76-15-A2

- Main Page \ Reagan Radio Commentaries \ 1977

<< Previous Broadcast

Next Broadcast >>

Vietnam

Transcript A former member of the South Vietnamese National Assembly, leader of the "Peace bloc" which opposed President Thieu and which rejected strongly our intervention in Vietnam, has escaped to Japan with two of his former colleagues, Interestingly, his anti-war activity had made him an honored figure among the North Vietnamese conquerors. He was a member of the National Legislature in Hanoi until he escaped. He and his two companions have asked -- from the safety of Japan -- for American military assistance to those who want to overthrow the North Vietnamese Communists. The three ex-legislators frankly and sadly admit their complete turnaround. They say they wanted relief from the war and all its destruction, but now they realize how precious was the freedom their country had which has now been lost. When an American journalist skeptically asked if the South Vietnamese people, after more than 30 years of war, would actually take up weapons and fight again, the answer was an emphatic "yes". Meanwhile in Paris, where representatives of the Carter Administration are proceeding with talks leading to normalization of relations with the Vietnamese conquerors, an open letter to the United States was distributed by Vietnamese exiles. Calling themselves the Vietnamese Committee for Human Rights, they begged the United States not to establish relations with Hanoi until it ends its brutal repression of freedoms. One sentence in their letter cannot be denied. It read, "Whether you accept it or not, the United States bears a great part of the responsibility before World History for the annexation of South Vietnam by the Communists and for the imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of their own allies". Unfortunately, "human rights" weren't being discussed by our team in Paris. Other things concerning Vietnam are being discussed in a variety of places, all having to do with tax dollars taken from the American people. The administration has granted licenses for $5 million in private aid for Vietnam through charitable groups. Those, of course, aren't tax dollars but they're coming up. The U.N. Development Program has agreed to send Hanoi $44 million. We put up 20% of the budget for that program. The World Bank, to which we give a full one-fourth of its funds, is expected to approve major loans to Hanoi. Its affiliate I.D.A., -- the International Development Association -- makes 50 year loans at no interest to Third World nations and has about $6 billion a year for development loans. The Bank has sent a mission to Vietnam which has been described as, "a useful and constructive start to the Bank's relationship with a unified Vietnam". I suppose calling it a "unified Vietnam" is alright if you'd describe a lion that just has a lamb for lunch as unified. Hanoi didn't just listen at that meeting. They presented a shopping list as long as your arm. It ranged from vast irrigation systems and expansion of electric power to factories for building rail road equipment. Maybe we could send them Amtrak. In Paris, direct aid to Hanoi wasn't denied -- we just said it would have to wait till we'd established normal relations. Then, magnanimously, the Vietnamese handed us 20 more names of men missing in action. That only leaves about 1,150 or so to be accounted for. We're writing a chapter for the history books we won't be proud to read. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening.		Details Batch Number 76-15-A2 Production Date 06/15/1977 Book/Page RPtV-165 Audio Youtube? No
		Added Notes