The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • 32

July 14, 1972 FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY- 12-C Says Nixon Policy Assures Endless War An Independent Gardner Cobles. Chairmen of the Board Illegal Secret Meeting' The United States will continue to have men killed and wounded indefinitely. More civilians will die in Indochina. American taxpayers will continue to spend billions of dollars in support of the Saigon regime. Russia and China will continue to supply North Vietnam with the necessary materials of war.

The United States will continue to lose planes and helicopters. America will not get its prisoners back. The number of prisoners will Increase. The Administration will have to ask Congress for still more money. U.S.

relations with China and Russia will be jeopardized. America's standing with the rest of the world will sink lower and lower. If the South Vietnamese army cannot hold, the President will climb the next step on the escalator. In Vietnam By Mistake This must not happen. America is in Vietnam today only because it made the mistake of getting into Vietnam yesterday.

America's national security certainly is not at stake. The American people have two major interests: to get U.S. forces all U.S. forces safely out of Indochina and to get U.S. prisoners back.

President Nixon's policies will not accomplish cither. On the contrary, his policies are involving the United States more deeply all the time. The President's program will not work. His "decisive military action" will not end the war. I lis proposals for settlement will not bring peace.

Neither course will work because they offer the other side nothing but defeat. The President never has offered the simple four-point program that I have described. It is the way to end U.S. participation in the war. Los Aniolos Times News Scrvlct By Clark Clifford IN HIS speech of May R.

1972. President Nixon allowed us a brief but import-rnt glimpse at where he is taking America in Indochina when he said: "We now have a clear, hard choice among three courses of action: Immedi ate i h-drawal of all American forces; Continued attempts at negotiations; Or decisive military action to end the war." Nixon chose the third alternative. This is 1972 and it alarms mc to hear a President talk of "decisive military action to end the war." Surely we have learned over the last 10 years, in the most painful possible way, that there is no "decisive military action" that will end the war. These revealing words illuminate the tragic truth about the policy that the Administration is really following a policy which assures a continuation of the war, and may well confront the President with another series of difficult and dangerous choices. Only Way To End War "Decisive military action to end the war" I find it by far the most dangerous goal that the Administration could seek in Vietnam.

It means either further escalation in an effort to save Vietnam by destroying it, or a policy of improvisation designed to stave off de- Clark Clifford was an adviser to Presidents Truman, Kennedy and Johnson, and served as secretary oj defense J.96S and feat for weeks or months, to keep the war going, and to wait for something to turn up so the President can avoid making the only choice that can truly end the war. That choice is a logical four-point plan LA CLARK CLIFFORD for settlement which could have extricated America from the war at any time in the last three-and-one-half years and could extricate us now. The plan is short and simple. The United States would agree to two actions: Withdraw all U.S. military personnel from South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia on a date certain; End all ground, air and naval activity by U.S.

forces in South Vietnam, North Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia by the same date. Return All Prisoners North Vietnam and the National Liberation Front would also agree to two actions: Return all U.S. prisoners held by North Vietnam and the National Liberation Front as U.S. troops withdraw; Refrain from attacks that would threaten the safety of U.S.. military personnel during the period of withdrawal.

It is my firm conviction that if this plan were agreed to, political forces would surface in South Vietnam that would institute negotiations between the Vietnamese leading to a broad settlement. I further believe that by the time of the final U.S. withdrawal, the war in Vietnam would have ended. If a settlement is reached in this manner, I do not believe that any so-called bloodbath would follow. I think it would be the disposition of the parties to try to find the means to heal the wounds of 20 years of war.

If, however, the end comes while the war is still in progress, then one would expect difficulty as pockets of resistance are eliminated. Surely we must keep in mind that the best way to prevent a bloodbath is to stop the one that is occurring daily in both North and South Vietnam. Predictions Borne Out My deep concern over U.S. policy in Vietnam has led me in the past to make Finds Strength of Diversity in 'New Dvm Km'iniMt R. President and Publisher KrNNFTH cDoi D.

