YOUNG HOUSE MEMBERS SEEK OVER-ALL VIET STRATEGY REVIEW

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP11M01338R000400340039-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 6, 2013
• Sequence Number: 39
• Publication Date: November 7, 1967
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2013/09/06: CIA-RDP11M01338R000400340039-1
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THE WASHINGTON POST
-
Tuesday, Nov. 7, 1967 A 17
. . .
David S. Broder
Young House Members Seek
Over-All Viet Strategy Review
? SOMETHING IS happen-
ing that could alter the
view, often expressed by
this reporter, that the
lotider and longer the de-
bate on Vietnam, the less
useful it becomes.
Instead of. sloganeering,
some politicians in Washing-
ton are at last beginning to
raise into public view the
fundamental policy . ques-
tions involved in the war.
The effort is not being led
by the senior spokesmen for
the two parties. Most of
them are so committed to
specific viewpoints that they
are unable to take a fresh
look at the issue. Rather, it
is the younger House Demo-
crats and Republicans who
are bringing fresh thinking
and fresh information into
the stale Vietnam discus-
sions.
Some 66 of them have
joined Rep. Paul Findley,. (R-
Ill.) in a resolution calling
for formal congressional de-
bate on the Vietnam alterna-
tives. The discussion of the
resolution, on the House
floor the other day, involv-
ing such able younger mem-
bers as Findley, Rep. Morris
Udall (D-Ariz.) and he-p. F.
B?aaried?Brorse (R-Mass.),
established the fact that de-
spite,the Capital's weariness
with the topic, there is still
fresh food for thought on
Vietnam.
The young House mem-
bers' approach is character-
ized by an insistence that
the whole U.S. strategy in
Vietnam, its costs and its
consequences, be examined
and debated?and not just a
single aspect of the war.
AN INTERESTING exam-
ple of this developing drive
for a systematic look at
any intelligent reappraisal
of American policy in Viet-
.nam.
As a member of the
House Appropriations Sub-
committee on Foreign Oper-
ations, Riegle conducted an
examination of Rutherford
M. Poats, deputy foreign aid
administrator, that shed
portant light onsthe "other
war" in Vietnam, the effort
to construct a stable, self-
sufficient society.
It is impossible to summa-
rize in a few sentences the
testimony Riegle extracted
from Poats in their four-
hour colloquy. But one can
fairly say that it raises seri-
ous questions as to whether
our "nation-building" pro-
gram in South Vietnam can
succeed without a massive
semi-permanent investment ,
both of American money
and of American civilian
manpower.
The testimony has re-
ceived too little public at-
tention, but Riegle has cir-
culated it among his col-
leagues in the House. There,
it has become a major text
in the debate between those
who accept and those who
reject the Administrations
argument that the United
States is simply providing a
temporary military shield
behind _which the Viet-
namese are reorganizing
?and rebuilding their own
country. '
Now, Riegle has moved on
to an examination of the
military side of the war and
of the Administration argu-
ment that the United States
has a vital national security
,stake in Vietnam:
HE HAS UNUSUAL cre-
dentials'for this task. He is,
like Secretary of Defense.
Vietnam policy is the work ?
of' Rep. Donald W. Riegle i
Jr., a 29-year-old freshman :
Republican from Flint,
Mich. Despite his lack of '
seniority, status and renown,
'Riegle is making a signifi-
cant contribution to the
process that must precede !
MicNamara, a product of the
Harvard Graduate School of
Business Administration and, .
after working in systems
analysis for IBM, he dis-
courses eaiily in the "cost-
effectiveness" language Mc-
Namara uses to buttress the
strategic decisions in Viet-
nam!
Last week Riegle sent the
Secretary a letter that must
have been unique in Mc-
Narnara's huge correspond-
ence from Capitol Hill. Ask-
ing for weekly tabulations
of 85 specific statistical
measures of the Vietnam
fighting, Riegle explained,
"I have designed an infor-
mation matrix to collect
data that I believe is ger-
mane to the problem."
In reply to his request for
a precise statement of the
strategic importance of
South, ,Vietnam to the de-
fense of Southeast Asia,
Deputy. Assistant Secretary
of Defense Richard C. Stead-
man last week wrote, Riegle
a letter stating:
"From a strictly military
viewpoint, the United States
does not require control of
'the land mass of South Viet-
nam to meet possible fur-
ther Communist aggression
against countries with which
,we have treaty obligations
(although our problems in
this regard could be greatly
compounded were South'.
Vietnam to be controlled by
a government hostile to the
United States and its al-
Raising questions is only a
first step, of course, but it is
immeasurably more useful
than most of the shouting
that has passed for debate
on Vietnam.
C) 1967, The Washington Post CO.
. -
Declassified and Approved For Release 2013/09/06: CIA-RDP11M01338R000400340039-1