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ewes nk ms Le oe es . # eae A TS Borie ee. rors [OP DHE eee wee eee fhe weet ts Ve ee 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 Americen militery pressure throughout the whole area, including intensification of bombing in North Vietnem, has apparently produced —— considerable counter-escaletion in verious areas. It would appear that the insurgency in Northeast Tnziland is now receiving considerable support fron North Vietnam and Chine, that substantial 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 Saesett tatbar * Ae font! ta Swit tha Control Commission personnel with whom I talked - have made excursions into the plains from the mountainous areas, taken rice and then retreated into the hills. Also, 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 repeir. 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 @ major 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 comversetions with senior American military personnel and American 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", “Finsurgents" or those who advocate "wars of liberation" throughout all Asia. As the American Ambassador to. Laos, William Sullivan, said, "The American people do mot realize that if we ate 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 heal Fea tt ta the will lingness wl th whi nich the communi sts are safer ificing for their eli efs, 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, - aad 2. The Untrethful War 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 realitics one sees in Vietnam. Hard evidence shows that "securit has deteriorated throughout South Vietnam as against a year gO. Senator Percy sue tn Usn4ene 21: —=r ee ee —_— oat Wee whl FS helical during ay Visit and an PUlYer sations Wi th his avait I Was informe that in one private meeting between the Senator and seven senior American corres pondents all seven egreed that the United States could not win the war.