Transcribe
Translate
University of Iowa anti-war protests, 1965-1967
31858064848116_012-02
More information
digital collection
archival collection guide
transcription tips
Cost Effectiveness Defense Secretary McNemara is known for his emphasis on "cost effectiveness" of military projects. We congratulate him for nipping tiny boondoggles in the bud; every admiral has his own pet project and knows if he can get it through he will have his name all over it. But we wish Mr. McNamara would employ the fact that SINCE 1964 the U.S. has spent on the Vietnam war $10,000, that is TEN THOUSAND dollars, PER SOUTH VIETNAMESE FAMILY. Such waste is a crime. South Vietnam should be made into almost a paradise for this amount of money. On cost-effectiveness basis, the figures look even weirder. The Washington Post recently calculated that on the basis of official U.S. figures, the average cost of killing the Vietcong is $332,000 per Vietcong soldier killed. Who Rules S. Vietnam? We indicated in previous Viet Messages that Ky's ruling junta would veto provision in the constitution for civil rule. They did so (N.Y. Times, Jan. 11, page 3.) but then they proceeded to outdo even our expectations: they threw out the last southern member of the cabinet, deputy premier [unintelligible] Co. (N.Y. Times, Jan. 26, page 3). This means that all members of the junta are now North Vietnamese who sided with the French and against the Vietnamese side of the war for independence. These people can be expected to have about as deliberate and thoughtful an attitude on peace negotiations as the Cuban refugees or those from Eastern Europe would have if given a chance to influence our policies in those areas. [Unintelligible] During the Eisenhower presidency, Pres. Eisenhower and the Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, propounded the "Domino Theory" which held that if South Vietnam goes Communist, the rest of Southeast Asia would topple to communism as a row of dominoes standing on end will topple if the first one is pushed against the rest. That theory has been elaborated on by others who sold that if a coalition government were established in South Vietnam, the Communists in it would land in the U.S. and start taking over this country. No one, however, propounds a contrary theory that if a coalition government were established in South Vietnam the non-Communists in it would take over from the Communists, and then non-communism would spread to North Vietnam, China, the Soviet Union, Poland and Easy Germany. There is some similarity between the Domino Theory and the communist belief that communism will inevitably triumph because of its superiority over an outmoded way of life. The Johnson administration has no accepted the Domino Theory, but many other people still passionately believe it is fact, not theory. If we listen to these supporters of the Domino Theory expound their point of view, we often see a [unintelligible] and emotionalism that shows a desire to believe communism will take over all territory between the U.S. and China if the Vietnamese War is not fought to a military victory. They want to believe Communists are 50 feet tall. It is easy to understand why a Communist would want to believe that communism can spread in that manner, but it is not so easy to understand why an anti-Communist would want to believe Communists would be attacking the U.S. in a few years if a coalition government were established in South Vietnam. U.S. Terrorism Kayen Beech, a newsman for the Chicago Daily News, wrote a "news analysis" for his paper that was also printed in the Dos Moines Register Dec. 30, 1966. After saying that, of course, American bombing was killing North Vietnamese civil issues, he said there was [unintelligible] reasons for bombing North Vietnam that the Johnson administration had been putting forth instead the ideas that the bombing was to interdict the supply lines. Mr. Beech said, "Nobody who knew anything about the subjunt believed for a moment that aerial bombardment should interdict human pack [unintelligible] Mr. Beech went on to say, "The real reason for the bombings was to inflict pain upon the enemy - to roust the cost of aggression in the South." He didn't just say that would hasten the end of the war. The U.S. is just inflicting pain for the sake of inflicting pain, something to this Pulitzer Prize winner, and he approves of it. Hitler, at least, thought he was solving the "Jewish Problems" when he started exterminating Jews! Visit our literature table in the [unintelligible] Gold Feather rooms. ([unintelligible] sometimes Tuesday}. Our meetings are held approximately every two weeks, at 5:00 PM in the Union, usually Thursdays. For further information call [unintelligible] at 363-3360 or 338-0595 or Eugene Peters at 353-5254.
