JOHN S. KNIGHT BLASTS U.S. AIR WAR IN INDOCHINA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-01601R000300350091-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 14, 2000
• Sequence Number: 91
• Publication Date: November 17, 1971
• Content Type: OPEN

STATINTL
Novo pprove~dF~i'
While H.H. 7248 as a whole did no's poi'- the Vietnam War were reported as "tile low--
t-5dil to primary and secondary education, est it1 months." ' ._
the issue of forced busing of school chit- The low casualty levels," said tike Assocl-
dre^il for purposes Of racial integration aced cress, "reflected a geiherel lull ill battle-
field action as well as the cont!nutng with-
has become so critical that it was applied drawal of Anherlcan forces from combat."
to this bill in a series of amendments emll- '. A mere reading of the official Cs&nalty list,
phatically reiteratiu the intent of Con- eight Americans killed in colnbst, 13 vround-
gross that such busing should not be re- cd and 33 dead from non-hostile causes, is
quired by the courts. The most important evidence that we are Indeed winding down
amendments prohibited lower Federal the ground war as President Nixon proceeds
courts from requiring schools to bus until with his "plan."
But what about that other tear, the mas-
ali appeals from pro-busing decisions had save deployment of American air power and
been heard, up to the U.S. Supreme Court. I?ellewect emphasis on saturation bombing
This represented the first action by Con by 13-52 Stratofortresses?
gross in modern times under the author- A recent report by Cornell University re-
ity of article III, section 1 of the U.S; searchers shows that in Cambodia, American
Constitution which gives Congress full air opor ations have been conducted with sus-
power to regulate OY' eliminate the jiti'is- tamed Intensity since 1970. 8-52 raids in
diction of the Federal courts ill specific Northern Laos, as reported by Janie, nlc-
This is t_ Cartney of our Washington bureau at the
areas. he constitutional authority time, were carried out for more than a year
for the nlucll more sweeping- legislation before official acknowledgment. "Protective
I have introduced (H.R. 10614) to take reaction raids against North Vietnam," says
away entit'ely the power of the Federal the Cornell report, "strike a wider range of
courts to rule on the issue of school?bus- targets than their Official description in1-
ing for racial integration, plies."
While the Cornell study concedes that
"there has indeed been a significant with-
drawal of American air power from Southeast
Asi
th
n
a, more
a
enough planes remain to
JOHN S. KNIGHT BLASTS U.S. AIR
WAR IN INDOCHINA permit a continuatiell of the air war on a
massive scale."
HHON. J01-11N F. SEII RLIr;G
or o1I0 nell's conclusions are that the aclministi'a-
IN THE IIOUSl'OP It131PItFSENTATIVf;S tion's policy of "withdrawal-without-politi-
cal-compromise" leaves it still boxed in by
Wednesday, November 11, 1971 the enemy's Military initiatives; the only re-
Mr. .SEIBl'sl3.I.,ING,. Mr. Speaker, spouse available is massive retaliation from
among those few national figures who the air.
To
review our past and policies,
present
saw from the very Outset the folly Of
w
hat
have be thtd
ene coss an results of miss-
our Government's course in Indochina, sine aerial firepower? The etucly, sponsored
none has spoken with more force and elo- by the Center for. International Studies at
quence than Mr. John S. Knight, presi- Cornell University, offers these statistics:
elent of Knight Newspapers. The latest 1-In 1971, as much bombing is being
of Mi'. Knight's famous "Editor's Note- clone It, Indochina As was conducted in all
book" columns points out that, despite theaters of World War Il.
2-Ey the end of this year, the Nixon
the - President's winding down of U.S. administration will have deployed I. three
Involvement in the ground war in Inch- years as much bomb tonnage as did the
china, the air war continues with scarce- Johnson adninistration in fIve.
ly unabated ferocity. . 9-I11 South Vietnam lone, the U.S. has
Mr. Knight points out that in South dropped 3.6 million tons of bombs, almost
Vietnam alone, the United States has four times as much as we used in the Ka-
dropped four tithes as much tomla?'e as roan War. Only 5 to 8 pct. of the-air sorties
was dropped in the Korean war. That flown in South Vietnam were in direct sup-
port of troops in battle; the rest were for
only 5 to 8 percent of the air sorties were interciictitnt, harassment and retaliation In
flown in direct support of troops in a country not being attacked from the air.
