- SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4,1968
THE :MICHIGAN DAILY1
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PAGE THREE
PUEBLO CRISIS:
U.S., N. Korea Silent
On Panmunjom Talks
PRAISE GIAP'S TACTICS:
European Military Experts Say
U.S. Must Crush VC Offensive
LONDON {AP-West European Saigon to Khe Sanh. The offensive system of rotating troops out of
military experts believe Hanoi in- can be expected to continue at Vietnam after only a year there
tends its death and terror of- full blast until either a spectacular was bringing relatively inex-
fensive in South Vietnam to ex- victory is achieved, which will perienced soldiers, untried in
pose the United States as a "paper place -them in a strong negotiating battle, against hardened veterans
tiger" before calling for peace talks position, or else it is effectively with more than 20 years of guer-
SEOUL (M)-A South Korean
radio station said the United
States and North Korea met in
secret for the second straight day
in Panmunjom yesterday on the
Pueblo crisis, despite misgivings of
the Seoul government.
There was no confirmation from
U.S. officials of the report of Ra-
dio Tongyang, quoting South Ko-
rean military sources.
A secret U.S.-North Korean
meeting was held Friday and Pres-
ident Johnson said in Washington
it produced no satisfactory re-
sults. ,
South Korean officials were re
ported upset by Friday's session
because it was held without rep-
resentatives of President Chung
Hee Park's regime and because his
foreign ministry was not informed
of it until many hours after it had
ended.
The South Koreans complain
the United States is laying too
much emphasis on the seizure of
the Pueblo and her 83-man crew
Jan. 23 and not enough on a 31-
man North Korean commando
unit that infiltrated the south with
orders' to assassinate President
Park and other officials.
Angry rallies and demonstra-
tions continued for the eighth
straight day in South Korea to
denounce North Korea's dispatch
of an assassination team.
At the same time, South Korean
military headquarters reported an-
other member of the assassination
squad had been killed in the hills
near Seoul.
One highly-placed South Korean{
offical said the Park government
had decided to ask the United
States to let Seoul delegates take rn<
part in the meetings and to open
them to the public as in the past. ?
The Panmunjom meeting site has .
been closed to reporters. Associated
'Unilateral Measures' STREET FIGHTING in Saigon continued for the fifth stra
Another informant said Park's day as American and South Vietnamese troops attempted to r
government is considering taking Communist attacks on the city.
"certain unilateral m e a s u r e s" -
against North Korea if the United
States bypasses the assassination S
attempt in its dealings with the enra e ToQue tio
North Koreans.
Some South Korean officials ex-
pressed fear the United States may NJI~aII rflo*flnI '7
play into. Communist hands
through any prolonged talks atI
to end the war.
An Associated Press survey
shows military analysts believe
the United States must quickly
halt the Communist offensive to
avoid negotiating peace from
weakness.
Crucial Test
crushed."
Harbert von Borch, Washington
correspondent of the influential
Suddeutsche Zeitung of Munich,
said "Everywhere the United
States is confronted with the lim-
its of its power.
"America's resources are still
enormous but even they are not
sufficient to fulfill the tasks that
span the globe."
The London Daily Telegraph's
military correspondent Brig. W. F.
K. Thompson said the American
rilla experience.
The weekly Economist called
Gen. Giap "one of the best tactical
comanders of our generation. He
seizes the local initiative by moving
his troops faster than anyone has
a right to expect, given the other
side's control of the air. And he
is a master of the surprise diver-
sion."
The campaign, said the Econ-
omist, "is an attempt, conducted
with brilliant tactical dash, to force
a setllement before it is too late."
Saigon Battle Fierce
"Around Golf Coursel
By PETER ARNETT
SAIGON (M)-From the seventh
tee of Saigon's only golf course
you could drive a two-iron shot
yesterday into the headquarters of
a Viet Cong infantry company.
