Arraerirarr•
The initial conditioning ,was power." Such was theeuphoria, •
administered at . the t;tme of while should the President's
Roosevelt and the -Atlantic nerve falter, the opinionated
Charter; that . high-sounding' advisers propagated the bogey
• resolve enacted m 1941. that failure to intervene would
Roosevelt and his Secretary of trigger the Domino theory; that
State. Cordell Hull, were Communism would spread like
determined to interpret clause the . plague. to Laos. to
four 'as--'sapporting the right of Cambodia, to Thailand. to
the. Colonies" in thea Far Fast. ,...'Malaya, to. Burma,, to -India
whether British. Dutch or •
French,` to choose -their own ..,..,.,, On May 11th, 1961 the Joint
form of government. As . Chiefs of Staff reported:
Roosevelt . reminded Churchill: "Assuming the Governmen er
"We cannot fight a war against ' policy is to hold South East Asia'
fascist slavery and not free rhe-�� e- the Communist sphere,
people all over �t;he world from a• then U.S:. Forces must be
backward colonial policy " deployed."
--There followed the aura of In November 1963, the strong
and Far Eastern • Wars. so Dingh Diem, was assassinated
recently I terminated in' 1945, with • the 'conni.v.ance of the
followed by the accessson of.he... Kennedy , , regime, *MOUnit l ta'tes to the throne of obstinately .,believed , that Asia
e•'- -
• ready toexchan
Super Power of the West. There was g
was the unfrocking of Britaip of dictatorship for the l?allot. box.
her Imperial, mantle and her President, Johnson (*1)
supersession as Keeper of the considered Dietn's betrayal' a
Freedom of the Seven SeasrThis. blunder. and says it caused two
left the -•-panoply as.well as the Years of - "deep political
responsibilities, to be assumed confusion. in Saigon". 1
by the ,United States, -despite .her By . early. . 1964, thee
inexperience in dealing with the "self-determinatiof' promised
strategems o'f' the East. and by. the Atlantic Charter: "the
despite • -her relatively small right to choose their own 'form
;contribution towards 'her ofgovernment" was subjected:to
`footing" .in a role' .which took reinterpretation. Self-determina-
Britain •a century and a half to tion? 'Yes!. always provided no
assume. . . , • .~-South Vietnamese leader chose
George Marshall;. . when •neutrafit1 or non -alignment
Secretary of State in the Truman Iwih th'e , West). President
Administration, recognised the Johnson cabled his ambassador
' Vietnamese Communists as in Saigon: "Your. Mission is
leaders of legitimate , precisely for the .purpose of
anti-colonialism. and; -the efore, knocking down -the idea: of
resenting a challenge different neutralisation wherever it rears
fi`tom that Q. any other its ugly head." By September ••
Communist bid for power: ' 1964. the "general`consensus'.'
However, the nicety of this (*;1).of his advisers 'wasDthat the
distinction was forgotten or U.S. would have to bomb North
never appreciated. President Vietnam and 'o,d,,,.,Fei uary 6th. •
Eisenhower reluctantly allowed - 1965 bombing , began-- Th -l -s
the French to go down to proved the prelude to disaster.
defeat; then set out to.supplant The hoary , belief that air
them, carrying, out a variety of power alone, • albeit on , a'.
off nsive acts` "',against thele restricted. scale, could changeith?
recently divided North.. . ' ..will of a virile people Which had
There followed several, further . fought the Chinese for centuries
ischarges" which served to --for •self' -determination, faided-
charge the atmosphere of those dis'rnally4 and oily served to
days: In 1956 the Suez affair enrage the American fish to
•was not exactly a triumph for
Western ;. diplomacy. while. in
1961 the Kennedy'
Administration --.-sustained a
bloody nose at the Bay of .Pigs.This was to ,have,, disastrous
repercussions., because it was
interpreted by some to
demonstrate the unreliability df
the C.I.A. •to' the extent that
when that body advised that the
holding of South Vietnam was
hopeless, they were. ignored,
Their advice no longer carried..
weight. Then came• • the Soviet
challenge- over West Berlin by
which lime Kennedy felt he
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hook .itself 'more' firmly in the
toils of jungle warfare. , Vast
area were written off: then
regarded..._ as eneriay " territory,
er
after which it seemed onl
logical to bomb' them. Thu
began the alienation .of th
sympathy of the people the U.S
had come to save, since on
stray. bomb that killed ar
.innocent child would make -
”thousand enemies, (,*2,)
That ' if was better to poli
villages- than to destroy them
was well understood by the onl
genuinely elite unit of the U.S
Army: the Special Forces' which
under the operational control �
the C.I.A., policed the system o
border outposts, The Specia
Forces in their green berets misconception of the General
comprised weapons .,experts, Staff and . contributed to the
doctors and communications fimai fiasco; whereby th+e ..L1.S,-
""experts -S'oi•ri'e df'•thet.r' `:nen army 'itself became the main
spoke five and six foreign casualty of the war, are pitiful to
_men of the Special Forces were
s ' the first to die and with' then
e • died the vital source of•
information - intelligence.
e There followed, tgo, appalling.
