Speech #920262616

There is also an equally strong impulse among those suffering from an uncontrollable urge for political power to put the mistakes of others in the worst possible light. The unhappy situation in which we now find ourselves in Indochina is the result of a series of errors prompted by humanitarian instincts. They were the errors of a nation rather than of a few individuals. In 1954 and 1955. we. as a nation. could have stood by and watched the slaughter of another half million refugees in North Vietnam. We did not do this. however. but assisted nearly a million people to escape to safety in the South. We could then have disclaimed any further responsibility for their welfare. but we did not do this.