CLARK COMMENTS ON HAIPHONG BOMBING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP08T00376R000100260032-6
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 3, 2012
• Sequence Number: 32
• Publication Date: August 6, 1972
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/03: CIA-RDP08T00376R000100260032-6
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15 Aug 72
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NORTH VIETNAM
61eri
we arrived, there were many, many people already working to repair the dike--
.people.01North Vietnam are very hard workers..--and they had, uhh, carts--there
both men and women?and they had, uhh, shovels, and they had, uhh, wh?t we call.
prtamps) I guess?what you pound the earth down with--and uhh, they never stopped
we were there. They kept, uhh, working, uhh, constantly." (recording ends)
have just listened to former U.S. Attorney General RaMsey Clark, now in North ,
netnam, speaking about U.S. bombing raids in.Thai Binh Province.,
Clark Comments on Haiphong Bombing
noi in English to Southeast Asia 1000 GMT 6 Aug 72 B
r a VNA International Service English version of this report see page K-4 of the 9
-must DAILY REPORT)
Text) On August 5 American lawyer Ramsey Clark and other members of the visiting team
.,i4e:the International Commission for Inclotiry Into U.S. Crimes in Indochina were in ,
Agaiphong city to gather facts about-U.S. crimes. Asked to comment an what he had
4e.en, the former U.S. attorney general said: (Follows recorded male voice with
*mrican accent]
,
fiPoviously there is massive destruction in this part of Haiphong. Uhh, just Standing
4mre on top of this debris you can see, umm, that many, many buildings were totally
destroyed. We can be fort;nate, I guess, that more people weren't killed.: It's--
it's quite qUite amazing that, uhh, when you look at the dimension of the destructlon here
44.6-all this area--that, uhh, many, many people, uhh, weren't killed and so tragic as it
in any world--it could have been hundreds, umm--or even thousands (?of hundreds
sl.Abat) could have been killed in, uhh.--in such, umm, terrible bombing and destruction in
trthe living area of the city of Haiphong as we see here.
'ell, we know this--whether accidental or on purpose, uhh, you can stop the accidtEtts
tes. well as the purpose, 2nd, uhh, there is absolutely, uhh, no excuse for bombing, of
rth Vietnam. There never -has been and ,uhh, it should never have happened, it should
'.--Atop immediately, it should-never happen again.
-I:can't judge in any particular case, uhh, until I have all the facts and I will not
tludge until I have all the facts whether a particular situation was a mistake. Uhh.
e intend to get as many of the facts ad possible and, and we'll then make our
udgment."
AjAnnouncer] About the destruction of Phuoc Loc hamlet on the outskirts of Haiphong by
1'2U.S. warplanes on April the 16th last,. Ramsey Clark had this to say: [ReP.orded male
oice With American accent] "Well of course there can never be any justification for
what happened here at Phuoc Loc. It's so-Pitiftil,that, uhh, the violence of technology
be used to destroy the lives of such a gentle and simple and beautiful people.-
We must learn the lessons of these tragedies and, umm, know that we create determination
in the hearts of all people that there shall be peace and rules of law that can be
7,firmly enforced to prevent these tragedies from every happening again.
"I've known Tony Lewis for many years and he's an extremely sensitive person. He was
here at'the village of Phuoc Lee shortly after the bombing occured, and I agree fully
- [cough] what he Said. Well, I feel very badly.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/03: CIA-RDP08T00376R000100260032-6
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/03: CIA-RDP08T00376R000100260032-6
IV. .15 Aug 2 , K8
Th 4?(3.F(TR-
and, th474
e?the tragedy is the same, umm, whoever, umm, is the offender, Umm, the
we have to know is that, 5.1hh, there is still this enormous caparAty in man to
America has shown its capacity to kill many times in many ways, and if we do not
set aside our Violence, we711 destroy. ourselves." [recording ends]
CRIMES INVESTIGATOR MACBRIDE CALLS BOMBING IDELIBERATE1
Havana International Service in English 0210 GMT 11 Aug 72 C
[From the "Voice of Vietnam"]
[Text] I am convinced that the bombing of portions of North Vietnams dikes that
we have visited was deliberate, declared Sean MacBride, former foreign minister of
Ireland and president of the international committee on human rights. man interview:-
for the 'Voice of Vietnam" and PRELA news agency, MacBride said that (?on) his vist
to Nam HA Province, he saw a dike bombed in various places along a stretch he would
estimate as almost a mile long. We concentrated our efforts on determining whether-
what Nixon has said about the dikes is correct or not, and after this visit, he saidi
I can affirm without a doubt that the hydraulic system of North Vietnam has been -
bombed deliberately. The attacks have been concentrated. They have been directed,
not only at the top of the dikes, but.also along the (?bases) to undermine their
foundations. This bombing operationis being carried out in the rainy season, thereby
endangeringthe lives of hundreds'ofthousands of people and is designed to destroy-
crops as well, said MacBride.
Sean MacBride was foreign minister of Ireland from 1947 to 1951, and also held an
important position in the republican army. Just like in the Second World War, he
said, here we have found cities completely destroyed; like Nam Dinh, the third most
important city of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. We have visited villages and
h amlets. I. dont have even the slightest doubt that a systematic And deliberate
bombing is being carried out against the civilian population, stressed MacBride. Cne
of the factors we have been able to confirm on our visit is that churches and hospitals.
have also been Attacked.. Hanoilsmain hospital was bombed. How can one argue that
this was by error if this was a hospital well-known for years? T was in Phat Diem
MacBride continued, the Catholic center of Vietnam. Here the "churches occupied some
20 squarer acres,. Construction of the churches began in 1842 and they formed a beauttfil -
fusion of gothic and Asian sculpture. The principal church here was bombed. Others -
were seriously damaged from the attacks. .It is evident that there is no military
objective in the vicinity of Phat Diem.
Why are these bombings being carried out? This is the question which must be asked
of the U.S. authorities by public opinion and a precise answer demanded, declared
MacBride,, going on. These are deliberate attacks whose victims are mostly old people,
Women, and children. Today we saw a-child burned by napalm. This is an insult to
humanity and .public opinion everywhere.
U.S.- IMPERIALISM CALLED NUMRFR ONE ENEMY OF ASIAN PEOPLES
Hanoi Domestic Service in Vietnamese 1430 GMT 14 Aug 72 B
[Station commentary: "Let Us Heighten Vigilance and Powerfully Fight Against
Imperialism, the New Fascism of the Era")
[Tett] On 15 August 1945, more than 3 months after the *annihilation of German fascism.
the Japanese fascists unconditionally surrendered.
U.S.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/03: CIA-RDP08T00376R00010026003276
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