The Communists are clinging
tenaciously to a cluster of homes
in the bamboo shrubbery adjoining
the course. The battle of Saigon
has moved out here inch by inch
e as U.S. and Vietnamese troops at-
tempt to dislodge enemy infiltra-
tors in house-to-house fighting.
Vicious Clash
Late yesterday afternoon the
Vietnamese 8th Paratroop Bat-
talion fought a sharp, vicious clash
with the Communist company in
the bamboo. Flanked by enemy
snipers, the paratroopers moved
back to regroup and reattack
later.
"This might take us several
days," commented the senior U.S.
adviser with the paratroopers,
apt.'Wesley Taylor of Clarksville,
Tenn.
The battle in and around the 18-
hole golf course has been the most
vicious in the city. As the fight
goes on the whole northern section
of Saigon remains in a state of
paralysis,
p The broad, green golf course
fairways have been stained with
blood and pitted with mortar and
rocket rounds. Yesterday para-
troopers had machine guns prop-
ped up in the rough and a com-
mand post at the 19th hole.
Devastating Attack
0 Two Communist battalions
sneaked acrossthe golf course
early Wednesday morning and
launched a devastating attack on
the Vietnamese joint general staff
headquarters to the east.
They occupied part! of the
sprawling compound, and yielded
W the ground only after two days of
heavy fighting. The Communist.
suffered many losses, and so did'
the paratroopers. One Vietnamese
battalion lost half its number in
the fight, according to a U.S. ad-
viser..
The fighting yesterday was more
of the 'tedious, close-quarter, dan-
gerous work required to secure
Saigon.
The Communists were not bud-
ging from the bamboo shrouded
houses they occupied. Repeated
strikes by armed U.S. helicopters
that swooped low to avoid the air-
craft landing at nearby Tan Son
Nhut Airbase, failed to dislodge
them.
"I'd much rather be any place
else but here," commented Sgt.
Kenneth Thibault from San An-
tonio, Tex., a U.S. adviser who was
right up with the point platoon
and had seen two paratroopers
killed and three wounded minutes
earlier.
Thibault was blown off a tank,
but uninjured, the previous day.
Now he was moving up with his
men, to rout two snipers hidden in
a concrete building 50 feet ahead.
Scramble
The enemy troops failed to
budge as grenades and automatic
weapons fire snapped at them. The
paratroopers scrambled ahead.
Suddenly, return fire cracked back
and flanking fire flicked in.
The paratroopers were ordered
to retreat and attack from another
direction. A half-dozen newsmen
scrambled with the paratroopers
back across the dusty ground
amidst long bursts of Communist
.machine gun fire.
"We're not leaving because
they're braver than us," Thibault
explained.,"We were ordered -back.
I don't know why, because in two
minutes we have given up all the
ground we had gained in a whole
day."
No Napalm
The senior adviser, Capt. Tay-
lor, said he had refused to permit
napalm drops on the enemy.
"I like to see what I am doing
with napalm. I can't guarantee
there are no civilians in there.
That's the trouble with fighting
in Saigon-there are civilians
everywhere. Not likerthe moun-
tains where we normally operate."
The battalion headed back to
the golf course for the night. An-
other attempt would be made to
rout the enemy.
"We figure they are on the way
out of the city," Taylor said. "If1
that is so they will be gone to-
morrow. If they stay it's gonna be
another tough day like this one."
Panmunjom.
UN Command
The talks at Panmunjon are car-
ried out by the United States un-
der the banner of the UN Com-
mand, which negotiated the end
of the' Korean War. The South
WASHINGTON (P - One of
Robert S. McNamara's last of-
ficial acts as secretary of defense
will be defending the administra-
tion from a delayed action chal-
lenge to its credibility.
The Senate Foreign Relations
Committee will question him on
e
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3
Korans claim that since the findings of a staff investigationI
Pueblo was not on a mission of that has raised questions about
the unified command its seizure the official account of the Tonkin
was not a matter for the command Gulf incident of 1964.
Joy were reported attack
many torpedo boats in a
time engagement.
