War ‘At Best, A Mistake’

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31385, 2 June 1967, Page 9

War ‘At Best, A Mistake’

(N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright) GENEVA, June 1. American, Malaysian and New Zealand participants complained yesterday against the antiAmerican tone of proceedings as the second Pacem in Terris conference ended with renewed attacks on United States Vietnam policy, the “New York Times” reported. Dr. Linus Pauling, a staff member of the Centre for Democratic Studies,' who headed the panel of scientists, repeated a demand for the ' United States to stop bombing 1 North Vietnam and con--1 demned The murder of tens ' of thousands of men, women ' and children. Dr. Pauling’s report reflecti ed the bitter attacks on i United States policy regard- - ing Vietnam, aid to under- , developed countries, and other issues which have been

heard since the conference opened on Sunday. The centre is a United States organisation that sponsored the conference. Led Protests Mr Porter McKeever, executive vice-president of the United Nations Association of the United States, yesterday led the American protests against “the narrow-focused passion that has marked many of the expressions of the past three days.” Sir Thaddeus McCarthy, of New Zealand, protested against “the lack of balanced judgment” shown during the discussion of Vietnam. He said that China, not the United States, was powerhungry, and that although the

United States might be wrong in its Vietnam policy, he did not accept that it was evil. Mr H. S. Ashmore, executive vice-president of the Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions, said that it was hoped to arrange a third conference to deal with Southeast Asia, to be held at a neutral capital in the area, probably Djakarta. Points Agreed Mr Hutchins listed 11 points on which he said participants from 70 countries were agreed:— The United Nations must be strengthened. Its membership must be made universal, thus China must be included. The Vietnam war was, at best, a mistake. South-east Asia must be made neutral. The cold war must be ended. Racial discrimination was intolerable. Aid to pooor countries should be given on a multilateral basis. The poor countries were suffering from intolerable terms of trade—the low prices they received for their exports as opposed to the high prices they had to pay for imports.

No military solutions were adequate for the problems of today. No national solutions were adequate for the problems of today. Co-existence between Communists and non-Conununists was necessary but it was not enough.