University of Virginia Library

All Not Well

The main body of invading
South Vietnamese was stalled 15
miles inside Laos. For five days
since the incursion from northwest
South Vietnam, the Saigon forces
have been unable to penetrate DRV
resistance and shut down the
supply lines to the South.

In Washington, a Pentagon
spokesman, Jerry W. Friedham
called the abandonment of the Laos
outpost was a "setback" for the
South Vietnamese forces, but he
hedged on the fact that the
offensive had fallen behind
schedule, explaining: "The
operation continues! The disruption
of the trail and capture of supplies
continues. The war continues. We
are at a point in this operation
where it is rather hard to say it's on
schedule every hour of every day."

The conclusion that all was not
well, following the news of a
bloody rout handed Saigon's forces
by the DRV, was furthered by
reports from Khe Sanh of a visit by
Sir Robert Thompson, the British
counterinsurgency expert who
advises Nixon. Khe Sanh, formerly
a major Marine outpost in northern
South Vietnam, is now the
headquarters of a 9,000 man U.S.
force supporting the South
Vietnamese invasion group.

Thompson has been considered
an influence on Nixon's strategy of
Vietnamization, especially that
aspect of it which seeks to undercut
popular support for the NFL and
the Pathet Lao by means of
widespread devastation, defoliation
and "urbanization", which calls for
the destruction of rural population
centers. The aim is to relocate
people from the countryside in
detention camps nearer secured
areas, where they might be more
disposed to depend upon Saigon,
for assistance and political
organization.

South Vietnamese Were Routed In Laos.

Laotian Invasion Slowed In Shaded Area.

Military sources said repeated
waves of Air Force B-52
stratofortresses, the most deadly
weapon in the U.S. aerial arsenal,
dropped their 25-ton loads in and
around Landing Zone Ranger, a
South Vietnamese outpost five
miles inside Laos. It had been
abandoned after a four-day siege by
3,000 North Vietnamese regulars.

There were conflicting reports
on the battle for the outpost. South
Vietnamese spokesmen, whose
claims draw increasing scrutiny
from observers here everyday, said
the invaders killed 639 North
Vietnamese and hailed the slaughter
as "a victory." But U.S. military
sources, whose word is not much
better, said the 500-man South
Vietnamese force which had been
stalled at the base lost 300 men
killed, wounded or missing. The
NFL radio said simply "the base
was wiped out."

Survivors withdrew Sunday to
another base a mile from Landing
Zone Ranger where they joined
other South Vietnamese troops and
dug in for another anticipated
attack by the DRV divisions
massing nearby.