In their attempts to discourage dissenting members of the public from attempting (in the Jeffersonian tradition) to influence our policy in Vietnam, apologists for our government's policy frequently state that the situation in Vietnam and its background are too complicated for the general public to understand and comment on. This is not the case. If one disregards the many misrepresentations of the situation widely disseminated by our own government since 1965 and sticks to the plain facts, the degree of blame which we must shoulder becomes quite clear, as those who have followed the course of events with close attention are aware. They need not be rehearsed here.