Editor A. ED RD HEINS.Monop'n Editor Lai REN SoTH. Editorial Page Editor Loi 15 H. ORRIS. Business Manager the determination of conservation policies.

The secret huddle was a gross distortion of the personnel exeption in the open meetings law. The exception is tightly worded to permit closed sessions "when necessary to prevent irreparable and needless injury to the reputation of any individual whose employment or discharge is under consideration." By no stretch of interpretation could it apply to a discussion of who should be commission chairman. Not only was the commission's secret session illegal and a denial of the public's right to know, it didn't lead to a consensus on the election of a chairman. When the commissioners opened their doors, they were still deadlocked 3-3. i i eventually was named chairman, but the public was left mystified as to what the dispute was about.

The open meetings law provides for a fine of up to $100 for those who violate it. To our knowledge, no one has ever tried to enforce the law, which may explain why it frequently is ignored. Attorney General Richard Turner might take note. There certainly is a greater public interest in preventing secret government meetings than there is in preventing the pitching of pennies to win kewpie dolls. Examine Fair Fulk said that everyone who has expressed an interest in a fair location is asked to submit a proposal.

This policy favors those who already have concessions at the fair and those who know fair officials. An open public solicitation for bids would encourage competition and should produce better concessions. Fulk also defended the practice of keeping some fair records secret because of a state law that provides for secrecy when the information "would give advantage to competitors and serve no public purpose." He refused earlier to allow disgruntled concessionaires to look at the files of more successful vendors. The state law is designed to protect business or industrial secrets. It is difficult to imagine what business secrets might be concealed in the running of a hamburger stand.

Because of the informal practices of the board, a "public purpose" would be served by making all of these files open. It is unfortunate that the Republican majority on the council has dismissed Palmer's questions as a political attack and has refused to dig more deeply into the fair's operations. Review Board police as the only agency that should be subject to special scrutiny from the outside." the commission said. "So far as possible, it is desirable that such procedures for hearing complaints! be established within the governmental agency involved." The 1068 U.S. Riot Commission agreed that agencies other than the police department should be subject to review, but said, "We believe that an internal review board in which the police department itself receives and acts on complaints can rarely generate the necessary community confidence, or protect the police against unfounded charges.

"Without attempting to recommend a specific procedure, our Commission believes that police departments should be subject to external review." The objection to internal review is the suspicion that police would be unlikely to condemn their fellow officers on the complaint of an outsider. But former Chicago Police Supt. 0. W. Wilson warns that if subjected to outside review, police would close ranks even more tightly and balk at co-operating with the review board.

A compromise in which a review board included both police and civilians might be the best solution. Though it falls short of that, the Davenport chief's plan is a compromise of sorts. Only police will review complaints, but testimony will be heard in public. Given the facts concerning complaints, civilian observers will be able to make their own judgments as to the fairness and effectiveness of the internal review board. Elks Racism The refusal by successive Elks conventions to change the organization's discriminatory policy makes it evident that the chances of voluntary change are remote.

Members of the Elks and other discriminatory clubs are entitled to whatever membership policies they choose, but they are not entitled to public subsidy. The Iowa Legislature has an obligation to direct local assessors to deny tax exemption to any group that bases membership on race. A real friend is the one who takes a winter vacation on a sun-drenched beach somewhere and doesn't send you a card. The Bishop Booster. He who receives a favor should never forget; he who bestows one should never remember it.

Marshalltnwn By Erwin D. Canham rPHE fantastic human and ideological I kaleidoscope of the Democratic National Convention shows the strengths and weaknesses of the new politics. Even in the South, as we were shown on Tuesday night from the rostrum, the party spans from Reubin Ask ew of Florida to George -S- Wallace of Alabama. The Floridian idealistic, broad, moderate speaks as a Southerner freed from many of the South 's old obsessions. George Wallace reiterates the same arguments he has carried ERWIN D.

