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Will Review
U.S. Ties: Marcos
ART BUCHWALD
Détente
with
Vietnam
~bocl:waves
from recent
Communist takeovers in
Cam–
bodia and in South Vietnam are
being felt througbout the
Southeast Aiian region - in–
cluding, notably, the Philip·
pines where American
economic and military ties bave
beco stroog for decades.
lbe failure of the U.S.
Con–
gress to provide additional aid
for Cambodia and South Viet·
nam "suggesu strongly" that
America
no
longer views South·
east Asia as vital to
its
interesu,
asserts Philippines Presiden!
Ferdioand Marcos. As a result
of the "new reality," the Pbilip–
pines will be foroed to seek
closer ties witb "socialist"
nations, be concludes. Coina·
dentally but nevertheless sig·
niJlcaot, Mr. Marcos' most
recent statc · visitor was Ro–
manía's Presiden! Nicolae
Ceauseseu.
Our man in Manila, Colin
Adair, writes: "Tbe visit of the
Communist cbief-of-State carne
at an auspícious time when
Amc:rica's eredibility in Soulh·
.___easJ
6sia had hit, a very low
poiot.
During'ihí'inh"é~·
Mr.
Ceausescu hosted for Presideot
Marcos,
Mr. Marcos said lhat
developments in lndocbioa
bave 'eompeUed
alJ
leaders, in·
cluding the
pol!tical
leadership
of lhe Philippines. to review
policies on security and devel·
opment.' lbe Philippine gov–
ernment, said Mr. Marcos,
eould not belp but be disturbed
by
'the
emerging view lhat eom·
mitments made by American
presideots
are
oolhing more
tban statemeol$ or inteot lbat
do oot biod the American
people, lhe Coogress. or lhe
OovernmenL'"
Since thc beginoing of April,
three Philippine governmeot
agencies bave been engaged in
a
review of "lhe status of lhe
Philippioes' defense accords
witb lhe United Statcs,
espe–
ciaUy lhose covering continued
U.S. use of the buge Oarlc
Air
Base
as
weU as the Subic Naval
Base.
The Philippines has tbree
military agreements witb the
U.S. -a mutual defense
paa,
a
military assistance treaty, and
an agreemeot on military
bases.
Presiden! Marcos reportedly
asl:ed the American panel dur–
ing a receot meeting of the Joint
Mutual Defense Board to in–
forro the Philippine govemment
how usefullhe bases were to the
United States and bow long
Washington would retain them.
U.S. Ambassador William
Sullivao bad c:xpressed the view
that tbe Uoited States "sup–
pons•:. a
~ass¡:ssment
of Pbilip·
pioe foreign policy toward
alJ
countries and that bis country is
ready to discuss any
~ead
justmeots
in
agreements be–
tweeo the Pbilippines and the
U.S. regarding the military
bases.
He hoped bowever that the
Philippines, after weighing
all
altematives and options, would
come to the conclusion that
"ber best friend is still the
Uoited States."
O
WASHINGTON: Will tbe
United States survive the loss of
lndochina? Jf past experiencc is
any proof, the answer
is
"yes!"
For
a
year or two, or maybe
three, lhere
wilJ
be mueb soul–
searehiog as to why Cambodia
and South Vietnam went down
tbe drain and a lot of finger
pointing by everyone. But then,
af\er
a
period
of bitter silence,
Ibis is what will probably hap–
pen.
Tbe People's Republic of
Vietnam
wilJ
start a ping-pong
team. A smaU itero about the
team beating the People's Re–
publicof China
wilJ
appear in a
newspaper in College Parl:, Md.
This wiU give the Uoiversity of
Maryland a brilliant idea. Why
not invite the People's Republic
of Vietnam's ping-pong tean¡ to
play against the best ping-pong
team the Americans
can
mus–
tet'l
Tbe State Departmeot is
furious about the idea and re–
minds the studeots that we have
no diplomatic relations with thc
People's Republic· of Vietnam.
