◆ SpookStack

It would appear clear thet, the training of these Free Khmers in counter-insurgen indicates their possible use should relations with Sihanouk deteriorate to the _ point where land entry into Cambodia is called for by the American military. The increase in Anericen militery pressure throughout the hole area, aincluding intensification of bombing in North Vietnam, has apparently produced —— considerable counter-escalation in verious areas. It ‘ould appear that the ~ insurgency in Northeast Thailand is nox receiving considerable support from North Vietnam and Chine, thet substentiel groups of North Vietnamese military ‘regulars are operating in Laos in the provinces contiguous to North Vietnam and through the eastern and southern areas of Laos near the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Thes North Vietnamese regulars - according to diplomats, IVS personnel and Internatio Control Comission personnel with whom I talked - have made excursions into the plains from the mountainous areas, taken rice and then retreated into the hills. 4#1so, American scholars familiar with Southeest Asian effairs have accepted figures on the number of Chinese Peoples Liberation Army troops now in North Vietnam as being upwards of 40,000. Their work in North Vietnam appears to be concerned primarily with logistics and railroad repair. During my visit I talked with the Southeast Asian scholar, Mr. Brian Shaw, who is with the Department of International Relations Institute of Advanced Studies, Australian National University, Canberra. His area of study is concerned primarily with Chinese-North Vietnamese relations ani he indicated that on the basis of data from three independent sources he nov believes that there are 80,000 Chinese . . troops operating in North Vietnam in logistic support. This, of course, is ' amajor intervention on the part of Chine and makes academic any speculation that China would permit a military defeat of the Democratic Republic of North Vietnam, let alone of the NLF. In conversations with senior American military Personnel and Americen diplomatic personnel one is aware of the desire of these people to discuss the war in Vietnam not just in specific terms of Vietnam itsel They give an analysis based upon a major confrontation with "communists", n "insurgents" or those who advocate "wars of liberation" throughout all Asia. As . the American Ambassador to.Laos, William Sullivan, said, "The American people do not realize that if we ake properly. to confront China a larger understanding of United States goals and objectives is required. Further, a willingness on the part of Americans to sacrifice for their belief in a "free world" must be equal to the willingness with which the commmists are sacrificing for their beliefs.* This rather harsh cold war analysis leaves out any understanding of the tides of nationalism which sweep through Asia or of the wide variety of cultures, languag and beliefs which divide the numerous countries of Southeast Asia, However, the point here is that it is an attitude which seeks not negotiation but the applica: of further military power in a situation where political and economic solutions point the only way toward peace. Se am ee ne Bret ene camel 2. The Untruthful War ence cenmenes HOE TES The second most striking thing to a visitor is the substantial discrep between the position held by General William Westmoreland that the "end is in sight” and the realities’one sees in Vietnam. Hard evidence shows that *securit; has deteriorated throughout South Vietnam as against a year ago. Senator Percy was in Vietnam during my visit and in conversations with his staff I was informe that in one private meeting between the Senator and seven senior American corres pondents all seven agreed that the United States could not win the war. — ; - a -21-