Word: thant
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Although U Thant has warned repeatedly that he will not stay on after December 20 when the current session of the General Assembly ends, there is no evidence that the big powers have begun the long and difficult task of finding a man to replace him. Their appearance of inactivity may be only a well-designed cover for behind the scenes discussions, since the process of reaching a consensus on the future Secretary General must naturally begin with low-key, informal talks; and Thant himself has warned that choice should be made without "fanfare." But there has been no mention...
Judging by its public statements, the U.S. government still hopes to convince Thant that he is the "indispensable man" and that he should stay on for at least part of his term. "The U.N. needs him," Ambassador Goldberg told the General Assembly in his opening speech. "We reiterate our earnest hope that he will heed the unanimous vote of the membership and permit his tenure of office to be extended." Officials apparently believe that Thant can be persuaded to serve if the U.S. and Russia are unable to agree on a successor...
Answering the first of U Thant's three points, a call for an end to U.S. bombing in North Viet Nam, Goldberg vowed that the Administration will gladly halt the raids "the moment we are assured" that Hanoi will curb its war effort. As for a mutual reduction of military activity, Thant's second point, Goldberg pointed out that the U.S. has repeatedly urged a supervised, phased withdrawal of "all external forces." On Thant's third point, inclusion of the Viet Cong in peace negotiations, the U.S. ambassador noted that this was not, in President Johnson...
...though it will clearly dominate the three-month session. On the eve of the opening, Pope Paul VI delivered in Rome an impassioned, 1,700-word encyclical addressed to both sides: "We cry to them in God's name to stop." In another plea, U.N. Secretary-General U Thant made the extravagant claim that the conflict had become a "holy war between two powerful political ideologies." Its issues, he said, can be resolved "not by force but by patience and understanding." Thant went so far as to say that the Viet Nam war has strained East-West relations...
...Word. In his U.N. speech, Goldberg chided the statesmen-by implication, Charles de Gaulle as well as Thant -who persistently appeal "to one side to stop, while encouraging the other." Denying that the U.S. is engaged in a "holy war against Communism," Goldberg disclaimed any American interest in establishing a "sphere of influence" in Asia. "We want a political solution, not a military solution," he declared. "We seek to assure for the people of South Viet Nam the same right of self-determination-to decide their own political destiny, free of force -that the United Nations Charter affirms...