THE UNHOLY HYMNAL:
Falsities andDelusions Rendered by President RichardM. Nixon, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew,President Lyndon B. Johnson, Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, Secretary ofDefense Robert S. McNamara, Secretaryof Defense Melvin R. Laird, Secretary ofState Dean Rusk, Secretary of StateWilliam P. Rogers, General MaxwellTaylor, General William C. Westmoreland, Attorney General John N. Mitchell,FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and OtherChoirboys of the Credibility Gap. Compiled by Alfred E. Kahn '34 with theassistance of Steven and Brian Kahn. NewYork: Simon and Schuster, 1971. 159 pp.$5.95.
This small book is essential reading for everyone who wants to know the truth about the deceptions practised by our government upon all of us. It is not pleasant reading. It may outrage many who still nurse the naive belief that those in charge of our destiny put the welfare of the nation above their own personal or political advantage. But every instance of their equivocation or downright duplicity is definitely documented. The method used throughout the book is to quote official statements and to follow these by presentation of facts which directly controvert them.
By this method the long and tragic deception of our deepening involvement in Vietnam is dramatically portrayed. We are shown how Johnson claimed to be limiting the war while mightily expanding it. We are shown how Nixon while "winding down" that war is committed to its continuance through the use of hired mercenaries and the merciless use of air power. (Though the figure is not included in the book, it may well be pointed out here that war in Southeast Asia has been costing this country $35,000,000 every day.)
The book also shows how the Pentagon gouges vast sums out of budgets pinched for other purposes and how these sums are often used to produce military hardware known to be defective. It shows the complete insensitivity of the military mind to destruction and suffering.
On the domestic scene the book brings out the fascistic attitude of our previous Attorney General and of others who believe that force rather than amelioration of existing conditions can bring about "law and order." It shows the dogged persistence with which official spokesmen predict prosperity in the face of clear evidence to the contrary.
Yes, many will resent this book. But whether or not you have questioned official policies, whether or not you sometimes doubt both the wisdom and integrity of those in high places, let me urge you to read it. In its revelations may be found a guide to reform.
But I think you will agree that the title is most unfortunate. To call the book "The Unholy Hymnal" and to treat the arrangement of its material accordingly adds nothing to its effectiveness and provides a basis for an antipathy that is undeserved.
Long a close observer of the American andEuropean political scene, Mr. Haile is editorand publisher of Groundswell (No. 1-17,1967-1968), superseded by Groundswell Quarterly (Spring 1969 to date).
