PREPARED TEXT OF PRESIDENT JOHNSON'S SPEECH AT OMAHA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-04072R000100050067-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 6, 2001
• Sequence Number: 67
• Publication Date: July 1, 1966
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved For Release 2001/09/01 : CIA-RDP78-04072R000100050067-4
Approved For Release 2001/09/01 : CIA-RDP78-04072R000100050067-4
A16 Friday, jay 1, 1966 THE WASEINAPPEOved For Release 2001/09/01 : CIA-RDP78-04072R000100050067-4
Prepared Text of President Johnson's Speech at Omaha
OMAHA, June 50?Following is the
prepared text of President Johnson's
speech in Omha toddY:
Ladies and gentlemen:
I have come to Omaha today because
T want to speak to you about the most
important business of our time ? the
business of peace.
Two years ago this week?speaking
also in the Midwest?I said that the
prove we seek "is a world where no
nation fears another, or no nation can
Oilier another to follow its command.
It is a world where differences are
solved without destruction, and corn.
mon effort is directed at common
problems."
This is still true today, and I am
convinced that after decades of war
and threats of war, peace is more with-
in our reach than at any time in this
century.
I believe this because we have made
Op our mind to deal with the two most
common threats to the Peace of the
world. We are determined to match our
resolution with action.
What are these threats?
' First is the desire of most people to
win a better way of life.
Second is the design of some people
to force their way of life on others.
We must heir to fulfill the one and
frustrate the other. For if we ignore
these threats?or if we attempt to meet
them only by the rhetoric of visionary
intentions instead of the good works
of determination ? lam certain that
tyranny, not peace, will be our fate.
1?Food Production
Pram will always be insecure in a
world where men do not work together
to help others fulfill their fair desires.
II the strong and the wealthy turn
from the needs of the weak and the
mine, frustration will be followed by
torer. No peace and no power is strong
enough to stand for long against the
restless discontent of millions who are
without hone.
For what is peace if it is only
hunger?
We and today in Omaha, therefore,
at the end of a very important lifeline.
At the other end, 8000 miles away,
's India, a nation of half a billion
seoPle.
The wheat here this morning Is part
If their shield against the catastrophe
if drought and famine.
This single load of grain will provide
'he margin of life for 2500 Indian fain-
i'es through the end of this year. But
O is only a tiny fraction of our response
'o India's need. Since Jan. 1, 5 million
'ons of American wheat have been
'hipped to that country?more than 2td
ioven the annual wheat production of
he Siete of Nelonska.
And this is only about half the grain
ve and other nations are providing
'tulle this year to help her overcome
he worst drought in her history.
Hopefully, it will he enough. The
'pring rains in India were normal.
The first days of the summer mon-
-tam are promising. Next year's croft
lay approach the record levels reached
n 1965.
By her own efforts, and with our
'oelp and the help of others, India an-
tes. to be surviving the drought.
But our job is not over.
Here today, in the center of the
?Teatest food-producing area on the
Jobe, we most face a sobering fact:
lost of the world's population is los-
'
ng the battle to feed itself.
In recent years, in the less developed
tountries of the world:
? Per capita food production has or-
ually declined.
? Growth in farm production has not
-ept pace with the rate of population
Towth.
? Crop yields have lagged far behind
'hose achieved on similar land in more
tdvanced countries.
If present trends continue, we ran
10W see the point at which even our
'ast productive resources ? including
the millions of acres in reserve?will
not be sufficient to meet the need.
We cannot permit that point to be
reached. We most act, and we most
act now.
In my Food for Freedom message I
asked the Congres for the authority
and the funds to help these nations
improve and enlarge their own capac-
ity for production.
The farmers of these hungry lands
most learn and apply new techniques.
They must learn the proper use of fee.
tilizer and water. Their governments
must do more to help ? by changing
policies which retard efficient agricul-
ture.
But we can and will help. We will
Provide food on special credit terms to
those countries willing to increase their
own production. We will lend our tech-
nical knowledge and our practical ex-
portend? to those who need it most
and who prove they are willing to help
themselves. And we will support pro-
grams of capital investment in water
development farm machinery, pesti-
cides, seed research and fertilizer.
We have already increased wheat
acreage allotments by 15 per cent for
1967 to provide more food abroad. And
we are ready to go further if necessary.
These are only beginnings. We most
work for a global effort. For the food
problem is not the special province of
any single nation. Hunger knows no
ideology, no single race or nationality.
We recognize contributions of the
Soviet Union and Yugoslavia in contrib.
uting food to India. We welcome the
support of all nations willing and able
to help. In this kind of cooperation are
the seeds of unity against the common
enemies of mankind.
I long for the day when we and others
---whahiver their political creed--will
turn our joint resources to the battle
against poverty and ignorance and
disease.
Peace lies in that direction.
11?North Vietnamese Threat
That day Is not yet here because
some men still insist on trying to force
their way of life on other people.
That is the second threat to Pea.
I want to discuss today.
That is the threat we are meeting in
South Vietnam.
The conflict there is Important for
many reasons. Let me mention three.
