Lederer Praises U.S. Asian Role

William J. Lederer, author of The Ugly American and A Nation of Sheep, last night strongly supported the presence of American ground troops in Vietnam.

The novelist, whose concern with Asia stems from a personal contact over the years with both Asian leaders and populations, led and audience of 75 in a 90-minute discussion of the Vietnamese crisis in the Kirkland House Junior Common Room.

"I maintain that the Vietnamese don't want to be under the Communists," Lederer said. "But they want to know whether we are there to stick by them... That is why I think we must stay in Vietnam."

At the same time, Lederer strongly concurred with the members of his audience who opposed U.S. bombing attacks as an indiscriminate, ineffective weapon.

Lederer also criticized the press's coverage of Asia. American journalists, he said, are handicapped by a European frame of reference and an interest in only sensational developments.