Of course, bombing the oil depots in the North, Craig said, won't help the Viet Cong. What bothers him more are the reports that from two to six civilians are killed for every Viet Cong on our regular bombing runs in the South. Craig added that it was perfectly possible that our bombing Hanoi and Haiphong had simply entrenched the resistance of the North Vietnamese. More crucial is whether we really know what we would negotiate for. On the other hand, if we expect to "clear the Communists out of South Vietnam," then the job is of impossible dimensions and negotiations are futile.
Quester said that although it could be impossible to get rid of all the Communists, they might be forced into abandoning the revolution as they did in Greece. As to Craig's objection that we didn't really know what our negotiation terms would be if we ever got to a peace table, Quester pointed out that it would weaken our bargaining position if we let the opposition know "what we would bargain for.
Donald W. Klein, research fellow in East Asian Studies, said there was a marked lack of clarity as to what the Administration wanted in the way of negotiations.
Klein associated himself with Craig's position on this issue. Diplomatically, Klein saw the decision to drop the bomb as a wrong one. He cited the lesson of the Korean War where we leveled the North without moving our opponents any nearer to the peace table. As for the timing of the escalation, Klein speculated that it was a domestic move on Johnson's behalf, and that the President feels this is the "tidy war" the Gallup Polls favor.
While Craig said the bombing was probably the result of a sense of frustration, Quester suggested the decision was made on a basis of China's inability to retaliate. Therefore, may I ask my noble friend whether the Prime Minister could either advance his forthcoming visit to Washington—where, no doubt, he will discuss this vital problem of the war in South Vietnam—or, alternatively, through diplomatic channels make the suggestion to President Johnson that the United States Government should suspend all bombing activities in North Vietnam, at any rate against targets which might well be described as non-military targets, pending the Prime Minister's arrival in Washington next month?
My Lords, the noble Lord has worked on these subjects for many years, and anything that he says will be conveyed to the Government. But I certainly could not expect that the visit could be advanced, and I should not like to suggest that the attitude of the Government will go beyond what has been expressed in this Statement.
My Lords, may I ask my noble friend whether an attack on supply lines is not a normal operation in war, and whether oil is not an essential supply during war? My Lords, I suppose there would be two opinions about this question in general, but there is no doubt that, in the view of the Government, this represents a new development, and the attitude of the Government has been clearly indicated.
My Lords, I should like to associate myself with the remarks made by my noble friend Lord Rowley. My Lords, will the noble Lord confirm that these are quite clearly military targets? We are not talking about non-military targets here. My Lords, the noble Lord will appreciate that I have not had much notice of this, and I have told him all I know about it up to this moment.
The expression used to the House is that these are targets touching on the populated areas, and I cannot at the moment go beyond that. My Lords, is it not possible that, being war targets, the bringing of them into the attack might possibly shorten the war? My Lords, of course everything is possible, and no doubt the United States believes that.
The bride was 43 and the groom was It was the second marriage for Wilson, whose first wife died the year before from a kidney ailment. Edith, who claimed to be directly descended from John Kehoe, the last of the Molly Maguires, is executed in Pennsylvania. The Molly Maguires, an Irish secret society that had allegedly been responsible for some incidences of vigilante justice in the coalfields of eastern Pennsylvania, defended their actions as attempts to The Battle of Verdun, the longest engagement of World War I, ends on this day after ten months and close to a million total casualties suffered by German and French troops.
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