Oct. 4, 1964 - Senator Harrison Williams (pictured), the Democratic candidate for reelection in New Jersey, said today that the Johnson Administration’s policy of training allied troops in Vietnam was the only constructive policy the U.S. could follow in the circumstances.
Appearing in the “Newsmakers” program on WCBS-TV, Williams said that if American troops were deployed against the Viet Cong, the Red Chinese would retaliate.
“I don’t see how we can win that kind of war,” he said.
Williams said that General Douglas MacArthur once remarked that anyone who wanted to commit American troops in action on the Asian mainland “should have his head examined.”
Despite the Administration’s critics, Williams said, the U.S. had done well to emphasize the improvement of the economy of South Vietnam and the training of its forces to combat the Viet Cong guerrillas.
Arguing against U.S. participation in the fighting, Williams said that the French had suffered 230,000 casualties during their four-year campaign in Indochina. Moreover, he asserted, he did not believe the British or French would join the U.S. in a Vietnamese operation.
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