1969_12 The Daily Collegian December 1969

              2    THE DAILY COLLEGIAN
rory
Military policies face U.S. conscience test
my mil-Bin B. Davis
eMc
iciest My
irseoaes-
tloa* of pebUc palley, only a tow
of which are yet being d
by toe American people. They involve the future of war as sa
of **ftftea*l  policy.
I Nixon's spokesman called the killings st My Lsi.
eee make policy tor the United
■tale* have to toco toe roll range
of mess Bjasetlpsa aad are kisaliil
aft  such times as this by their
uj     their extreme
A cheek bet. put together from
sources laCoagress. the etoil ad -
ministration, the military and
observers such as asws correspondents, includes tho following:
With tho Vietnam war more
the* bv years old with much
violence Inflicted on civilians in
meay afferent ways, why did tt
remain tor this particular mesa
killing to stir ths American eon-
sr-lanr*
Is It s revolt against killing or
jest this particular ktndofkUling
Agalast ear to general or tag*
particular war>
Does It reflect frustration at
limited war which
Americans 'were unable to win''
If tho war had been militarily
would there have been
of such magnitude''
Americans reject
In Asls, but would light tn
Europe or the Middle East-* How
many reject e land war In Asls,
bet would have welcomed victory
by s sadden, aU-out use of air
power'
Who would refuse to be drafted
to fight a war against Communists
but would enlist to fight a war
against fascists''
What system of ethics or morality should be applied to a situation like this-- Why might a
Western or Southern man say,
•This is regrettable but this is
war." while a Northern, dry
dwelling woman might say. "This
Is horrible-'"
What does the drama of the
news have to do with building an
Incident Use this" If the story hod
not been suppressed snd then
made public by one terror-filled
interview after another. If I
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MI\H(.HIH Bl DCI  I
Eomonos
109S "UtTCtoMAii
men pictures had not been available, would tee aU
sad children have a
sot from sews reports of destroy-
ind villages and their InksNtsnts
by artillery, or by B-52 etrikee,
or by gunners ta helicopters
shooting anyone In a rice paddy
who ran. on the theory that be
most bo s Viet ComT
Waa tt involvement in a civil
war. whore foreign soldiers can
not toll one side from the other
which caused the trouble"
Or was it Involvement In goer-
rills war. where whole popels-
tiona fight" or was tt the Communist system which deliberately
uaes women and young people to
fight, or to set out concealed
land mines, or to tell where the
enemy is-hlding"
By what value systems does
one judge the official use of terror by the Communist sids and the
use of counter-terror by angry
and frustrated American soldiers
who are not supposed to do this
flow do these compare with the
uae of arhltary arrest snd punish
ment by Saigon authorities, determined lo Impose their rule on
recalcitrant peasants and to win
their BJBJ
Does the army and financing
nf the Saigon government by the
United Statea make it responsible for the actions of that government - Or ahould the lulled States
not intervene in the domestic affairs of regimes asking for Its
help in romhattng Communist
subversion aad invasion"
Is fighting to help a dictatorship
different from fighting to help a
democracy"
Was It a mistake for the American military'"insist on carrying
the burden of the war alone until
recently, with too little help from
South Vietnamese troops who
know the country and language
and people
Would South Vietnamese troops
have done differently
Why did the killing of women
and children by handguns at My
l.al cause a national and International revulsion, when no such
uproar was caused at the time
when American Bombers burned
large ports of Tokyo end other Industrial cities of Japan, along
with   much  of  their population'
In the aummer of 1943, the
American and British air forces
wiped out more thsn half the city
of Hamburg. Germany, killing
42.000     and     injuring     37.000
rCln*,
l Florimt'
Condits
f iowws 16im
• mostly civilian
msn, women and children. Why
was there no such public pretest
then"
It took the "Dtery of Anne
Frank" to bring home to countless Germans snd others what it
meant to have something like
6 million civilians killed by
Hitler's orders. Would the small
nature of the My Lai incident
and the personal television and
press interviews with the humaa
beings who took port have made
the brutalities of the Vletnsmeee
war comprehensible
Questions Including these snd
many others are being argued
here, at a time when the policymakers of the United states feel
unable to propose any workable
substitute for war as the final
means of settling disputes be*
twee* nations.
The best thst is now proposed
with any broad public backing is
dlaengagement from foreign civil
wars and steps to limit the numbers of nuclear weapon*.
Rut the United states remains
committed far more than the
average citizen recouglzee--
though the offlcals here recognize
It full, -sell- -and blanch when th**/
think about it--to the actual uae of
the big nuclear weapons for what -
ever the President decides is the
ultimate defense of the country.
The historian Samuel Eliot
Mori son in his recently published "Oxford History of the American People,* gives the following
quotation from General Douglas
MacArthur. after reviewing some
of these perplexing questions as
ssm) arose during the conduct
of World Wsr II. The general had
just accepted the surrender of
Japan on the deck of the battleship
Missouri "and then made a broadcast address for the people of the
Untied States:
■A new era is upon us . . .
victory itself brings with It profound concern, both for our future
securm and the survival of cut-
&
wrisoaasAt
^
auaxmr*.
•Men since the beginning
time have sought peace .
military alliances, balances
power, .segue* of saftlsi
turn failed, leaving the i
to be by the way of the
of war ....
"The utter destructiv
war now locks cast this alternative. We nave had our
If we do not deviae some gross*/
and more equitable system, oar
Armageddon will be st our door.
The problem basically la tosoleg
Irs! snd Involves s spiritual rs-
The final questions on today's
list:   "How""  and  "What klncr*
letters
Good driving
I would like to compliment the
driver of the gray Volvo ssdss
for his skillful driving habits and
for his flsgrant disregard of
traffic laws a little after 8 s,ie.
grestoaajstoy.
Thia>
caused two accidents just
of his willful neglect of traffic
regulations and for what Is commonly called •courtesy".
First he could not wait for the
long line of cars waiting In ths
left turn lane on gnaw Avenue
instesd he made an Illegal left
hand turn onto Cedar Avenue from
a through lane almost striking a
car turning from the proper lane.
To top It off. only a matter
<>f %0 to 100 yards latsr he
swerved from the light lane Into
the left lane of northbound Cedar
Avenue without signaling forcing
a car to slsm on Its brakes
and hi i the curbing in sa effort
to avoid an accident
Perhapa he has not bean In
California long enough to learn
you sre supposed to make left
turns from the. turn out lane
provided and you sre eejgujowd
to signal when turning loses.
Perhaps be wss unaware of serh
tidbits or just forgot them.
I wonder If perhapa he thought
he com rolled the roadway or
ma, ie he was lata. I was late
too. but I did not make an Improper turn or switch Into soother Isne In front of another
car   alrooet   causing  accidents
He should remember there sre
a lot of other people who sre
Ists and he Is not the only one.
So to ssve s lot of trouble
for yourself asd others why don't
you get op earlier from now oa.
Especially if you are going to
drive like s maniac whoa yea are
lets. Next time you might sot
bs so lucky, next time there
could be an accident.
So if other students and faculty
see s gray Volvo coming, watch-
out, it could be the one who
csused the near accidents. Nest
time they might am bsnoaraeel-
dents. tlvey could be the real txaag.