CANHAM to the country, where he received strong support in many states. But the convention voted him down decisively. The new politics is not Wallace politics, except to the degree that his appeal to discontent overlaps the McGovern appeal to similar discontent. Whether this degree of overlap will be enough to bring the Wallace strength, especially outside the South, into the 1 THE IOWA Conservation Commission is the latest in a growing list of foolish gvernmental bodies which have run afoul of the Iowa open meetings law. The commission gathered last week for its first meeting of the new fiscal year.

Member Ed Weinheimer of Greenfield asked for an "executive session'' as soon as the meeting was called to order. Since Iowa law says the commission "shall organize annually by the election of a chairman," it was apparent what the commissioners wanted to talk about. Newsmen objected. They said that if the secret session was to talk about the selection of a new chairman they thought this did not qualify as an exception under the open meetings law. Outgoing Chairman William Noble of Oelwein said the executive session was to deal with "personnel matters'' and that the commission would decide how to run its own affairs.

The commission voted unanimously for the secret session. The selection of the chairman clearly is a matter of public concern. So. too, are the reasuns commissioners have for believing one of their number is or is not qualified for the office. The chairman presides over commission meetings, is a spokesman for the state on conservation issues and should lead in Legislators Won't State Fair Secretary Kenneth Fulk lias used his considerable promotional talent to convince the Iowa Legislative Council that there is nothing going on at the state fair that requires its attention.

State Senator William Palmer Dcs Moines) asked, the council last month to undertake an inquiry into the fair's business practices after a group of concessionaires complained of cronyism and favoritism in the granting of concession privileges. After hearing Fulk, the council voted 7 to 4 along party lines against an investigaion. Fulk defended the State Fair Board's practice of not taking competitive bids. He said that if concessions were awarded to the highest bidder, big corporations would take over which "would give the cheapest, lousiest service at the highest prices." His reasoning isn't convincing. An open bidding policy could and should give the board the authority to reject a bid if it appeared unrealistic or likely to exploit customers.

The board could set service and price requirements in its bid specifications. Big corporations usually don't give inferior service, or they don't stay big long. When a concession is to be granted, Davenport Police In response to accusations of police misconduct, the Davenport police chief has formed an "Internal Investigations Unit" to hear complaints. It will consist entirely of policemen. The "chief, Charles Wright, said he hopes formation of the new unit will curb local efforts to establish a civilian "community review board," sought by a member of the Davenport Human Relations Commission.

He said civilian review boards have failed wherever they have been tried. Authorities differ on civilian review. Most policemen oppose the idea. In 1966. New York Mayor John Lindsay tried to establish a civilian review board over tire objections of his police commissioner.

Lindsay replaced him with the former commissioner of Philadelphia, where such a board has operated since 1958. The new commissioner also said civilian review boards are "unnecessary and unfair" but said he would work with one in New York. The issue was taken to the voters, however, and civilian review was rejected by a big margin. The President's Crime Commission in its 1967 report called for "full and fair processing of all citizen grievances about the conduct of any public officer," but said it "does not recommend the establishment of civilian review boards in jurisdictions where they do not exist, solely to review police conduct." Police get attention because they are the most conspicuous arm of local government, the commission said, but citizens can be equally injured by the incompetence and misconduct of housing, sanitation, health and welfare officials. "It is unreasonable to single out the Subsidv for Perhaps encouraged by the U.S.

Supreme Court ruling upholding the issuance of liquor licenses to clubs that practice race discrimination, the national convention of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks again has voted to retain the organization's whites-only membership policy. This means that Elks clubs in Iowa will continue to be off-limits to black members. An even worse indignity to blacks in a number of Iowa communities is the extra property tax they pay to provide free police, fire and other municipal services to Elks clubs enjoying tax exemption. The clubs are classed by some assessors as fraternal groups entitled to exemption. Iowa law prohibits assessors from granting tax exemption to clubs holding federal liquor and gambling permits.

