Mr
WHY WE DEMONSTRATE
Like most Americans you probably aren't happy about the war in Vietnam. But you
probably aren't happy about peace demonstrations either. With American boys being killed
in Vietnam shouldn't we support them ? Do we have a right to talk against the President
when a war is going on? Are the men who burn their draft cards crazy? Are all of us
Communists ?
We would like to explain why we are demonstrating—and to urge you to join us. We
aren't crazy and we aren't Communists—we are citizens who think the government is wrong
to be fighting in Vietnam.
DEATH AND TAXES
The death rate goes up in Vietnam and the tax rate goes up here at home. Our men
are taken from us to fight thousands ôf miles from home to support a South Vietnamese
government so corrupt its own army can't defend it. We've been fighting in Vietnam for
ten years. We've killed over 3QQ+QQQ Vietnamese. Athousandnfour own men are killed
or wounded each week. But the government we support in South Vietnam is in worse shape
today than when we began the war. That government asked us to come in and is glad we
are there—they would collapse without us. But the people in South Vietnam think of our
troops as invaders, not as liberators. The people of South Vietnam want the Americans
to leave.
Taxes are going up to pay for a war which you don't want, which the people in South
Vietnam don't want—a war into which our government blundered by mistake. Rather than
admitting he made a mistake Johnson takes our men and our tax money, trying to win a
victory in order to "save face." Money that might have been used for schools, homes,
dams, highways, hospitals—that money is going for bombs and bullets. And it is your
money.
THE PRESIDENT CAN MAKE A MISTAKE
People say we have to support Johnson because he is the President. Nonsense—this is
a democracy and Johnson isn't some kind of God—he is just an elected official. He isn't
our boss—we are his boss. We hired him and if we want we can fire him. Johnson has
not been honest with the people of this country. In 1964 when he ran against Goldwater he
promised not to send thousands more of our men to Vietnam or to bomb North Vietnam.
But as soon as he won the election he turned around and began sending hundreds of thousands of Americans into the swamps and jungles and he ordered our bombers to expand the
war into North Vietnam. What Johnson is doing in Vietnam is wrong. It is morally wrong.
And it is illegal under international law. It was a mistake for this country to get involved
in Vietnam. It is amistake for us to stay there now. We should withdraw our troops, stop
killing Vietnamese, and let thepeopleof Vietnam run their own country in the way they want.
SUPPORT OUR MEN IN VIETNAM
Yes, support our men in Vietnam. Get them out before they get killed. More than a
thousand American troops are killed or wounded each week. Those who talk about "supporting Johnson" are helping send these men to their deaths. Let our government have
the courage to admit it was wrong to get into this war in the first place. Get our men out
of the jungles and swamps of Vietnam. Support American boys by bringing them home now.
A CITIZEN'S DUTY
If you believe this war is right then support it. But if you believe this war is wrong
then you have a duty as an American to oppose it and to try to stop it. In a totalitarian
society you have to keep your mouth shut when the government is wrong. In a democracy
you have the right to speak your mind and help shape national policy. Speak out on Vietnam.
Vietnam is a complex subject, hard to cover in a leaflet. For facts on Vietnam, write for
books and pamphlets available from :
War Resisters League, 5 Beekman Street, New York City 10038
in Northern California, 584 Page Street, San Francisco 94117