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Griffin Daily News
. Tuesday, December 30.1969
BRUCE BIOSSAT
Iffy' Standards of Judging I
Whether U.S. Lost War I
By BRUCE BIOSSAT
NEA Washington Correspondent
•
WASHINGTON (NEA)
t For more than a year, it has been the custom with sage
Washington observers to nod among themselves and pro
nounce the ultimate verdict on Vietnam:
“The truth is that we have lost the war.”
» As 1969 winds down, it now appears that oft-heard judg
ment may be premature. Things are not going all that well
for Hanoi.
If ever there were a moment to press advantage, this
, would seem to be it. With 110,000 U.S. ground forces sched
uled to be out of Vietnam by April, opportunity beckons
Hanoi.
The successors to the late Ho Chi Minh may yet seize their
, chance. There could be another Tet offensive in February.
Yet the now widely reported crumbling of the rebel Viet
Cong in South Vietnam is a severe handicap to such an
enterprise.
, No military expert has any sure idea how well, on the
other hand, the “Vietnamization” of the war may work
when put to hard test. There is ample testimony that it is
proceeding apace, that it covers naval and air as well as
South Vietnamese ground forces. But that is about as much
as can be safely said.
Some experts think the day is still distant when South
Vietnam’s regulars and home defense forces can stand off
assault from the regular armies of North Vietnam. Others
• think the time may be closer.
In any event, the important point is that the decline of
the Viet Cong, the at least partial improvement of the
South Vietnamese units and the question marks surrounding
• the North Vietnamese leave the final outcome of the war—
militarily and politically—very much unsettled.
The American armies, to be sure, did not win a military
victory in the field.
• It was never our stated objective to win such a triumph
in the complete sense of crushing North Vietnam. But it
was the obvious intent of our military leaders to score a
limited victory by defeating the enemy in South Vietnam H
» and driving Hanoi’s regulars back across the 17th Parallel.
We are presently pulling out without having achieved
that goal. But have we, in fact, lost the war?
The only sensible answer has to be: Not yet. For if we
• have not triumphed, neither has Hanoi. And, as we have
noted, Hanoi’s ability to do so is currently much in doubt.
Hanoi may yet generate new leverage. But it has less in
South Vietnam today than it has ever had.
. The “if” is admittedly huge, but if Vietnamization of the
war is even a moderate success, then Hanoi may never
bring off victory. And if it finally fails, then our objective
in entering the war will not have been lost after all.
» It is interesting to observe, at this quite critical turn in
South Vietnam’s life, how little attention America’s liberal
doves are paying to the real changes in that country.
They complain that President Nixon is not moving fast
• enough on the unilateral U.S. troop withdrawal which they
never advocated. They used to call, with good sense, for
“de-Americanization” of the war. Now that this is at long
last going forward under the new label of “Vietnamiza
tion,” they seem to see it as a wicked, Pentagon plot.
Even as hundreds of thousands of villager refugees stream
back to a countryside increasingly freed of the Viet Cong’s
yoke, the dove forces dwell on the iniquities of the Thieu-Ky
Saigon government.
The truth is that, while the doves have always been
acutely sensitive to Saigon’s shortcomings and the failing
of American generals, they seldom have the grace to admit
their own mistakes.
The peace negotiations they demanded for three years of
war have been the most unproductive in history. The whole
nature of the war and our role in it has changed—and so
has South Vietnam’s condition. In the face of these potent
• new realities, the doves sound like voices from late 1967—
when everything was quite different.
(New spa per Enterprise Assn.)
DOCTOR’S MAILBAG
Many T reatments Combat
Meniere's Syndrome
By WAYNE G. BRANDSTADT, M.D.
I
* Q—What are the cause and
symptoms of Meniere’s syn
drome? Is there any cure?
A—This condition is caused
by a distention of the three
semicircular canals in the
inner ear. The underlying
cause may be an allergy, a
hormonal imbalance, men
* ingitis or intoxication with
alcohol, quinine, streptomy
cin or salicylates, but in 85
per cent of cases no cause
» can be found. The chief
symptoms are dizziness,
ringing in the ears and
partial deafness. In severe
, cases there may also be
nausea.
A salt-poor diet, the anti
histamines used to treat
, motion sickness and diuret
ics, especially spironolac
tone and thiazides are
usually helpful. When the
disease is severe and per
* sistent a variety of treat
ments has been used with
some success: (1) Surgical
introduction of small crys
* tals of salt in the middle ear
to draw moisture out of the
inner ear, (2) ultrasound to
destroy the mastoid cells be
, hind the ear, (3) removal of
part of the bone surrounding
the semicircular canals so
that their distention no
longer meets an unyielding
* wall, and (4) freezing part
of one semicircular canal
with the Cooper cryoprobe.
* Q—Would it be safe for a
person with Meniere’s dis
ease to fly?
A—Persons with acute ear
. infections and/or Meniere’s
disease are usually too sick
to travel on any kind of ve
hicle. Although flying will
* not affect the disease pro
cess, it is likely to aggravate
the symptoms.
t Q—ls it against the law to
sell a mattress that has been
used? If it is clean and has
a mattress pad, can it carry
disease? After all, we do
* sleep on used mattresses in
hotels and hospitals.
7
A—Although local laws
vary, in most communities it
is against the law to sell a
mattress that contains any
previously used filler ma
terial unless the material has
been subjected to a thorough
cleaning and renovation.
Since the virtual disappear
ance of typhoid in this
country, the danger of trans
mitting disease through the
use of a contaminated mat
tress is nil.
Q—Are there any bad side
effects from Artane, which I
take for palsy? How effect
ive is it?
A—The side effects in
clude dry mouth, blurred vi
sion. nausea and dizziness.
Although the drug has been I
widely used to treat palsy,
recent reports indicate that
L-dopa is the drug of choice.
(Newspaper Enterprise Assn.)
Please send your questions and I
comments to Wayne G. Brandstadt, I
M.D., in care of this paper. While I
Dr. Brandstadt cannot answer indi- I
vidual letters, he will answer letters I
of general interest in future columns. I
Retained Flag Colors
The flags of Colombia.
Ecuador and Venezuela all
have yellow, blue and red
horizontal stripes. These
three colors come from the
banner flown by the liberator
of South America, Simon
Bolivar, and, as such, sym
bolize defiance of Spain. The
colors were adopted by Boli
var’s short-lived Republic of
South American States.
Colombia, Ecuador and Ven
ezuela retained the colors in ;1
their flags.
Record Run
In 1909, a Model-T Ford
established a record time for
the 4,000-mile journey from
New York to Seattle in 22
days and 55 minutes, with
gangs of laborers shoveling
paths through the snow, ac
c or ding to Encyclopaedia
Britannica. H|
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