Saving...
prev
next
Cost Effectiveness Defense Secretary McNemara is known for his emphasis on "cost effectiveness" of military projects. We congratulate him for nipping tiny boondoggles in the bud; every admiral has his own pet project and knows if he can get it through he will have his name all over it. But we wish Mr. McNamara would employ the fact that SINCE 1964 the U.S. has spent on the Vietnam war $10,000, that is TEN THOUSAND dollars, PER SOUTH VIETNAMESE FAMILY. Such waste is a crime. South Vietnam should be made into almost a paradise for this amount of money. On cost-effectiveness basis, the figures look even weirder. The Washington Post recently calculated that on the basis of official U.S. figures, the average cost of killing the Vietcong is $332,000 per Vietcong soldier killed. Who Rules S. Vietnam? We indicated in previous Viet Messages that Ky's ruling junta would veto provision in the constitution for civil rule. They did so (N.Y. Times, Jan. 11, page 3.) but then they proceeded to outdo even our expectations: they threw out the last southern member of the cabinet, deputy premier [unintelligible] Co. (N.Y. Times, Jan. 26, page 3). This means that all members of the junta are now North Vietnamese who sided with the French and against the Vietnamese side of the war for independence. These people can be expected to have about as deliberate and thoughtful an attitude on peace negotiations as the Cuban refugees or those from Eastern Europe would have if given a chance to influence our policies in those areas. [Unintelligible] During the Eisenhower presidency, Pres. Eisenhower and the Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, propounded the "Domino Theory" which held that if South Vietnam goes Communist, the rest of Southeast Asia would topple to communism as a row of dominoes standing on end will topple if the first one is pushed against the rest. That theory has been elaborated on by others who sold that if a coalition government were established in South Vietnam, the Communists in it would land in the U.S. and start taking over this country. No one, however, propounds a contrary theory that if a coalition government were established in South Vietnam the non-Communists in it would take over from the Communists, and then non-communism would spread to North Vietnam, China, the Soviet Union, Poland and Easy Germany. There is some similarity between the Domino Theory and the communist belief that communism will inevitably triumph because of its superiority over an outmoded way of life. The Johnson administration has no accepted the Domino Theory, but many other people still passionately believe it is fact, not theory. If we listen to these supporters of the Domino Theory expound their point of view, we often see a [unintelligible] and emotionalism that shows a desire to believe communism will take over all territory between the U.S. and China if the Vietnamese War is not fought to a military victory. They want to believe Communists are 50 feet tall. It is easy to understand why a Communist would want to believe that communism can spread in that manner, but it is not so easy to understand why an anti-Communist would want to believe Communists would be attacking the U.S. in a few years if a coalition government were established in South Vietnam. U.S. Terrorism Kayen Beech, a newsman for the Chicago Daily News, wrote a "news analysis" for his paper that was also printed in the Dos Moines Register Dec. 30, 1966. After saying that, of course, American bombing was killing North Vietnamese civil issues, he said there was [unintelligible] reasons for bombing North Vietnam that the Johnson administration had been putting forth instead the ideas that the bombing was to interdict the supply lines. Mr. Beech said, "Nobody who knew anything about the subjunt believed for a moment that aerial bombardment should interdict human pack [unintelligible] Mr. Beech went on to say, "The real reason for the bombings was to inflict pain upon the enemy - to roust the cost of aggression in the South." He didn't just say that would hasten the end of the war. The U.S. is just inflicting pain for the sake of inflicting pain, something to this Pulitzer Prize winner, and he approves of it. Hitler, at least, thought he was solving the "Jewish Problems" when he started exterminating Jews! Visit our literature table in the [unintelligible] Gold Feather rooms. ([unintelligible] sometimes Tuesday}. Our meetings are held approximately every two weeks, at 5:00 PM in the Union, usually Thursdays. For further information call [unintelligible] at 363-3360 or 338-0595 or Eugene Peters at 353-5254.
Campus Culture
sidebar
