E. Kennedy Hits At Saigon Govt

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31588, 27 January 1968, Page 13

E. Kennedy Hits At Saigon Govt

(N.Z.P A.-Reuter—Copyright) BOSTON, January 26. Senator Edward M. Kennedy yesterday strongly denounced the Government of South Vietnam for “the systematic looting of its own people.”

The Massachusetts Democrat, youngest brother of John F. Kennedy, criticised the Johnson Administration's war effort in Vietnam, saying that prospects for Vietnamese stability were dim unless

the present policies were changed. Senator Kennedy told a World Affairs Council luncheon audience that the United States should begin to assume a “more defensive military posture.”

He said there was growing support among United States military officials in South Vietnam for this country to “protect and hold areas of heavy population rather than to seek out the enemy.” This was Senator Kennedy’s first public comment on Vietnam since he returned from a 12-day inspection visit there last week. Senator Kennedy claimed “corruption pervades all aspects of Vietnamese life and it is brazenly practised in the field of refugee care and in many other fields, the Government of South Vietnam has been engaged in the systematic looting of its own people. “Many of its officials have as their over-riding concern, taking as much as they can, while they can, from the tr- asure of American wealth,” he said.