First, we believe the rights of other
people are just as important as our own
and we are obligated to help those
whose rights are threatened by force.
Democratic nations can escape a
sense of decency and respect for others
no more easily than individuals can.
If one Man in Omaha unlawfully tomes
another to do what he commands, some-
ja vehek qemieW the in,g,
tire. You know it is wrong. And uniess
human concern has disappeared from
your values, you also know it is neces-
sary to help that man defend himself.
The same principle is true for nations
which live by respect for the rights of
others. If one govenrment uses force to
violate another people's rights, we can-
not ignore the injustice, the threat to
our own rights, and the danger to world
peace.
That Is what is happening in Vietnam.
The North Vietnamese are trying to
deny the people of South Vietnam the
right to build their own nation?the
right to choose their own system of
government?the right to live and work
in peace. South Vietnam has asked us
for help. Only if we have abandoned
our respect for the rights of other peo-
ple can we turn from their plea.
Second, South Vietnam is important
to the security of the rest of Asia.
A few years ago the nations of free
Asia lay under the shadow of Commu-
nist China. They fared a common
threat, hut not in unity. They were
still caught up in old disputes and
dangerous confrontations. And they
were thus ripe for aggression.
Now the picture is changing.
Anoxia. Press
"WE SHALL PERS1ST"?The President shakes hands with a small boy
In a large helmet prior to making' a speech in a brief stop at Omaha
Shielded by the courage of the South
Vietnamese, the peoples of free Asia
are driving toward economic and social
development in a new spirit of regional
cooperation. They are convinced that
the Vietnamese people and their allies
will stand firm against aggression. As
the Prime Minister of Singapore recent-
ly stated?our fighting in Vietnam is
buying time for a new and vital Asia
to emerge and grow stronger. If South
Vietnam were to collapse under Com-
munist pressure from the north, prog-
ress in the rest of Asia would be greatly
damaged.
Third, what happens in South Viet-
nam will determine whether ambitious
and aggressive nations can use guer-
rilla warfare to take aver their weaker
neighbors.
I do not know of a single more
important reason for our presence in
South Vietnam than this. I want to
men,. aL Some length.
III?Different Kind of War
We am fighting in South Vietnam a
different kind of was than we have
known in the past.
Sixteen years ago this month, North
Korea attacked South Korea. By armed
invasion across a national border, a
Communist country attempted to oveN
run its neighbor.
We recognized this kind of aggression
Immediately. And we acted. N.orth
Korean aggression failed because 'Pres-
ident Truman and the American 'people
?and the forces of the 'United Igations
?had the courage to help Smith Ko-
reans protect their homes and their
country.
Today, South Korea is 4111 free?
and thousands of its young men am
again fighting side by side with the
Americans to defend another small
country from being swallowed up by a
more powerful Communkit neighbor.
Today in South Vietnam we are
witness to another kind of armed
aggression.
It is a wad waged by men who believe
that subversion and guerrilla warfare,
transported across international boun-
daries, can achieve what conventional
armies could not.
They believe that a modem scientific
and industrial nation such as ours is
helpless to defend a smaller and weaker
pantry against 'Imported terror."
..j11t"And that is what ills, The Comm,
' fist guerrillas ? the Vietcong ? chose
their targets carefully. They aim at the
heart of a struggling nation by murder-
ing the school teachers, the agricultural
extension workers and the health
worker,
When the Vietnamese government
begins a malaria control program, the
Communists set out to kill malaria
sprayers.
A new province chief, who Is giving
leadership to his 'people, is hunted
down and killed. The farmer who hides
from the Vietcong is killed. So is the
farmer's family. In 1965, the Comm-
ands killed or kidnaped 12,000 South
Vietnamese civilians?the equivalent of
the entire population of Columbus, Ne-
braska, or Alliance County, or one out
of every 25 citizen . Omabs,
If, by such methods, the agents of
one nation can seize and hold power
where turbulent change is occurring
in another nation, our hope for peace
and order In the last third of this cen-
tury will suffer a crushing blow. This
is why the problem of guerrilla war-
fare?the problem of Vietnam?is a/
critical threat to peace in the world...../
Let there be no doubt about it, Those
'who say this is merely a Vietnamese
civil war' are wrong. The warfare in
oath Vietnam was started by the go,
nment of North Vietnam in MY
t is financed and supported by an in-
ising flow of men and arms frond
l'orth into the South.
is directed and led by a skilled,
"sional staff in North Vietnam,
?ported by only a small minority
population in the South.
military tactics are different,
ire of the fighting is different.
'hjective is the same as it was
The objective is to conquer
'ent nation by force of arms.
ook a now turn in 1964. The
North Vietnamese decided to step CP
the conflict in hopes of an early victory.
They recruited and drafted more
young men from the Communist-
occupied areas in the South.
They slipped across the borders of
South Vietnam more than three divi-
sioan of the North Vietnamese regular
army. Today there are more than three
North Vietanmese divisions in South
Vietnam.
They built altweather roads to re-
place the jungle trails from the North.
They began sending in troops by
trucks rather than on foot.
