-
derivative filename/jpeg
-
363-05081 to 363-05092.pdf
-
Digital Object Identifier
-
363-05081 to 363-05092
-
Title
-
Second article on the long march towards peace in Vietnam
-
Description
-
Original title: "stages", Keever's title: "No 'Instant Peace' is Seen to end Fighting in South Vietnam", Article draft about the difficulties of peace in Vietnam, for the Christian Science Monitor, page 1-12
-
AI Usage Disclosure
-
Draft transcripts were automatically generated via Google Document AI and are currently under review. Please report significant errors to Archives & Special Collections at archives@unl.edu.
-
Transcript
-
--------------------
- Page 1
--------------------
zcze sag
Jy nnm
stages 1 (normass/deepe)
(This is the last of a two-part series on the long march towards peace
in Vietnam).
SAIGON,
OCTOBER 29-Like space rockets, the peace talks on the Vietnam
war are a multi-staged affair. A "blitz peace" or "instant peace"-as one
Western diplomat called it--for ending the war in South Vietnam seems unlikely.
If amimmim the American bombing of North Vietnam is halted, the second
stage of the peace talks would be centered on the simultaneous withdrawal of
American and North Vietnamese troops from the South, informed sources
report. Regroupment of troops into enclaves and implementation of the
disengagement might be accompanied by a temporary ceasefire, they say.
the "de-foreignization" of the troop levels in the South
and a temporary ceasefire do not repeat not necessarily mean peace for the
even during the second-stage of the peace
long-embattled South Vietnam. And,
But,
talks, heavy fighting may continue in South Vietnam; American military
==more reuter
commanders believe that the Communists may be re-grearing for a new military
offensive some th some time in early 1969.
more reuter
--------------------
- Page 2
--------------------
ZCZC sag
yy nnm
stages 2 (normass/deepe)
What the "de-foreignization" of the South Vietnam conflict does mean
is that both Hanoi and Washington have tentatively and generally agreed
affairs in South Vietnam should be settled by the South Vietnamese. But,
the ff gift of from Hanoi and sol Washington for self-determinationes.
to the South Vietnamese for self-determination implies carries the
19
additional perogr preogative for their own self-destruction.
more reuter
--------------------
- Page 3
--------------------
2020 sag
yy num
stages 3 (normass/doope)
this process of def "do-foreignization"
At least one the American side,
of the South Vietnam conflict is being accelerated greatly and significantly.
The American command here in fre known to be frenetically making plans to
turn over vast amounts of material now used by American units to Vietnamese
Some rather sophisticated equipment which the Vietnamese
armed forces were programmed to receive from the American command in 1973
are now being prepared to turn be turned over to the Vietnamese forces
warohouses of the gigantic U. S.
Army Stes
in a matter of months. The gigantic Amorisen supply
dopot at Long Binh,
units.
Com
outside of Saigon, which was to supply American units in the field has now
as of a few weeks ago.
have now been opened up to supply Vietnamese units,
Clearly, the American command is accelerating the pacing of kits
6.0
The
planning for a rather rapid disengagement and exit from Vietnam.
Vietnamese government is clearly gambling that if R Richard M. Nixon
is elected President on November 5, this process of an American withdrawal
may be reversed. But, informed American sources indicate that no matter
who is elected American, President next week-an American = troop withdrawal
from Vietnam is at hand-and perhaps sooner than many Vietnamese expect and
many American officials would like.
more reuter
--------------------
- Page 4
--------------------
2020 sag
Jy nm
stages 4 (normass/deepe)
After a ocase temporary ceasefire for the withdrawal of American and
North Vietnamese troops, the two Southern belligerents in the war-the
Viet Cong and the anti-Communist armr armed forces might turn on each
other with few renewed vigor for po protracted warfare.
Hopes for peace in the South would turn on the initiation and the final
outcome of a third phase of conferences between these two belligerents-and
this in itself may be even more difficult to begin and to conclude
satisfactorily than the five months of Washington-Hanoi discussion on
stopping the bombing of the North.
more reuter
--------------------
- Page 5
--------------------
2020 sag
yy nnm
stages 5 (normass/deope)
The difficulty in the third-stage of discussions between Saigon
government and the Viet Cong is simply getting them started.
There is no
evidence that the Viet Cong have yet given up their objective of overthrowing
the Saigon government by force-even without the help of their North
Vietnamese comrades.
And the official public Vietnamese government
position which thay i will be difficult to reverse--is that it will not
repeat not maintain face-to-face negotiations with the Viet Cong as a
separate entity. "We simply have nothing to talk about," one official
government official explained.
However,
the Vietnamese government is prepared to accept Viet Cong
military and political individuals back into national, political life,
giving them an amnesty for their crimes against the state and Vietnamese
citizens, and givenin giving them the right to vote in government elections.
In return, the Viet Cong must lay down their weapons and renounce the Communist
principles of attempting to overthrow and subvert the legal and
constitutional government.
more router
--------------------
- Page 6
--------------------
zozo sag
yy nmm
stages 6 (nofm (normass/deepe)
Whether the Vietnamese and the Viet Cong will agree to secret,
bilateral conversations in some hideaway place outside the public arena
of Paris remains to be seen. There are known to have been conversations
between Vietnamese officials and Viet Cong representatives in the past,
but these were more of the nature of friendly talks and intelligence-hunting
soundings rather than any substantive official discussions about ending the
war in the South.