But secretly tbey're intrigued
with the idea. Tbe secretary of
state suggesu the American cuJ..
tural attacbé in Paris feel out
United States.'' As far as the
importance of lhe Pbilippines
security arrabgements with tbe
U.S., Valencia said.
"1
am eon–
vinced tbat most Filipinos l:now
SharpWords for America
from Filipino Jo..nalist
that the Uoited States would
oot defend the Pbilippines in
any case exccpt to protcct tbeir
'v
own bases. And Filipi.nos don't
want that kind of defeose ei–
ther. We certainly are no looger
relying on American miUtary,
lbe Uruted States reoeived
a
stinging rebul:e at the band of
columoist Teodoro F. Valencia
in tbe April
14
editioo of the
Bul/etin Toda
y,
one of the three
main Manila dailies. Valencia is
ooe of lhe Philippines' most re–
spected columoists. His views
are lhougbt to coincide with
mucb of otllcial Filipino
thiok–
ing.
Since tbe ínstitution of mar–
tial
law in the Pbilippines in
1972 - an action mucb misun–
derstood in the United States -
the U.S. Senate, said Valencia,
has been "reassessing" the Phil·
ippine situation. Now, with U.S.
reversos in Asía, be said. it was
time for Filipinos to
do
some
asseSsing of their owo.
"Tbe Americans hate dicta-
WEEK ENDINO MAY 24, 197'
torships. lbey abhor martial
law,"
Valencia wntes. "Yet..lhe
Americaos are mal:ing their
biggest mistal:e in tbe Pbilip–
pines. We are the ooly Aiians
who could qualify for genuine
friendship wilh tbem. We sñare
their ideals, their ideology. De–
spíte martial law, the love for
parliamentary democracy as
embodied in tbe American
Constitution remains higb -
higber, perbaps, than before
martial law. But
íf
the Ameri–
cans want to treat us lilce they
have treated Cambodia, South
Vietnam, Taiwan, South Korea
aod
Laos,
then they're dead
wroog. We won't stand for iL
We
wilJ
be
treated
11$
equals or
we
wilJ
prefer wbatever is in
store for the non-friends of lhe
naval or aerial protection.''
Valencia closed
his
rebul:e
with some par:tkularly strong
phraseology, no doubt reftcct–
ing a growing mood in his coun–
try: ' 'Tbe only way we can get
some oice things said of us in
tbe American press
1$
for us to
be an enemy.
·
"Notice the
warm
words of
praise lhey ha
ve
for Red China
and the Soviet Union. Amer·
lea
's bates are reserved for ber
friends aod allies.
"Our
WOtSt
mistake
is
in
trying
to explain thiogs to tbe Ameri–
cans. lbey only get the impres–
sion that we're friends. That's
wbeo we get iL"
Not eomfortable words. But
Americans oeed to l:now wbat's
being writteo about them in
otber parts of the world O
the PRVN about a match. lbe
answer comes baclt that. lhe
PRVN
wiU
oot send a team to
the Uoited States but is willing
to play tbe Americans
in
Hanoí.
A mixed team consisting of
half American studenu and
baJf
CIA agents is sent to Hanoi and
fien::ely trounced by the Viet·
oamese.
Tbis
gives the Ameri–
cans
ao opportuoity to invite
the PRVN to tbe Uoited States.
Wben lhey arríve in Maryland
with their team consisting of
h_alf Viet Cong students and
balf political comnússars, a
~
cret meeting is arraoged be·
tweeo the scctetary of state and
tbe coach of tbe ping-pong
team wbo is really deputy secre–
tary of the Vietoamese Commu–
nist Party.
lbe coacb suggests that lhe
secretary of state mal:e a secret
trip to Hanoi and visit with
Gen. Giap. the presiden! of the
COjlDtry.
lbe secretary agrees
aod fties to Pal:istan wbere be
annouooes tbat he has a bad
stomacb and will be out of. ac–
tion for a few days.
