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Bogus Amnesty

By VVAW

President Ford has jumped on the amnesty bandwagon, He has decreed universal, unconditional pardon for Nixon and, at the same time, a highly conditional amnesty for some 10% of the war resisters.

In his first presidential speech outside Washington DC, Ford bounced the idea of conditional amnesty off the reactionary heads of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). With this speech he created a wave of publicity about the "new spirit of reconciliation" in the White house. But the clemency board (case-by-case review), the alternative service, bad discharges for returning deserters all show the real nature of the government's so-called "amnesty."

It wasn't soft spots in their hearts that persuaded Ford and his advisors to give "leniency" to the deserters and exiles, any more than it was "compassion" that got Nixon off the hook. Vets with less-than-honorable discharges weren't even considered in Ford's amnesty plans and that omission wasn't just by chance, either. The Vietnam War and the protests against it have bugged the imperialist years; the defeat they took at the hands of the Indochinese people has bugged them even more. Pressure from the American people helped get the US combat troops out of Vietnam, and that pressure came from exposing the real nature of the imperialist war. No longer would the American people stand for the extension and protection of US exploitation of the raw materials and labor power of the Indochinese for the sake of increased profit for American corporations.

The growing amnesty movement hold the same threat for the US government, because universal, unconditional amnesty requires that they admit that their exploits in Southeast Asia were wrong--not just a blunder, but the conscious design of US imperialism. Of course, they can't afford that kind of exposure, so they keep on hoping that the American people will somehow forget the war. And, at the same time, they hope the American people will not see and understand that our tax dollars are being shipped off to Thieu in South Vietnam and Lon Nol in Cambodia in order to keep that war going. But they also know that so long as amnesty is a loud, visible issue, the war won't be forgotten.

Shrewdly, Ford picked only one segment of the war resisters deserving amnesty. Ever since amnesty became an issue with this country, the exiles and deserters have gotten the majority of the attention and publicity even though they are the smallest section of resisters (50,000 exiles as opposed to 560,000 less-than-honorable discharged vets, or an estimated 200,000 resisters living underground). And, for the most part, exiles are not the sons and daughters of the working class; they are not third world nor poor. Clearly, Ford hopes that his conditional amnesty proposal will divert the growing militance and strength of the anti-imperialist amnesty movement; in a blatant insult to the intelligence of the American people, he hopes to trick those people whose concept and exiles into believing that amnesty, like the war, is a dead issue.

Nonsense. The American people know better. What does the Ford amnesty do for the vets with less-than-honorable discharges? Nothing. These vets, who are overwhelmingly third world, poor, or working class, will still carry the lifetime brand of a bad discharge, no VA benefits, and no jobs. (Meanwhile, a real criminal will live in government financed estates in San Clemente counting his profits from memoirs about the Watergate crimes.) The resisters now living in hiding in this country--they are still in jeopardy whenever their records are checked for a simple traffic violation--Ford's amnesty does nothing for them either. They are predominantly third-world and poor. Ford's amnesty reaks with the same class distinctions that were so obvious in the war itself--the rich man's war, poor man's fight.

Ford's amnesty means case-by-case review; politically active exiles, those who pose a potential threat to the imperialists, will find their path filled with obstacles. Alternative service is another sorry option. Many exiles could have performed alternative service in the first place, but they knew--and still know--that they would not serve in an imperialist war, even to the extent of alternative service.

What kind of change does Ford's bogus amnesty mean even for the exiles and deserters? Damn little. Deserters who have returned to the military have been getting administrative discharges all along--the military doesn't want the hassle of paperwork and the publicity about the thousands who deserted rather than fight for American corporations. And few exiles who have returned have been severely punished. But Ford's purpose was not to give amnesty, even the most conditional kind; it was to co-opt and defuse the amnesty movement. That's why he chose the most reactionary die hards he could find, the VFW, to announce his new-look policy. Given the Stone Age mentality of VFW leadership, Ford knew they would blare out their flag-waving opposition to any hint of amnesty. That made Ford look more progressive, and made what is basically the old policy appear to be new and different.

Ford rushed into an amnesty position which Nixon couldn't take; with his hard-line stand on amnesty, Nixon had painted himself into a corner. But despite the new trimmings, the Nixon position and the Ford position are basically the same. This helps account for Ford's "amnesty" for Nixon--full pardon with no alternative service or review. Nixon's crimes against the people--the bombing of Cambodia--are Ford's crimes too, and the crimes of the entire class they represent; for these crimes there can be no amnesty. Nixon is a criminal, because they rightly resisted an imperialist, wrong war.

The amnesty movement and VVAW/WSO will continue to demand universal, unconditional amnesty for all war resisters, never for war-makers. Vets with bad discharges will continue to demand an end to discriminatory discharges and the institution of a single-type discharge for all vets. We have learned that if we are to win these demands, we will have to fight for them. The National Program of VVAW/WSO (see the centerfold of the paper) shows how we will carry on that fight.

(For further information on our position on amnesty, a 12-page booklet is available from the VVAW/WSO national office and from most regional offices.)