"Business as usual" at the
University and in Charlottesville
must be halted on October 15. The
call has been issued by the Vietnam
Moratorium Committee, and each
individual member of this community,
as well as other individuals in
localities across the nation, must
come to the conclusion that his
participation in this demonstration
of public distress is absolutely
necessary for the success of this last
ditch non-violent and democratic
effort to reverse the nation's war
policy.
We may attend up trapped a long
time if we continue to express a
passive faith in the wisdom of our
policy-makers. The Vietnam pit is
bottomless. Those who see in the
agonizingly gradual withdrawal of
troops and the stalemated peace
talks an opening in the clouds and
thus feel justified in leaving to
Washington the supposed final
disposition of the war must be
confronted with the magnitude of
their illusion and rationalization.
The practical fact remains,
whether the war is viewed in moral
terms or not, that the balance of
power in the political arena in
Vietnam is not and has never been
with us. It should be apparent that
the settlement the U.S. seeks is out
of the question because it requires
abject surrender of the adversary.
Hanoi and the NLF have shown
over four and one half years of
intense fighting that they cannot be
bludgeoned into relinquishing their
commitments to the withdrawal of
Western military and political influence,
to strong representation in
Saigon, and to the ultimate unification
of Vietnam. Without let-up for
nearly thirty years, the insurgents
have suffered incredible human and
financial costs in an effort to secure
these non-negotiable political goals.
The U.S. cannot and most of this
nation does not want to make the
overwhelming commitment and
giant sacrifice on a long-term basis
that the soldiers of Ho have and
will continue to make.
The Vietnam policy, like many
others in government, has an almost
mechanical momentum to it. "Few
defend the war, yet it continues"
(The Cavalier Daily, Sept. 22)
because men in Washington cannot
admit to themselves the tragic
dimensions of their error. It remains
for us, distressed individuals
from all political persuasions, who
are somewhat removed from those
decisions to take the initiative and
show our supposedly responsive
policy makers that we will not sink
further with them into this bottomless
pit. In this time of calling, we
must vindicate our right to popular
sovereignty.