But instead he boards a plane
and Jlies into Hanoi wbere he
1$
giveo a state dinner of hot Viet·
aamese ' food and toasts the
frieodsbip of tbe American
people and lhe People's Repub–
lic ofVietnam.
lbe secretary then llies di–
rectly bacl: to Washington to
re–
pon to lhe President that Gen.
Giap would lil:e him aod
his
lovely wife to visit their couotry,
somethiog no
American
Presi–
den! has dared
do
since lbieu
was driveo from the mainlaod.
Tbe tJ.S . President, wbo
needs some way of distracting
the people from domestic prob–
lems at b-ome, eonsiders the
idea
a
bold strol:e of diplomacy
and one wbicb
wilJ
mal:e
bim
tbe leading statesman in tbe
world.
He aocepts the iovitation and
in four months the American
people watch on satellite
TV
a
grand banquet in tbe Hai.Pbong
Hall of Heroes where the U.S.
Presideot and tbe PRVN presi–
dent pledge friendshlp and
peace aod sign a trade and cul·
tural pact.
Tbis
mal:es
both the People's
Republic of China aod tbe So·
viet Union n.arious., whicb '
is
.,.bat tbe secretary of state bad
in mind in lhe llrst place.
In
no time at all every news–
papeonan wortb
his
salt visits
tbe PRVN and writes back
glowing reports on bow cJ.ean
the streets are, bow bard tbe
Vietnamese . people worl: and
the. fact that there is no tipping
in the-country.
lbe PRVN sends us the fa–
mous Ho Chi Miob Ballet lbe–
ater and we send them Sbirley
MacLaine. Pepsi-Cola an–
oounces that it bas made a deal
10
seU Pepsi in Vietnam, and
Vietnam Retreat
Parallels
Napoleon's
lbe Great American Retreat
from lndochioa has been de–
scribed by guerriUa warfare
strategist, Sir Robcit Thomp–
son, as "the greaJest retreat the
world has seco since Napoleoo
himse lf ,retreated from
Moscow."
Napoleon's withdrawal, of
course,
was the begioning of the
end of his empire. Wben be
reacbed Moscow, be had
ex–
tended
his
jurisdiction to its far–
tbes t bistorical l imits. Tbe
coUapse of
his
empire foUowed
fairly quickly - witbín four
years of bis ill-fated withdrawal
from Russian
soil
lbe óutspol:eo Tbompson,
wbo
is
geoerally credited with
saving
Malaysia
from Commu–
oism, notes tbat Southeast Asia
was
as
far "west" as \'/estero
political dominance ever ex–
tended. With the anguished
re–
appraisals of U.S. defense ties
on the pan of America's Asían
allies there
is
lhe
very
real
pos–
sibility that Ameñcan tollueoce
around -tbe world may soon
launch
~lo
&eadloog retreat.
''We 'are about to see the
stra tegic surrender of tbe
Uoited States," lbompson pre–
dicts. ''Tbe wbole world
is
going
. to be littered with corpscs, as
was tbe ro"Ute rrom Mosoow to
Germany."
lbe Brilisb anti-guerrilla ex–
pen wams that the effecu of
America abaodoning Soutb
Vietnam "will shal:e the U.S. to
the roots. lf you are going to
indulge in the luxury of incred–
ibility, you are going to bave to
meet lhe oosts. You will have to
talce poUticaJ and aulitary risb
to reestablisb your credibility
that wiJJ makc sorne of thc
erises we have been through
look like Sunday afternoon
picnics.,. o
IBM announces it
will
sooo
stan repairing
alJ
the computers
that broke dowo right aller the
war.
lbeo President Oiap wiU be
invited to -Washi11gton and
tbere
wiU
be
VieiDamese
6ags
all
along_ Pennsylvaoia Avenue
and
Oying
from .
the White
Hou.se.
Eventually there
will
be few
people wbo
wiU
remember that
we were once at
war
in
ln–
dochina. lbe only time it will
even come up is wben a former
presideot ofSouth Vietnam dies
m Switzerland. and the
Presi–
den! decides to send Agricul–
tu ral Secretary Earl Butz to
his
funeral
o
S
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