Did Not Propose Enclave System, Gen. Gavin Says

"I did not propose an enclave system. What I did propose was that we not escalate beyond the commitment we had at that time," General James Gavin told a Harvard audience last night.

The enclave system proposed about a year ago, called for withdrawal of American forces to strategic locations in Vietnam from which troops could advance if necessary.

Gavin, in a speech on "Foreign Policy, Its Military Base," stressed that foreign policy is too much based on military strength.

"Power should be the source of our nation's strength," Gavin said, but hastened to add that the moral strength of the people in shaping foreign policy is most important.

"Bombs, guns, and air craft are all meaningless without men of conviction to back them up."

There is a need for an active responsive citizenry to voice its feeling through elected representatives, he said. The increasing strength of the executive branch of the government has made this especially important now. Passivity can do a great deal of harm, he added.

Rush of Technology

Military power is derived from moral, economic, and technological strength, Gavin explained. The rush of technology, as exemplified by the atomic age and the development of space research, hav substantially changed the image of the world, so that "total victory today means total destruction." Thus, there is "no such thing as a blueprint for victory in Vietnam."

The concentration of the development of technology has reached an impasse. Efforts must therefore be directed toward finding solutions to social and economic problems which have been neglected. Sole dependence on military solutions can lead only to total war, and thus to complete devastation, said Gavin.

If we could spend one-fourth of the $24 billion spent on Vietnam on social problems, we wouldn't have to worry about the number of young men who cannot be drafted, as McNamara does. Our problems are far more vast than that, said Gavin.