SUPER. OP SAVE - THE WORLD -FOR WALL STREET?
By George Novack >
The dispute between the Senate and President Johnson which | has ‘commanded public attention in recent weeks is only one facet of a more ‘serious problem of.foreign policy confronting the American ruling ‘class: Is U.S. imperialism, which has undertaken to police and :save the world for a declining capitalist system, able to carry out that colossal historical assignment successfully?
“Such a question might .seem easy to answer in.yiew of the immense forces and resources at the disposal of the ‘richest capitalist power equipped with: an overkill nuclear arsenal. Nevertheless this issue has moved. to. the center of the official debate over Vietnam.
This is the- ‘first time grave doubts have been widely expres-— sed on this matter in high circles since General George C. Marshall sketched out the general strategy of U.S. foreign policy in a report to the Secretary of War shortly after the close of World War II. Marshall then called for a massive buildup of military power and bases to be deployed in a vast. perimeter around the Soviet Union.
That scheme for the "containment of Communism, " extended to Asia after the victory of the-Chinese revolution in 1949, has been carried forward by suecessive steps in the twenty years since. The Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, the Korean war, the Eisenhower Resolution are so many milestones along that road.
The diplomatic concomitant. of this military strategy has led to the signing of "security. treaties" with over forty countries. "The like of such commitments," writes James Reston of the New York Times from Washington February 19, "no. sovereign nation ever took in in the history of the world."
"For the United: States is committed to oppose Communist aggression all along the periphery of the Communist nations from the North Cape of Norway through the heart of Europe to Greece and Turkey (NATO); along the southern frontier of the Soviet Union in the Near and Middle East (The Eisenhower Resolution); and thence through Southeast Asia (SEATO). to Australia, .New. Zealand, the Phil-. ippines, Japan and Korea. And if you add our. obligations - “under the Organization of American States and our obligations under the United Nations, you take in most of the rest of the world," said Reston.
Secretary of State Rusk asserted in his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that to end "Communist aggression" in Vietnam'and insure a lasting world peace the United States was ready to throw whatever forces were required into Southeast Asia. If Washington failed to fulfill its obligations in Vietnam, he said, the credibility of U.S. pledges would be grievously impaired and the entire structure of alliances would be unsettled.
For this reason the administration could not compromise with
the National Liberation Front or yield.to Hanoi but..was compelled to make them surrender, no matter who else was with it and no matter how much time, treasure and casualties that might take.
_This "Rusk Doctrine" of unlimited commitment to block the expansion of: Communism everywhere ‘by force of arms and without allies if necessary is being resisted ‘by :other elements of the ruling class™ ‘represented by the congressional ° eppesition and their, top. military advisers. They fear that Vietnam ts "a baited trap" which. Johnson is blindly falling into by his escalation of military: operations. bee “General ‘Gavin and'former Ambassador Kennan stressed in their ‘Gestindny that the decision’ to send 600,000 men -into that theater, by the end af 1967 ‘at the risk of bringing China: into the conflict. , threatens to tilt ‘the U:S. military position “alarmingly out of balance." It would weaken Washington's capacity to meet its obligations in othér and more vital places. That is why they counterpose restricted involvement in Vietnam and holding operations leading toward .¢ ae negotiated settlement to. the Pentagon's Nopen-ended " escalation.
The issue at stake: in the present debate, wrote the New York Times editors February 20, "is not whether the United States is committed [in Vietnam], but whether it is overcommitted." Johnson's course “would mean a quantum Jump in escalation...a vastly increased number of Américan casualties in‘an over-militarization and over- Americanization of what is essentially a Vietnamese political ¢ conflict." oe :
. This warning was followed up next day by a first- -page “ peport from the Times military expert Hanson Baldwin that the available U.S. combat forces: were already "spread dangerously thin in. Vietnam and elsewhere." Baldwin quoted a recently retired officer concerned with the Army's mobilization base and strategic: reserve who. observed: "we are in a situation of perilous insufficiency" without much capability "of a graduated response to any serious challenge." Baldwin months ago urged that a million troops be trained for duty in Southeast Asia. 3 yess
._ The more astute and farsighted strategists of American imperialism’are coming to sense that the incalculable obligations. involved in leading the - international combat against the -forces of -socialist revolution on all fronts may be ‘beyond their capacities. The .. burdens of the Pax ‘Americana that Rusk swears to maintain at all. costs may be too great even for the colossus of capitalism to.sustain.