3 "attrition -among the regular army
a�• Units such as the ,101st -Airborne,
ant, ,the- .1st,. Infantry Division, •
ce With only five per eent of all
officers. being West Point
y graduates, nearly' 250 have novy
. been killed, •and, as always, the
, best . are killed or gravely
f wounded, first. The ---remaining
f errors which Served to
1 compound the cardinal'
•
H'
1..
Q
Ifl; army
.,y
arrogt'ttce? To the extent that
the p•rollessional `-think tank"
gave no consideration to factors
such as terrain, climate, pol,it�cs,.
topography,'ihtelligence, supply,
special training, and, most of all,
..to human relations? Whatever
happened to cost-effectiveness''.
Did anyone compute -the pitfalls
'of intert-ention in a civil -war
between Asians, in jungle
country, peopled by an
amorphous ,population which
refused to_ co-operate ,with
foreign ''�"forcesv.v:_ thus
handicappfpg the gathering of
the intelligence ,so, essential to
success'.'
When. consideringthe, ,.
multitudinous omissions of the
U.S,. General Staff, the remark
of a famous Commander in
Chief comes to mind:,
"Gentlemen, I do not know
`what effect you. will have upon
the enerhy, but by God, you
frighten me!" And what is so
frightening is that there appears.
t. have been no one able to
Male his Chief hear that this was
a different war froin that which
he had fought in Europe: that it
languages. They at ' least enumerate,
recognised that arms never won T h e cornp l e x a n d
a guerilla war, for arms merely handicapping weaponry put a
foment political instability, and premium on `'management"
since the war in Vietnam was a rather than on "fighting". The
` war of political ideologies, high standard of living of the
political stability was a key to soldier; the dental chairs:
success. . • ,Western Union wired to enable
• ' The "Pentagon Papers' deo y anyone' to call "Mom" after the
not mention ,it, but as men at day's battle; entertainment not
the sharp end of. this war well so much for the spirit as -for the
- know•,,,, there was little, if any, body; the rotation of troops
to -operation between the Army every 12 months. thus ensuring
and the C.I.A. and, ,therefore, that none of the rank ,.and file,
the Special Forces and, ever learned the art •' of
unfortunately. the Army, threw ��a nit 1 -guerilla warfare: the
up ho one in a sufficiently pernicious injection ` of the
commanding post who_had...the+......"bodv' count" t t
ie electronic'
hit* realise- that Tire.' `hall r at -the "7--F fh paraT►ef" Fie"_
. Special Forces policy was the brainchild of 'a whizz kid; a
only hope of success. , device entailing. inordinate
The -yew, '1'965, therefore,.can expense, 'promoted as a saviour
be regarded as a watershed. The . of bodies, it became a nebulous
bombing had proved abortive. three-day wonder, not to the
The policy recommended, by 'the enemy, but to the General Staff.
Speciaj- Forces was tabu. In the . The demise of _leadership
- result the General Blimps of the . combined with a misconceived
Army finally got into thesadd.le tactical ' doctrine bred
and pu,rsued their own gross . indisciplines...so that frustration
misconception of ' how to of the rank and file -•set in. There
combat guerillas. Instead of ''was the abbaioir at Mei Lai;
using . the Army as "armed there was five per cent of the
support for the .People", soldiery in Vietnam on heroin;
recourse . was had ',to a' vast there were the instances of
armoury of .mechanised ,refusal to obey orders. and last
weapons. Units df' division. size scene.. of all which ends .this
Were used, plus all the intricate ' strange eventful histOr . we, have
equipment, with its long; long the hemorrhage ,of talented
trail of maintainers; equipment professional soldiers, ` both
possessed of a bulk and a frailty .officers and. .non' -commissioned
which was quite unable, to 'officers. What is t'he result other
'compete with . the immense 'than; a . trigger-happy rabble
logistical problems, imposed by ' which can no longer command
the jungle. As President Nixon's • the name of'soldiery.
