76-06-B3
- Main Page \ Reagan Radio Commentaries \ 1976
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Vietnam II[edit]
Transcript[edit]In my last broadcast, I spoke about our negotiations with the North Vietnamese. They are arrogantly demanding that we kick in with about $3 billion after which they say they may possibly give us an accounting of our men still missing in action. In the meantime, the U. S. has twice vetoed the North Vietnam application for membership in the United Nations. For doing so, our government is being soundly criticized, not only by the small-in-size, large-of-mouth Third World nations in the U.N., but by a great many of our own newspapers. One powerful Eastern paper contends our veto violated a "basic rule of the U.N. -- the principle of universal membership by all legitimate governments". There is no such U.N. principle or concept as universal membership. The Charter welcomes nations which have renounced force of arms as a means of settling disputes. Article Four states: "Membership in the U.N. is open to all peace loving states which accept the obligations contained in the present charter and are able and willing to carry out those obligations". And what about that line, "legitimate governments"? If someone invades your home, carrying a big club, subdues you, locks you in a closet and squats in your living room, does he become the legitimate owner of your home? The North Vietnamese conquered South Vietnam by force of arms. This was no civil war. They have been separate nations for 2000 years. Now they hold a nation captive just as the Soviet Union holds countries of Central and Eastern Europe captive. During all the long years of war, North Vietnam fuzzed up the issue by claiming U.S. presence in Vietnam was the cause of their military activity. Their claims were echoed by many newspapers who now find fault with our U.N. vetos. Alright, we are no longer in Vietnam. Therefore, what reason can the North Vietnamese have for the military occupation of South Vietnam? How loud would the editorial objections be if the governments of South Korea and the Republic of China on Taiwan were sending out patrol boats to machine gun makeshift rafts and boats carrying refugees who were trying to escape from those countries? We have learned the North Vietnamese are doing just that to the conquered people of South Vietnam. We express concern that human rights are being denied to some in Rhodesia, South Africa, and Chile. But where are the indignant voices protesting the hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese, Laotians and Cambodians who are dying of torture and starvation in North Vietnam's concentration camps? If there is any principle or honor left at all in the U.N. and, for that matter, in a number of newsrooms, shouldn't North Vietnam be told it will be welcome in the U.N. when it has withdrawn to its own borders; when it has once again allowed the South Vietnamese to govern themselves; when true peace among friendly neighbors has been restored to Southeast Asia and when they've given us an accounting of our men missing in action? We, in turn, will then keep our pledge to repair the ravages of war in all their countries. But that is the only basis upon which there can be any talk of normalizing relations. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
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