battle, and that there have been over 1 The result was widespread civil clcstruc-
million civilian casualties and 6 million tion among the population whose allegiance
have become refugees. He also points out was and is being sought. it is estimated
that the air war has resulted in a massive there have been over .l million civilian cas-
onslau,.ht on the ecology of Indochina. unties, including 325,000 deaths Willie 6
More than one-third of the forest area Million people have become refugees.
has been sprayed with defoliants and 65 Bombing Ili North Vletnanl betw,eeh
1965
and 196 failed tildiifit
o ye sgncan enough food destroyed by herbicides to suits. Economic damage inflicted was about
feed 600;000 people for a year. $500 million, casualties reached 100,000 of
The massiveness of the destruction de- which 80,000 were civilians. Yet CIA and
Pies the imagination. All this against a - Defense Dapartnlent studies showed no
country which has in no way threatened "pleasurable reduction in North Vietnam's
the security of America. will or capac!ty for contributing to the
Aft
1
1
So it appears that contrary to reports and
impressions, the air. war in Indochina is not
being wound clown like the ground war. Cor-
war Ili the South."
er tile
,, , , 11
-
)11
11g nal U in 1968, the
It all adds up to 'a melange of nhtscon- en,i,nashs shifted
first to below the 20111
captions by mudd llc-headers U.S. leadership parallel, and then to I,aos and the Ho Chi
through the years. Minh Trail.
The text of Mr. Knniht's editorial fol- 5-Despite administration denials, a U.S.
lows: major air effort has been carried out fit
During this past week when World War I these Massive bombing efforts the P~lthet I,io
vets of- my vintage observed the true Arnii- (Conlnlunist) now control more territory
stice Day on November 11, casualty lists in than ever before.
6-=-Tilc direc, 1, 110.1, 01 le air war
has been arouncl $25 billion, or about one-
quarter the cost of the Indochina War.
7--The air war lips resulted in a. massive
onslaught on the ecology of Indochina. More
than one-third of the forest arcs of South
Vietnam has been sprayed with defoliants,
one-half of the country's mangrove forests
killed off, and enough food destroyed by her-
bicides to feed 600,000 people for one year.
The Cornell study concedes that aerial
bombing has. undeniable military advantage,'
All conventional, warfare with massed troop
concentrations. In guerrilla warfare, however,
"the American capital-intensive response,:
F,ubstituting lavish firepower for manpower,
is both inefficient and indiscriminate."
A conclusion is drawn that heavy civilian
damage from the air helps to consolidate
enemy morale and projects all' unfavorable
image of the United States. The study nhain-
tains that "it has yet to be shown that air
power under Indochinese conditions can re-
duce the flow of men and materiel enough to'
curtail. guerrilla activities."
While statistics are not in themselves all-
inclusive or easy to digest, they do neverthe-
less provide powerful and convincing evi-
dence of the folly of being drawn into wars
which promise neither victory nor the
achievement of elusive goals.
The cost of the Vietnam involvement in
blood and treasure; the resulting disenchant-
raont of the people at lionle; the deleterious
impact of Inflation upon a weakened econ-
omy; phony commitments (SEATO); the dii-
bious morality of killing or maiming hun-
dreds of thousands of civilians on both
sides--sill tot up to a melange of misconcep-
tions by muddle-headed F &S. leadership
through the years.
And that, esteemed readers, is precisely
what I have been attempting to point out
for the last 15 years.'
WATCH OUT FOR THE "SILVER
DOLLAR" OFFERS
HON. LEONOR I , SUl LIVAN .
OF CIISSOUFI
IN TTIE HOUSE 9F REPRESENTATIVES
Wednesday, November 17, 1971
Mrs. SULLIVAN. Mr. Speaker, on No-
vember 3 I called to the attention of the
Members, through the CONGRESSIONAL
RECORD, the fact that the Federal Re-
serve Board had be-up distributing' to
all of the commercial banks of the coun-
try the new issue of cupronickel $1
coins authorized by Congress last year,
containing the portrait of the late
President Eisenhower on the obverse
and, on tile reverse, a design emblematic
of the landing of the Eagle of Apollo jl
on the moon. I said then that they
should soon be available to the general.
public without - difficulty, "and also, of
course, without any fees or side pay-
ments, for $1 each." -
- I have been told that these coins are
being offered for sale by cola dealers
as something very special for $1.75 each.
Why anyone would pay a premium for
one of these coins, I do not know--they
are being minted in huge quantities and
should be obtainable now or shortly at
any bank.
They arc not "silver" dollars-there is
not a grain of silver in them. Congress
authorized the sainting of a limited
quantity of the new , $1 coins to be
Approved For Release 2001./03/04: CIA-RDP80-01601,R00030035009.1-4