There already is a bloodbath in progress in Vietnam. It must be remembered that the present fighting in Vietnam results in a civilian total of over 100.000 casualties per year (see U.S. Senate SubCommittee to Investigate Problems Connected with Refugees and Escapees). and that Vietnamese military combat deaths (both sides included) have totalled more than 700.000 since 1965. No one can guarantee. of course. what will happen when the U.S. leaves Vietnam. and because of U.S. complicity in the prolongation of the war in Vietnam. the U.S. bears heavy responsibility for any killings which may occur as a result of the intense hatreds which have developed within Vietnam over the past 15 years. Asylum. as provided in the Hatfield/McGovern amendment. could and should be offered to those Vietnamese so compromised by their association with the U.S. that their lives are endangered. (Since the U.S. has provided asylum to some 500.000 refugees from Castros Cuba. it should not find it difficult to receive 50.000 to 60.000 refugees from Vietnam.) Further. looking at the question in historical perspective. there is reason to doubt the likelihood of a bloodbath. The Geneva Agreements of 1954 (following 9 years of warfare between France and Ho Chi Mlnhs Vietminh) prohibited political reprisals. and provided for the International Control Commission machinery to supervise this provision. The ICC received ten times as many reports of reprisals in the South as in the North.
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Refugees refugees