Practicing race discrimination is at least as evil as drinking and gambling, but that Is not grounds in Iowa for denying tax exemption. Pierortl, Ben Roth Ascncy "Peace, damn it! Peace!" We have learned in the most, painful possible way, that there is no 'decisive military action' that will end the war." certain predictions. After the Cambodian invasion in April, 1970, 1 suggested in an article in Life magazine that such action had merely spread the war and would not hasten its end. By the summer of 1971, I was even more troubled and stated, in the New York Times, that the North Vietnamese would launch a major military offensive in the winter of 1972, and that, in response. President Nixon would re-escalate U.S.

military involvement. My concern now is greater than ever before, so I feel impelled to make the following predictions. These are not cheerful thoughts, but these are not cheerful times. It is my conviction that if we follow the path we are now taking: The war will continue indefinitely. -The United States will be involved indefinitely.

achieved defeat. It was one of the slickest jobs in convention memory. During the primary and nomination fights, the gulf between George McGovern 's unorthodox supporters and the old-line party regulars was naturally maximized. Now that the nomination is accomplished all the emphasis will be on coming together. The party regulars are likely to welcome with pleasure their new allies.

They should, for they now have an opportunity to spread their political appeal as they have not done since New Deal days. Makings of a New Coalition There are here the makings of a powerful new coalition. Much will depend on the "realism" of the two sides. The oldtimers will have to push themselves ideologically in espousing policies which move forward into new country. The newcomers will have to give up extreme positions on some of their favorite causes.

This will be hard for them, for their zeal is great, as was shown vividly during the debates on the platform. Despite the extremes, this new parly has a center of gravity. It is the most competition for influence in Hanoi would take place, with Peking at a severe disadvantage. Total American withdrawal would be a mixed blessing for China. It is understandable that China, seeing the shadow of Soviet power creeping eastward on three of her borders, should welcome a counterbalance from the United States.

Peking and Washington took parallel positions in the India-Pakistan war last year, and on occasion have found themselves aligned in the United Nations. The principal condition for fuller Sino-American co-operation, as set forth in the Nixon-Chou communique last February, was that "tension in the area" (i.e., Asia and the Pacific) should diminish. Tension in Korea has greatly diminished in recent weeks, and new efforts are being made to adjust Vietnam. whom Fischer before his groveling apology had accused of lying, cheating and hypocrisy, have held the championship for 35 years; the experts say that America's genius can probably wrest it from them. Great chess players, as Arthur Koestler explained in a scholarly article in the Sunday Times on July 2, are seldom nice or happy.

Icelandic chess sagas tell tales of slaughter, including that of King Canute's opponent. Such extremes are now unusual, but two more recent champions have died insane. One former champion who has clearly escaped this peril is Max Euwe, the Dutchman who has the wretched job of organizing the present spectacular, cheerfully admitting that he has- been making up his own rules in order to try to save the game. The awful thing is that if the game is saved the two men will fight it out for the best of 24 games. Chess may not be more savage, or more inducive to international ill-will, than other games, but it is certainly slower.

McGovern camp will be one of the decisive elements in the campaign. The South is unlikely terrain for a McGovern victory. The outcome probably will be elsewhere, in such big-voting states as Pennsulvania, Ohio and Illinois. Amazing Virtuosity The new politicians have shown amazing virtuosity. Hitherto, the invasion of the Democratic Party by non-professionals' women, blacks, youth, 'zealots, and protesters of all kind was regarded as a source of weakness.

At the convention, the diversity was clearly a source of strength. The new party has great vitality. It has unexpected discipline. And it has all that political skill. Of all the signs of political finesse, nothing was more dazzling to the professionals than the way the McGovern managers stage-managed not victory but deliberate defeat on the seating of the South Carolina delegates.

They wanted to fight on their strongest terrain, the California seating question, so they had to calibrate a South Carolina defeat within a margin of 12 votes until they William R. Fryc reports from the I'nited Nations on diplomatic affairs throughout the world. from the Pacific or the world at any point." Ford quoted them as saying. "They think our presence is vita! for the stability of the world." It was not clear whether this applies to Vietnam, where the official public Chinese position is the opposite, but there could be an element of logic in it, even in Vietnam. So long as American forces are in the South, the North will be heavily dependent on China (and the Soviet Union).

