I will not here discuss whether it is right or wrong for a country to intervene in the affairs of other states. I will assume that great powers will interfere with small powers and consider, rather, how the great power should exercise its responsibilities.

We must begin by recognizing two major difficulties that face a great power. The first is that many of the problems—in fact most of the problems—which it faces in dealing with small countries are immune to power. This applies particularly to a Communist insurgency, which is designed to be immune to the application of power. It also applies, of course, to intervention which is perfectly respectable and normal, such as the giving of aid. In the case of aid, many of the problems are impervious to power in its broadest sense, that is, to resources, material, money, and so on.

Before discussing Vietnam: Crisis of Conscience and the effort it represents, it is well to say something about the diversity within the religious community and its concern for peace. Most of what follows does not deal, for instance, with those who espouse the position of absolute pacifism nor with the historic “peace churches” such as the Friends, Mennonites and others. (But even in these instances discretion is necessary since some of the “peace churches” [e.g., the Friends] are active in the political sphere and some of the groups originally formed by pacifist impetus [e.g., Fellowship of Reconciliation] are increasingly open to those who enter the quest for world peace from a different direction.)

This triple-authored, triple-published polemic against the war in Vietnam, shared by a Protestant, Jew and Catholic, is an attempt to rally the organized churches and synagogues of America to lead condemnation of what the writers consider an unequivocally immoral role the U.S. plays in this Southeast Asian conflict. As spokesmen for Clergy and Laymen Concerned About Vietnam, the arguments generally sum up the sense of “a clergy mobilization” by the group in Washington last January and February. Lots of people come away from Washington with odd impressions. After visiting government officials and legislators at that time, the authors came away with the impression that these policymakers would like to “engage in bold initiatives for a negotiated peace” but they were afraid to do so because they weren't sure public opinion “as a whole” would back them.