Johnson's procapitalist critics. are not the only. .enes who... . can learn from the vulnerability of an overextended imperialism. _ Their. anti-imperialist adversaries can also: ‘do so to the (advantage of” the revolutionary . cause. . a
This point was clearly made by Fidel Castro in: his: closing. speech to the Tricontinental Conference recently held in Havana. There he projected a revolutionary line which would: compel: imperialism to
disperse its forces over many fronts rather than allow them to be concentrated at a single place as in: Vietnam or the Dominican Repub-.. lic today. Oo omg fetes 7 era:
"In Latin America," he said, ‘Nthere should not be just one, | or two, or three peoples struggling alone against imperialism. The © correlation of forces of the imperialists. on this-.Continent,. the proximity of its netropolitan territory, the zeal with which they will try to ‘defend their dominions “in’ this part of the-world,. require a common strategy on this Continent, more than anywhere “else: a com—. mon and simil taneous struggle."
The growing ‘imbalance which ‘$0 worries the. administration critics also ‘shows How favorable an opportunity for counteraction is. being fumbled through the failure of the Soviet and.Chinese govern-... ments ‘€o combine and coordinate ‘their efforts against the imperialist aggression.
The mass of Americans, too, are beginning to discern some of the adverse consequences that the far-reaching counterrevolutionary objectives of U.S. militarism have in store for them. The interventions in Vietnam and the Dominican Republic have already cost the United States support from its allies and moral standing in world public opinion. In-the offing: are greater losses.in American lives and reductions in ‘living standards: through. higher -prices, more. taxes and wage "restraints."Hovering overall. is the terrible..insecurity genérated by fearsof ‘war iwith Chinasand . a nuclear showdown.
The issue now up for decision before the ‘nation ‘and the world is whether Johnson and: the. Pentagon’ can be ‘made: to. > dea. -back before it is: ‘too late. BoK ,
THE SITUATION REMAINS TENSE IN SANTO DOMINGO
The situation remains tense- ‘in Santo Domingo although a general strike came to an end February 16 after a seven-day action that shut down virtually all industry in the island's capital.
The strike was called off: “by vunion leaders when President Garcia Godoy announced that he would enforce the government plan requiring leaders of both the left and the right to go into "volun- — tary" exilé. In the radio speech in which he made the announcement he also appéaled ‘for a return to: work and said that workers who did . not return would be laid off. noe
The general strike had been called because the reactionary rightist leaders had postponed leaving for abroad. Prominent leftist leaders departed: as soon as the plan was announced.
The edvefnment scheme was cooked up primarily. in an. effort ‘to further weaken the revolutionary forces in the Dominican Republic. : The capacity of the workers to stage a general strike for a strictly
political demand shows; : however, a considerable advance in political understanding among the masses, and the net result of Garcia.Godoy's clever plan, which was undoubtedly backed if not inspired by the American forces occupying the island, may have opposite results than those’: intended.
“Dominican business circles; frightened by what the. general strike , revealed, sent a telegram to President Johnson demanding an "immediate inquiry." They said that ene Dominican Republic is on "the brink of Communisn.-": a
The ultrareactionary generals at the head of the Dominican armed forces,,'-who are seeking with the help of Washington to preserve the heritage of the: Trujillo dictatorship, expressed anger over the concession made by Garcia Godoy to the strikers. The Domin-. ican president, they said in a communiqué, had "broken his promises" to them.