Columnists: Aiming at Joe

All through the Viet Nam war, Columnist Joseph Alsop has been unwavering in his support of U.S. policy and highly optimistic about its eventual success. This stance has infuriated many liberals—all the more so because Alsop is considered to be a liberal on domestic issues. The gathering wrath finally poured out in print this month as two magazines—Harper's, and Robert Hutchins' the Center—published harsh attacks on the columnist.

Center examines the Alsop record. Author Edward Engberg, a fellow of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, quotes the columnist's consistently upbeat comments on the war. In 1963, Engberg points out, Alsop wrote a glowing account of the strategic-hamlet program, which was soon to collapse in shambles. "The gamble," said Alsop, "has paid off. This spring, therefore, this war was being won." The following year, he was encouraged enough by the food shortage in North Viet Nam to declare that a blockade along with "further air attacks can progressively destroy the entire military, industrial and economic infrastructure of North Viet Nam." In the fall of 1966, he was equally sanguine about the search-and-destroy strategy: "Within six, eight, ten or twelve months—before the end of 1967, at any rate, the chances are good that the war will look successful. We are much closer to the end of what Prime Minister Ky calls the 'military war' than most people here, including most people in government, even dare to hope." While granting that Alsop may be the "hardest-working reporter in Washington," Engberg asks: "What good is it all to someone who resolutely misses the point?"

Imperial Manner. In Harper's, Novelist Merle Miller (Only You, Dick Darling!) concentrates on the Alsop personality. He quotes anonymous Washington sources to the effect that Alsop has become obsessed with Viet Nam. When Bobby Kennedy made a speech saying that the U.S. couldn't win in Viet Nam, Alsop, writes Miller, called the Senator's office three times to denounce him as a "traitor" to his country. To win in Viet Nam, Alsop is even willing to use what he calls "Mr. Big"—the atom bomb—Miller says. "Friends call the Alsop manner imperial," sums up Miller; "enemies, when they are being kind, refer to it as arrogant."

As might be expected, Alsop rolled out some of his own artillery. After the criticism was published, he dashed off a scorching letter to Harper's—though he does not plan to answer the Center. He hotly denied that he had ever called Kennedy, one of his favorite politicians, a traitor. He said that he had never referred to the atom bomb as "Mr. Big," or advocated its use anywhere. He conceded that he had been "overoptimistic" about the "timing" of events in the Viet Nam war, and promised not to get trapped into making such predictions again. But he stuck to his guns on the progress of the war. "We'll see who was overoptimistic about Viet Nam when the war is over," he insists. "If we win, I shall have been a lot more right than most people, despite my mistakes. If we lose, I shall have been wrong—dead wrong. The outcome will show who has judged best."