Speech #920246734

That these assurances by the administrations spokesmen are viewed by many Americans with a great deal of skepticism. is easy to understand. For these are some of the same spokesmen who in earlier times. denied that the forced relocation of villagers was among our military practices. They denied that villages in Laos were bombed. that a refugee problem existed in Cambodia. that bombing was an important cause in creating refugees or civilian casualtiesanywhere in Indochina. But the record is clear. Mr. President. including the hearings and findings of the Subcommittee on Refugees. that over the years there has always been. and continues to be. a vast gap between what our leaders say about the war victims problem in Indochinaand the actual conditions in the field. On the occurrence of civilian casualties in North Vietnam. the Pentagon papers disclose that in January of 1967. the Central Intelligence Agency informed the previous administration in a secret report that American air strikes in North Vietnam had caused some 29.000 civilian casualties during 1965 and 1966. Elsewhere in these papers a high level Department of Defense memorandum in 1967 discusses the risks involved in mining Haiphong and in the air war over North Vietnam. At one point the memorandum states: The picture of the worlds greatest superpower killing or seriously injuring 1.000 noncombatants a week. while trying to pound a tiny backward nation into submission on an issue whose merits are hotly disputed is not a pretty one. Whether similar estimates and projections on civilian casualties in North Vietnam are being made today is unclear. The May 9 testimony before the Subcommittee on Refugees suggests that no estimates are made. Other sources within the administration. however. suggests they are. Given the broad congressional and public concern over the impact of our bombing.