Hughes Says Europeans Upset By American Vietnam Policy

"Europeans assume that the Viet Cong have won the war in Vietnam," H. Stuart Hughes, professor of History, said yesterday. "Consequently, they look to a face-saving formula, such as a coalition government, which will end the suffering of the Vietnamese yet gloss over the blunt facts of the Viet Cong victory."

Hughes, who ran against Senator Edward M. Kennedy on a disarmament platform in 1962, returned last week from a seven-week trip through France, Italy, and Yugoslavia. Originally planned as a vacation, the journey drew Hughes into informal foreign policy discussions with government officials in all three countries.

"Though the assumption prevails that the American position is indefensible," Hughes said, "there is little evidence of anti-American attitudes. Instead, the people to whom I talked are convinced that we are stuck with a bad policy, and they seem to commiserate with those Americans opposed to that policy."

"On all sides the argument is made that Vietnam is the great stumbling block to settling other international issues, such as the United Nations crisis," Hughes continued. "In addition, Europeans feel the situation puts Russia in the difficult position of having to show sympathy for North Vietnam while trying not to damage relations with the United States."

As national co-chairman of the Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy (SANE). Hughes issued a statement yesterday denouncing President Johnson's announced increase in troop commitments for Vietnam. He called it another step "leading (this) country into a major national commitment comparable to the Korean War... but with our moral and strategic position infinitely worse than it was fifteen years ago."