Radicals React to War Escalation

Amid mounting speculation that the U. S. will resume bombing North Vietnam. a group of Boston activists is organizing a new anti-war movement which would move to action immediately after any American escalation in Southeast Asia.

The group-many of whose members were active in the now-defunct November Action Coalition-is attempting to set up a citywide mass meeting which would convene and decide upon action to follow an escalation in much the same way as "The Day After" (TDA) march followed the trial of the Chicago eight.

Such actions might include protest marches, a citywide student strike, or civil disobedience against Federal offices or corporations, according to David I. Bruck '70-4, a member of the group. Unlike TDA, which ended after one march, the movement would make possible constant anti-war organizing, Bruck said yesterday.

The group has cited Secretary of Defense Melvin R. Laird's recent testimony before the senate Foreign Relations Committee as particularly convincing evidence that the U. S. will again bomb North Vietnam.

Laird said on December 10 that American planes would bomb the North if the North Vietnamese violated an "understanding" and fired on American "re-conaissance" planes which fly over the North. Two days later, Hanoi issued a strongly-worded statement denying that any such "understanding" existed and that any plane which violated their airspace would be attacked.

Noam Chomsky, who has worked with the group, said last night that unless the U. S. shifts its objectives and decides to accept a coalition government, it is certain to "be drawn into a more extended conflict. They've already reached the nuclear level in bomb tonnage," he said.