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per Following are excerpts from a remarkable dotument — “The Wer in Vietnam,” a white po’ + pared 6; the staf of the Senate Republican Policy C. nittee. Despite efforts to limit #s availcvility, The New York Times carried these excersis on May 2, For fuil text, 10¢ below, INTRODUCTION As Gf Apri i907, the war to contain Communist aggres- sine in Viewtim has assumed for the United States these ua- wt! SLEOAS Ott ic sueans 3 conflict that has escalaced from a smaiu force of S50 Amezicon technicians to over s haif-million fighting mex. ii means over 8,000 men killed. ~~ It micans over 50,000 wounded. Tz sheans greatly increased American conscription at a time whoa the rest of the Western worid has done away with its erat. ; ai mesas Guz longest war since the American Revolution — six vears —- a weary nmighimare and yet the men who Egnt are Bgmiing with extcsordiaary bravery and skill. I: eons ics coowing at any given moment precisely who ace cacy is. ik reins 5 was which is not simply fought over this tiny inséd af Vian; for this war, unlike ai] others in American susiory, is mort and moze justified a3 much on geopolitical Srounds i as Go ime defense of o one gmail goverament Zs mass our relative isolation as the world’s policeman, for ere we have co Grand Alliance as in World War II, no Waites Naticas Combined Forces 25 in Korea. In addition to _ South Viecnamese troops, four Pacific nations have provided some fighting help —- with our financial assistance. - s iz means icing a people who claim this is a civil war, and who in tum are spurred on by two giant powers quarrel- ing openiy with each other. , Powers Assumcc by Precidoent Je means that while we have committed 500,000 men to panie Communism, neithe: the Soviet Union nor Red China — the great Communist powers — has found it necessary to Commit troops, qx sceans the most frustrating sort of war, with no front lices, which breaks out here and there, even across national borcers in Laos and Cambodia, neither of which is involved. ii means spending over $390,000 to kill each enemy soldier. ‘Is means spending $24-billion a year, with another increase in taxes threatened, a further drain on an already inadequate goid sapply, and an escalation of inflation. It means enormous discretionary powers assumed by the . President, with Congress asked to approve his actions after the fact It g.eans the nation which started the war — France « —and lost it, now Las become our most outspoken critic while profit. ing heavily fram the war. Ig means a war where, in the eyes of many Asiatics, we are Sghtag against indigenous Asiatic nationalism, much as France did in the past. Tt means the first war in our history fought not only on the bailefieid but brought into the American livingroom, every éay, tarough the raw emotionalism of today’s mass communi- cacions. yz means a war in which religious controversy between achouc minozity and Budchist majoity has come dangerously close to causing collapse of the successive governments of South Vietnam, Here at home this confusion, this frustration, has taised - Meee. —_—— aN Viel abae 2 ooe Be le lee CeO Vie challenges within Congress, within colleres and universitics, within the press, °» }the military itself — and ati to a ce- gree not experic, 4 if the United Szates since the Civil Wac. Conscientious obje “todsy outmumber ees Noreen coon: terparts 4 to 1. ga “a 7 . . . i CONCLUCLON hore is a great cc.eint of information to whict. Obdvioasly, only Mr. jozson aad his advisors have access. A revicw such aS thls musi perforce Tely O% materials that have been made puss by ine Acziunisitation,-or are obtainable from ochcr peo.c SOCICES, One othe: chservadion is necessary. Deep ourrents, Asian in ofizgia, held enormous © 2; over everts’in Vietnam ye: can- mot be aceccstely trescce am @ brief political history, A list of such currents is large, and woxid inciuce the observation that Victnam is basically & Budshiss and Confucian, both ethical! religions without a person? 2cc. Thus, Asiatic communism as espoused by Asiatics can mascuerade as an ally in the cider, more familiar struggle against Western theism, Westerr. colonialism, anc Westera capitalism, Ditference } pars Fe Sade’ LNA EGS Ia a larger sense much more can be cited te confound the best of minds in resolving the Vietnamese condict, Tne West divides good and evil, and thinks that evil can be conquered. Yet in Asia, a man is generally capabie of believing that some- thing is simultaneously good and bad, right and wrong, black and white, in such a manner as to render most dificult rex understanding by the Western mentality. Just as difheult to comprehend are the “politics” of the Buddhists, or the meaning of their proposals for a peaceful, Vietnam; we dismiss them as visiontry or unrealistic, yet they may be more acceptable and understandable to the South Vietnamese — after 27 years of warfare -— than anything we propose in our Western political terminology. In short, we Americans cannot simply go to Asia, wipe the slate clean, and say to them, ‘This is how it shall be.” The Vietnamese have their own view of nationalism, quite different from ours, the Vietnamese Communists identify with it, and it renders our involvement immezsazably difncult. Does the Republican Party serve America best by saying that politics stops at the water's edge? That we must rally behind the President? Does bipartisanship mean that Demo- cratic mistakes are Republican responsibilities ? Republicans — for twa decades — have believed the United States must not become involved in a land war on the Asian continent We are so involved today. Republicans have believed that no American military inter- vention should be unilateral, Our commitment today in Viet- nam is primarily unilateral. . Republicans, in 1984, made a limited commitment to the South Vietnam Government. Under the Democrats, our com- mitment has become open-ended. Before making any further decisions to support or diffe: with the President, Republicans might agree to seek hard, realistic answers to two basic questions; 1. What precisely is our national interest in Thailand Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos? 2. To what further lengths i are we prepared to 20 In su port of this interest? = sce edt . ‘ee ~ oe The full tex: of the Republicea White paper, “ind Wher Sa” Vic. pam” (58 pp.}, is avaizable from Public Affairs Press, “£19 New _ Jersey Avenue, 5.E., Washington, D.C. 26063, for $1.00. Repcinis these excerpts are available from SANE for 1¢ each.