Even if the third-stage of peace talks develop between S the Saigon
government and the Viet Cong, the Thieu governm rei regime of President
Nguyen Van Thieu is prepared to offer the Viet Cong only two choicess
==more reuter
--------------------
- Page 7
--------------------
5020 Sag
yy nnm
stages 7 (normass/deepe)
1. The Viet Cong would be re-integrated into the national and political
fabric of Vietnamese society, instead of being hunted down as outlaws,
and x in return the Viet Cong must lay down their weapons and agree to
abide by the Vietnamese constitution. They will be allowed to vote
according to the "one-man, one-vote" principle.
Some concessions may be made to the Viet Cong if they accopt
re-integration into this framework. For example, the next election for
President is in 1971; an earlier election may be agreed to under which the
Viet Cong could participate in the voting. Whether or not they could run
a pro-Communist candien candidate Presidential candidate or legislative
candidates remains to be seem. The Vietnamese constitution, which the
latter-day Viet Cong would be expected to support-outlaws Communism and
neutralism in its famous Article 4. An amendment of this clause might also
matter of discussionsx and negotiation. Or, if the Viet Cong are
strong enough to elect a sizeable chunk of their ex-comrades or sympathizers
into the two-house legislature, then they could not only amend the constitution
but also influence the direction of national policy.
be a
more router
--------------------
- Page 8
--------------------
2020 sag
yy nnm
stages 8 (normass/deepe)
"Everything revolves around the one-man, one-vote principle and
Article 4 of the Constitution," one senior Vietnamese politican explained.
"If the Vietnamese government can remain militarily strong in the
provinces and politically strong in the cities, then the Viet Cong have to
accept both of these as they now exist. But, if we weaken the Viet Cong
a
might be able to win an r at anxemekhoom Presidential election date earlier
than 1971-or they might gain a guarantee of amendments to Article 4."
2. If the Viet Cong refuse to re-integrate with the Vietnamese
government-with or without secret negotiations-then the fighting will
continue in South Vietnam. Vietnamese government officials believe after
the "de-foreignization" process, it will still maintain military
superiority over the Viet Cong-enough to force them either to politically
surrender or to accept military defeat.
#more reuter
--------------------
- Page 9
--------------------
2020 088
yy nnm
stages 9 (normass/deepe)
combattants
the Vietnamese government armed forces would
In cold statistics,
maintain a ten to one force ratio over the Viet Cong-ten government nuk
armed soldiers and police for every Viet Cong armed a combattant-after
the bit bit bilatoral withdrawal of Amorioan and North Vietnamese forces.
these statistics do not take into account the relative
However,
balance of political power between a highly disciplined, dictatorial
Communist cadre system and a fragmented anti-Communist body politic and
government now faced with all the problems of waging a war while searching
for peace.
more reuter
--------------------
- Page 10
--------------------
2050 986
Jy nnm
stages 10 (normass/deepe)
Nor, can anyone here predict with accuracy how the Vietnamese
non-Communist body politic and armed forces will react to the first shook
waves of an American withdrawal and the continuing uncertainties of
peace talks. Even during the Korean War,
American officers agreed
that it was difficult to maintain the morale of American troops once the
peace negotiations began. As one American general explained, "No
one wants to be the last soldier to die in a war." Or,
as another
American official explained,
want to take a hilltop that may be negotiated awa at a conference table
"not even the most disciplined soldiers unt
the next day."
Certainly any urban disorders--demonstrations for my or against
anything by either the left-wing or the right-wing political groupings
in the Souht South-would be potentially disasterous for the Saigon
government. Demonstrations for or against the American committmont
a victory departure
as U. S. troops begin withdrawing could transform
into an oxhimin ungraceful rout or retreat in full glare of
world-wide a disasterous spectacle for world-wide consumption.
more router
--------------------
- Page 11
--------------------
2020 sag
yy nnm
stages 11 (normass/deepe)
I
Since the beginning of the year,
Since mid-year, the Vietnamese armed forces has gotten bigger, but
not much better; its more morale has improved as the Communists have suffered
severe defeats, but its discipline has worsened.
These factors mean that
any mad-dash for peace by the Americans might pay upsd upset the psychological
and organization framework which has heretofore kept the Vietnamese armed
forces glued together. The desertion rate of the 807,000-man Vietnamese
armed forces has been increasing as the talk of peace accelerated. In
September 12,000 deserted-mostly to their homes rather than to the Viet Cong
side. But, the desertion rate per thousand men has been declining as the
overall strength has increased since general mobilization earlier this year.
more reuter
--------------------
- Page 12
--------------------
2020 sag
yy nnm
stages 12 (normass/deepe)
the
As Hanoi and Washington vacillate between war and peace,
military and political reaction to these decisions in South Vietnam
will take on a crucial dimension in the coming months. In fact, the
Dunnen overall political and psychological outcome of the
next pye phase of the war and peace may be determined more by the reactions
in South Vietnam than by the decisions in Paris.
Sodn router
-
Date
-
1968, Oct. 29
-
Subject
-
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Peace; Vietnam (Republic); Mặt trận dân tộc giải phóng miền nam Việt Nam
-
Location
-
Saigon, South Vietnam
-
Coordinates
-
10.8231; 106.6311
-
Size
-
20 x 26 cm
-
Container
-
B10, F39
-
Format
-
dispatches
-
Collection Number
-
MS 363
-
Collection Title
-
Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers
-
Creator
-
Keever, Beverly Deepe
-
Copyright Information
-
These images are for educational use only. To inquire about usage or publication, please contact Archives & Special Collections.
-
Publisher
-
Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries
-
Language
-
English