Once the United States has withdrawn, historic antipathies between the Chinese and Vietnamese are likely to resurface, producing at least a kind of Titoism in Hanoi. In those circumstances, Sino-Sovict China Wants U. S. to Stay in Asia? Politics "liberal," the most "advanced" that the Democrats have ever presented. The very fact that it is attacked from both extremes helped to secure its approval.

The center of gravity has visibly shifted. II is the new center. Earned Their Triumphs Whether the new center is anywhere near the decisive center of the American people nationally is another way of measuring the probable outcome in November. The probabilities are that, throughout the campaign to come, the center will go no farther to the left and probably will drift to the right. That Is standard politics for the Democrats.

The Republicans, starting usually from the right, tend to drift leftward. But this year the divergence is greater than it iias been since liltit and for some time before. It has been a remarkably successful convention in the clarity of its decisions. 'I he bitterness has been less than anticipated. The victors have clearly earned their triumphs.

in Christian Scionco Monllor News Service THE IOWA POLL Divide Evenly On Church Tax IOWANS are evenly divided on whether churches should pay some local properly tax to cover basic services such as police and fire protection. A recent Iowa Poll shows that 47 per cent think churches should pay these basic taxes, while 46 per cent oppose and 7 per cent have no opinion. Earlier polls have indicated that Iowans favored churches paying property taxes -on commercial buildings they own but opposed charging full property taxes on church buildings. The strongest, support for this action comes from Iowans living in cities over .10,000 population, areas hard hit by increasing local property taxes. Iowans who attend church regularly also oppose a partial property tax by 54 to 42 per cent, while those not attending church regularly favor it, 50 to 40 per cent.

Iowans were asked the following questions: "Some people have suggested that churches pay a portion of local property taxes on their churches to cover basic services such as police and fire protection. Would you favor or oppose this proposal?" No Favor Oppom Opinion Total Wo r'0 Men trt 50 Wiimen (8 4.1 RESIDENCE Metro 5l'r .19 T'o City-Town 4.) 47 8 Farm 39 56 5 INCOME Under $5,000 49 WB 9 1,999 44 49 7 $15,000 and over 5,1 43 2 'Cities over 50,000 population The Great Chess 'Non-Event' By William R. Frye rpHE world has just had a fascinating -I. glimpse into the strategic thinking of tire Chinese leaders. Peking is shown to be severely critical of the "new isolationism" preached in the United States, and wanls America to maintain its strength We This is, of course gtJ contrary to the general pi popular impression of what China's view ought Mi ss! to be.

If taken at face PS! value and there is rea-t vfH son to think it may be genuine it represents a startling turnabout. In the 1950s and 1960s, WILLIAM R. FRYH a major motive for American involvement overseas, at least in Asia, was to contain China. At first glance it would seem that Peking logically should resent the continuance of that policy. On the contrary, China sees it as a useful counterbalance to Soviet power.

So say Representatives Hale Boggs and Gerald R. Ford, respectively House Democratic and Republican majority leaders, who had lengthy talks with the Peking leadership during a recent visit. "They the Chinese loaders! don't want the United States to withdraw 0 HE "-few Ivey, Bn Roth Agency 1W Published by arrangement with The Economist of London. WTTTH that elderly ailing yachtsman, Sir Francis Chichester, safely where he belongs (in hospital), we can devote our undivided attention to that other mid-summer non-event: moody Bobby Fischer, the capitalist world's money-grubbing little horror, playing, or not playing, chess against sporty Boris Spassky, whose sportiness vanishes at a flick from the Soviet machine behind him. It is all much loo tedious to regurgitate but when a chess-happy Jim Slater's offer to double the prize money belatedly lured Fischer to Reykjavik i where the poor Icelanders are said to be paying what amounts to at least a dollar each for the privilege of playing host to the championship) the Soviet chess federation chose to get stuffy and foul things up all over again.

The Russian move was no doubt part of the psychological warfare integral to this cerebral exercise. The Russians,.