Beatle John Lennon does himself a disservice when he refers (as he did in a recent interview in this country) to the United States as “the other place.”

“You mean the other place?” he said in answer to a question. The sarcasm in his voice was evident, but Lennon should not forget he owes much of his wealth to the United States. In fact the main factor in his being awarded the MBE by the Queen (he sent it back recently as a protest against Britain’s supply of arms to Nigeria) was his dollar contribution to Britain’s coffers.

Now he has compounded this impertinence by sending the bill for- his full-page “peace” advertisement in The New York Times to President Nixon, saying it costs less than the life of one man.

Lennon says he is also placing the advertisement in newspapers in other capitals. It reads: “War is Over — If You Want It.” He did not say which capitals, or whether he is including for example Moscow, Peking or Hanoi.

Such calls to peace? are useless if they do not include the Communist world which is playing a major part in keeping the hostilities in Vietnam going. The current build-up of North Vietnamese forces for a possible new offensive in the new year is a case in point.

The trouble is, Lennon likely has never been heard of in the Communist world — until now that is. He will get all the support he needs from that quarter if he persists with this campaign. What he will not obtain, we suspect, is permission to place the same advertisement in the Communist press — even if he wants that.