Ford Hits Vietnam Policy, Calls It 'A Bum War'

Dean Ford yesterday made his first public statement on the Vietnamese conflict and emphatically labeled it "a bum war."

"I think it can be argued, on balance, that the continuation of the war will be more poisonous and more dangerous than any terms I can think of for ending it," he told hundreds of seniors and 25th reunioners at Class Day exercises in Tercentenary Theatre. They responded with loud applause.

"It seems impossible to deny," Ford said, "that a war of ill-defined aims, of ill-defined scope, involving some weapons which apparently do not meet minimum requirements--such a war is a bum war."

He added, "[any war] in which the adversary seems highly satisfied to have the United States involved is a bum war."

But Ford, who also serves as professor of History, cautioned that any realistic alternative to the present path of the war "we must understand, will involve some sacrifice."

His conclusions, Ford said, had been reached "cooly." He attacked those whose petitions on the war stem "from rancorous alienation" and what he called "the improbable debate of hawks and doves."

Opponents of the war must stop speaking only for themselves and among themselves if they want to stimulate a national debate, he argued.

"There is a vast variety of opinion in this country, most if it held by men of good will," Ford said. "This is a real debate."