They shifted over to heavy weePOna,
using imported ammunition, much of
it coming from Communist China,
What lathe sending of men and arms
across international boundaries if it is
not aggression?
What is the direction of a anerrilla
war from outside a sovereign nation if
it is not aggression?
So bog as that support enables the
Communist to prove the subversion
and insurgency succeed?and that we
have not yet found the ways to help a
new nation defend against them?they
will go on.
Our purpose Is to convince North
Vietnam that this kind of aggression
is too costly and cannot succeed.
We know from prisoners, defectors
and captured documents that the Hanoi
government thought conquest was in its
grasp.
But free men have rallied to prevent
this conquest from succeeding. In the
past 15 months, our actions, and those
of our fighting allies?Korea, Australia,
New Zealand, the Phillippines?and the
determination and courage of the South
Vietnamese?have begun to turn the
tide.
The casualties of the Vietcong and
North Vietanmese forces are three
times larger than those of the South
Vietnamme and their allies.
Battle after battle is being won by
the South Vietnamese and the troops
of General Westmoreland.
The air attacks on military targets In
North Vietnam have Imposed?sod will
continue to impose?a growing burden
and a high price on those who wage
war against the freedom of ethers.
In the South, the Vietnamese are
determined that their own economic
development, social reform and political
progress cannot wait until the war ends.
They are now preparing to elect a Con-
stituent Assembly in September as they
move toward constitutional government.
For the past two months the political
struggles in South Vietnam have been,
dramatized in our newspapers and on
our television screens.
All during this time, Vietnamese
cid..aa representing every important
group in the society have been meeting.
in orderly assembly. They have formu-
lated rules for the election. The rules
have been accepted, with only minor
moddleations, by the govecsment In
Saigon.
In the provinces and villages, the
Vietnamese have gone on budding
schools for their children, Improving
health facilities and agricultural meth.
ads, and taking their first steps In land
reform.
We can take heart from all of this.
We ...diving ahead on the milder'',
political and economic fronts. We are
backing the Vietnamese not only in
their determination to save them coun-
try. We are supporting their deter-
mination to build a modern society in
which the government will be their
government, reflecting the will of its
citizens.
IV?Objective Is Peace
Our objective in Vietnam is not war.
It is peace.
There is nothing we want in North
Vietnam or from North Vietnam.
There Is nothing we want in Commit-
nist China or from Communist China.
We have made it clear by every
means at our disposal that we wish
the killing to stop.
We have made it clear that we wish
negotiations to begin on the basis of
international agreements made in 1954
and in 1562.
For 37 days we halted bombing In
the North in the hope that the govern-
ment in Hanoi would signal its willing-
ness to talk instead of wage war. No
signal came.
In many more ways than I can now
tell you, we have explored and we are
exploring avenues to peace with North
Vietnam.
But as of this moment their only re-
!AY has been to Send mom troops and
more guns into the South.
Until the clay they decide to end this
aggression and to make an honorable
peace, we will carry on.
No one knows how long It will take.
Only North Vietnam can be the judge
of that.
No one can tell you how much effort
It will take. No one can tell you how
much sacrifice It will take. Na one can
tell you how costly it will be.
But I can and do here and now tell
you this: this aggression will not sue-
Thr people of South Vietnam will be
given the chance to work our their own
destiny, in their own way, and not at
the point of a bayonet.
All of us can understand fully those
who say they are troubled, those who
wish the war would end and our troops
would come home.
There is no human being in the
world who wishes these things more
than your President.
But you must have no doubt today
about the American soldiers and Ma-
rines who are fighting in wet jungles
and hot rice paddies, the sailors who
are searching the shores and patrolling
the seas, and the pilots who am facing
the missiles and antiaircraft guns in
Carrying out their missions by air.
They will not fail us.
The real qumtion now is, Will we fail
them? Our staying power is what counts.
in the long and dangerous months
ahead.
The Communists expect us to lose
heart.
They intend to wear us down.
They believe political disagreements
In Washington and confusion and doubt
in the United States will hand them
victory in South Vietnam?and then in
Asia.
They are wrong.
We will not let our differences deter
as from success. We will not permit
the confusing sweep of Vietnamese
politics, or the shadowy nature of goer-
nin Warfatt, to paralyze our will to
go on.
Fan there can be only one decision
in Vietnam.
We will are this through. We shall
persist.
We shall succeed.
We will not permit 14 million Inno-
cent men, women and children to fall
victims to a moor aggressivv. "
There are many nations, large and
small, whose security depends on the
reliability of our word and our power.
The word of the United States must
remain a trust men can live by and
live with and depend upon.
V?Dedication to Commitment
Some day we will all work as friends
and brothers?to grow more food, to
build more schools, to heal the sick,
to care for the old, to encourage the
young.
But history Is not made by nameless
forces. It is made by men and women,
by their governments and their nations.
This Nation?working with others?
must demonstrate in Vietnam that our
commitment to freedom and Peace is
Out a fragile thing. It eon?sod it will
?sustain a major test.
With your support?with your fsilh
?we shall fulfill this Nation's d.u
Approved For Release 2001/09/01 : CIA-RDF'78-04072R000100050067-4