THE WAR in Indochina will not end this Spring. There is nothing that the American people, or the people of Southeast Asia, can do to stop the war by June. It would be politically immature, or adventurist, to think otherwise. But this should not deter those of us who say we are against the war, nor should we be discouraged by it. It is only the American people who can stop America's aggression against the people and land of Southeast Asia. No amount of courage and self-sacrifice by the Indochinese can stop raids by hundreds of B-52's based in Guam. No amount of resistance by Asian peasants can alter the decision to use napalm and fragmentation bombs against civilian targets. In the final analysis, it is we who must take responsibility for forcing the U. S. out of Southeast Asia.

No one said it would be easy. But we, as students, should recognize that we have been singularly lazy in our opposition to the war. The North Vietnamese have criticized the American anti-war movement for being too easily discouraged. We abandon tactics when they do not bring immediate success. We search vainly for something new and dramatic with which to end the war. We fail to persevere, and we fail to struggle. And our failure is reflected in the continued destruction of three Asian societies. It would be fatuous, and discouraging, to think of this spring as the beginning of "The Offensive" which will finally end the war. We have already had a hundred beginnings. What we need to do, and what the Vietnamese, Laotians, and Cambodians have been doing, is to continue to struggle, continue to build until all American forces are out of Southeast Asia.

There is simply no excuse for continuing to drift around in an aimless, alienated, cynical, despairing fog. It is not enough to be against the war in thought only. Every person who professes to be against the war must act to end America's participation in it. The spring offers a number of opportunities for people not only to demonstrate their opposition to administration policies, but to broaden the base of opposition, and to intensify its character.

April 18 Providence:

This Sunday there will be a "Dump Nixon" rally in Providence, Rhode Island, organized by Allard Lowenstein, who organized the successful "Dump Johnson" movement in 1968. Congressmen Bella Abzug, Donald Riegel, and Pete McClosky, and Senators Birch Bayh and Edmund Muskie are co-sponsoring the rally, which will be held on the steps of the State House beginning at 4 p. m. Alex Taylor, Joni Mitchell, and Paul Butterfield will also be on hand, apparently to show people that protest politics can be entertaining.

April 24 Washington:

This year's annual-spring-protest is being organized by the National Peace Action Coalition (NPAC). It will be large, legal, and peaceful. Organizers of the rally and march are hoping for a turn-out of half a million, but two-hundred thousand seems nearer the mark. NPAC is basically a front organization for the Student Mobilization Committee (SMC), which has managed to retain a remarkable continuity of leadership and membership, while other anti-war organizations have split apart at the seams. One reason for SMC's organizational continuity has been the influence of the Young Socialist Alliance (YSA), which is not only the largest radical party on the left, but one of the best disciplined. Radical critics of YSA often accuse the party of being Trotskyist and opportunistic in its political analysis, but it is hard to dispute its sound organizational basis.

The April 24 march, which is scheduled for both Washington and San Francisco, has been endorsed by a number of liberal Congressmen, whose ranks swell daily. They include Bella Abzug, Michael Harrington, and Benjamin Rosenthal in the House, and George McGovern, Edmund Muskie, Harold Hughes, Philip Hart, and Vance Hartke in the Senate. In addition, there are the old Moratorium standbys (John Lindsay, Francis Sargent, and retired Army General Hugh Hester) lending their endorsement, if not their presence.

The Boston-area branch of NPAC is the Greater Boston Peace Action Coalition, whose offices are in St. Peters Episcopal Church, 15 Sellers St., Cambridge (661-1090). The office is coordinating transportation to and from Washington, and anyone planning to go to Washington for the rally and march should try to contact them at least a week before the 24th, so they can know how many buses to secure.

The April 24 demonstration is being co-sponsored by the People's Coalition for Peace and Justice, which had been pressing for its own mass rally until a communique from Xuan Thuv. head of the North Vietnamese delegation to the Paris Peace Talks, convinced them not to dilute the one scheduled mass march, but to appeal to as large a base as possible. But the People's Coalition (PCPJ) has not pushed the April 24 date, preferring to concentrate their energies on the two weeks which follow.

NPAC and PCPJ, while co-sponsoring the same event, are pushing slightly different demands. NPAC, taking its cue from SMC, is pushing one issue (the war), and making one demand-immediate and total withdrawal of all American forces from Southeast Asia. NPAC organizers argue that "set-the-date" withdrawal demands are illegitimate, because Americans have no right to set conditions on the Vietnamese.

PCPJ, by contrast, a multi-issue and multi-tactical outfit, is pushing three demands at the April 24 demonstration. The first is for the total withdrawal of all American troops from Indochina, with a date set for the completion of the withdrawal. The second demand is for a guaranteed annual income of $6500 for a family of four. Finally, the successors to the New Mobe (which split from SMC in 1968) are demanding that the federal government free all political prisoners.

PCPJ has its offices at 68 St. Stephens St., Boston (262-3681).

April 26-30 Washington:

The People's Coalition for Peace and Justice (PCPJ) is organizing five days of lobbying in government departments and in Congressional offices.