These questions have
since and are expected to
up in the committee meetin
McNamara:
-Was the Maddox on r
patrol or was it on an intell
gathering mission, using,
electronic equipment take
board a few days earlier?
-Was it involved in, ort
officers know of, a South
namese attack on enemy
in the area on July 31.
-Were the first shots,
came from the Maddox, a
ing, as officials reported, or
at the enemy boats?
- What of conflicting r
from crewmen on both sh
the second incident, some of
told of radar and sonar co
Most of them expressed belief
the Americans and their allies
face a tough task. The crucial
Press test, they say, will come in the ex-
pected Communist drive to cap-
ight ture Khe Sanh, which is consider-
repel ed the key to the entire northern
area along the demilitarized
zone.
They agreed that Gen. Vo Nguy-
en Giap, North Vietnamese de-
fense minister, appears to have
failed in the primary objective
i of the Viet Cong terror offensive:
to force the Americans to with-
Ii draw men from Khe Sanh to meet
the threats to Saigon and else-
ed by where.
night- Master Tactician
All recognized Giap, the con-
arisen queror of the French at Dien Bien
g come Phu, as a master tactician. Some
lg with thought "the current action"
routinemight settle the Vietnam war one
igence way or the other.
special Gen. Andre Beautre, prominent
en on French military thinker, said in
Le Figaro: "What is certain is that
did its the Americans will have to step
Viet- up their military effort so as to
island regain a position of strength with
a view toward negotiations."
which Hugh Hanning, military cor-
warn- respondent of the Guardian, said
aimed Giap's objective is "to stretch the
United States and her allies from
eports --- -
ips in
whom
ntacts -----
to discuss. However, the commando
infiltration was a violation of the
Korean armistice, the South Ko-
reans said.
The broadcast from Pyongyang
of an alleged "confession" of a
U.S. officer on the Pueblo added to
speculation the North Koreans
may be willing, eventually, to free
the crewmen.
Broadcast 'Confession'
A broadcast dispatch of the Ko-
rean Central News Agency quoted
Lt. Stephen Robert Harris, 29, of
Melrose, Mass., as saying the
Pueblo was in North Korean
waters when she was seized. It
said Harris apologized for the in-
trusion and begged to be released.
A similar appeal in the "confes-
sion" of Cmdr. Lloyd Bucher, the
Pueblo's skipper, last month led
some to believe the North Koreans
might settle for release provided
the crew admits guilt and the
United States issues a formal
apology.
McNamara will appear later this
month for a closed-door review!
of the still top-secret material.
The clash between U.S. and;
North Vietnamese naval units in
the Tonkin Gulf was the basis oft
a near-unanimous congressional
resolution backing President John-
son on the war.
The sharp buildup in the Amer-
ican military effort in Vietnam
dates from that incident.1
While thecommittee staff re-
port has not been made public,
there are indications it contains
information in conflict with the
admistration's statements of what
happened in August, 1964.
The Tonkin Gulf incident was'
actually two separate events.
In the first on Aug. 2, the des-
troyer U.S.S. Maddox and three
enemy torpedo boats clashed in
a daytime action. Torpedoes mis-
sed the Maddox but its batteries
hit the enemy boats.
In 'the second on Aug. 4, the
Maddox and destroyer C. Turner
with enemy boats and torpedoes,
and some of whom doubted
whether there had been an at-
tack at all?
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FEBRUARY 14
-h
*-PROF., CLIFTON OLDS
::0. Assistant Professor in U of M's
History of Art Department,
Dr. Olds will speak on "The
A ant.4t
L- Artist as an Enemy of the State"
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Tuesday, February 6
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MONDAY, FEB. 5, NOON LUNCHEON, 25c-
Prof. Rhoades Murphey
"SOUTHEAST ASIA AND THE THIRD WORLD"
TUESDAY, FEB. 6
Noon Symposium (Lunch 25c)
SERIES: "SOCIAL CHANGES"
Speakers: BARRY BLUESTONE and Economics Professor
UAC
no admission charge
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