personal adviser (*21 put it:,
"Bombers, helicopters •and Are we to believe that none of
tremendous "firepower; :(for the "the President's men arid none
most part ynaimed) none of of 'tile President's horses"
these' will eliminate ' theunderstood the implications 'of
..:Cornmjinist cell in an Hanoi' high jungle warfare?_That is manifest
-sc•h•oot which" -turns out 50 nonsense. 'for there—ar-e the
recruits a,. ;,ear_ for the insurgent veterans 'of the Phillipines, of
army " . Korea. of Malaya. of Burma. of
The ''•;U.S. .• General , Staff the French Maquis; .of Algeria.
ignored vi l;,at'the French and the - and •of theFre,'tch ''failure i,:'
.• kmericansc-• had - proted to Vietnam: all, professionals. ail
themselves:'. that when large steeped in the essence of guerilla
forces attack' small groups.' the fighting. Why were thee' not
jungle is not neutral, but can be heard? Answer is there none'
Vas there too much military .
very friendly to those who know�
•
ti •
how to use it.
Following the expansion of
intervention in 1965, , the,
outposts -were overrun and tie.
bonus
interest
Savings trnOve to Victoria and Grey '
in the period November 1 to
November 15 wkll receive full interest
l November 1..
This means that the savings account you
open before .November 15 earns full,
interest for as much as two weeks beftjre
'you open the account! So,' whether it's a
4% chequing account bearing interest on a
minimum semi-annual balance or a fast
growing higher interest non-chequing
account on a minimum monthly balance,
bring it to Victgriajand Grey noiv and get
bonus interest:
VG
The senior Trust Company
devoted entirely 10 serving
the people, of Ontario.
WTORIA and GREY
TI liST ' COMPANY SINCE 1.88-9'
—
to 5:00 Monday to Xtursday
f00 to 6:Oo Fr'iday
ealand�11,1t�laragerrW;x;-.:,n 524381
Elgin and Kingston ,Streets, Goderich
Mt;Pr',
1-
•
would, not respond to hosepiping
of the terrain with unaimed shot
or even napalm; that somehow it
was , essential to ingratiate
yourself with the friend before„
you killed the foe.: -
Suitely never has an A•rtny
been debauched by such a
succession of ignorant decisions .
by , a succession of Presidents;
Generals, whizz kids, advisers,
war gamesmen, all of whom
worshipped the, false god of
Materialism. We, their Allies,
• who look to the United States
for leadership; for being the sure
shield when the crash comes; we
cans only hope that this
monumental'-b�lunderwill result
in some realistic lessons' being
written in letters of fire in the
text books on which succeeding
generations of West Pointers are
fledged.
*le "The Vantage Point" by L.
B. Johnson. Holt, Rhinehart
Winston. $15.00.
Robert" Thompson in'
"The War of the Running Dogs"
by Noel Barber.
West Wawanosh Twp.
council meeting hel
The regular meeting of the
West ` Wawafiosh Township
Council was held on Novex.ber,2
with all . council members
present. A petition ,f(fr drainage,
"'-signed by two . Township
residents. was presented to
council. A motion by
Councillors .McDonald • and
Aitchison accepted the petition.
from H. Gaunt •and' instructed
the Clerk to contact Henry
1'nderstadt , to undertake the
:rvey of the area concerned.
In other business Gordon
proul, appeared before council
to inquire about procedures
under the "Line Fences Act."
The necessaryforms Were
supplied to M. Sproul to obtain
tne.services of fenceviewers.
Reeve. Lyons :._.reported to
council on -.the meetings •which
ha',e been held' in Lucknow in
c,•)nrlection with the proposed
r.e_dical centre. and water tank
muck for rural fires:
A motion was also passed by.
'councillors ;':Hickey, and
Aitchison that the West
Wawanosh Townsrip permit the
Art Gallery of Ontario to sell
ottery ° -tic{ets in •'the
Municipality.
General accounts were passed
amounting to 5.210.81 and
accounts covering road.
FIGHT TUBERCULOSIS
EMPHYSEMA ANO OTHER
RESPIRATORY DISEASES
as n'soved
BAINTON'S ARE CON1 INUIN i TO PRATE
IN THEIR ORIGINAL OVA) MiLL,BUILDING
i
T
$ho in tills old building, a J,ancirmirk in Huron County
since 1894.' • .
Wool and Leather t�rxlaal;t5 offered
up to Cltdn lastuyear's Sale Prices.
The name. "BAINTON" ,s u,r guarantee .
Open Daily, Monday through Saturday,
• 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
expenditures were passed in the
amount of $2,063.75.
- t
wi.• Dennie
A.
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FILM DEVELOPING
t.EORA
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Medium. and High eng'ili
Et doesn't matter what sty'Ie you want or to what length you want
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GOUERICW
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