M-DAY'S MESSAGE TO NIXON

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In a moving but cautionary M-day speech on the New Haven green, Yale President Kingman Brewster Jr.—who joined Mayor Richard Lee in offering a five-point disengagement plan two weeks ago—warned of another danger to America: "Let us admit that the retreat of our power in the face of a persistent enemy might invite other aggressors to doubt—and doubting, to test —our will to help keep the peace, in Europe, in the Middle East, in Asia. Let us say simply and proudly that our ability to keep the peace also requires above all that America once again become a symbol of decency and hope, fully deserving the trust and respect of all mankind." He added an important caveat: "Let us not make the mistake of saying that defeat is easy to take."

Deep Shock. Strictly speaking, it may be premature to use the word defeat. Still, no matter how the war ends, it is bound to entail some degree—perhaps a high degree—of American loss. What Brewster calls "this wound" will probably provoke deep shock among those many Americans who have nothing in their experience to prepare them for national failure. Instead of making pronouncements about not being the first U.S. President to lose a war, instead of faulting the opposition at home for his difficulties in Southeast Asia, Nixon would perform a better service by preparing the country for the trauma of distasteful reversal—and for the lesson to be learned from it. If he is to heal the wound, he will need unity, not further division. He will need the help of all those who took to the streets last week to try to push him farther along the road out of Viet Nam.