"Friday, March 22 1968 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Three Friday, March 22, 1968 THE MICHiGAN DAILY Page Three ,, ARMY LIFTS SECRECY: U.S., South Vietnamese Units Begin Five Major Offensives Thieu Fights Graft, Calls More Troops Israel Withdraws SAIGON Van Thieu (P)-President Nguyen will try to follow up SAIGON OP) - Allied forces'are sweeping through hills, plains and jungles in six widespread opera- tions designed to seize the initia- tive from the enemy and so far 1,888 Viet Cong and North Viet- namese have been killed, the U.S. Command disclosed yesterday. The command lifted the veil of secrecy from five new drives ranging from near Saigon to the coastal plains 300 miles to the northeast. Some were begun two months ago when the enemy still was on the rampage in the Tet- lunar new year - offensive. There are about 10000 U.S. are light for such a long opera- tion. The slackened pace of the fighting was reflected by the U.S. Command report that fewer American and enemy soldiers were killed last week than in pre- vious weeks. The toll was 336 Americans and 3,970 enemy killed, compared with 509 and 5,168 last week. The five newly disclosed Amer- ican drives have killed 99 of the enemy. The big push around Sai- gon has accounted for 1,089 more. The purpose of all the drives is the same: to lift the enemy threat !to imnnrtant ities and bases and .LA- - --- -"av wvv o.- - - - - - - -UA) bl l t .At l troops assigned to these opera- to regain the initiative. tions, far short of the 50,000 The five operations, which have American and South Vietnamese cost the United States 94 dead soldiers who since March 11 have and 397 wounded, are as follows been pressing the war's biggest from north to south: drive around Saigon. -On the Beng Son coastal 0 While the multiple drives may plain, 300 miles northeast of Sai- keep the enemy off balance, there gon, where the 22nd North Viet- obviously have been no major namese Regiment has been oper- battles since the casualty figures ating. The U.S. 4th Infantry Divi- CINEMA II ALAIN RESNAIS' ""LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD" 4 ALSO: Chapter 11 -"FLASH GORDON" Aud. A-Angel! Hall Friday, March 22 7:00 and 9:15 p.m. Saturday, March 23* A 75c sion kicked off this one Feb. 29 and so far has killed 193 North Vietnamese, the second highest enemy total in the five operations. -Around An Khe, big U.S. mil- itary base in the central high- lands. The 173rd Airborne Bri- gade launched this one Jan. 17 while the enemy offensive was at its height but it has found and fought few enemy soldiers. -North of the coastal provin- cial capital of Phan Thiet, over- run by the Viet Cong. Phan Thiet is 100 miles east of Saigon. The 101st Airborne Division went over to the attack 17 miles northeast of Phan Thiet Jan. 20 and has rolled up the biggest enemy toll of the five drives, 475 Viet Cong killed, but most died during the Tet offensive. -Near headquarters of the U.S. 1st Infantry and 101st Airborne division 29 miles northeast of Sai- gon. The 101st took the offensive five days ago and so far have killed 81 of the enemy. -Around the Bien Hoa Long Binh headquarters of the U.S. Army in Vietnam 15 miles north- east of Saigon. The 199th Light Infantry Brigade and the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment be; gan this drive two weeks ago but have run into little opposition. Concerning the war's objectives, President Johnson said yesterday that America's determination will not "break frustration" in Viet- nam and peace with honor will be won. "Let no one misread our pur- pose: peace is our goal," John- son said. 3020 washtenaw Phone 434-1782 Between Ann Arbor & Ypsilanti JAMES HENRY StEWART IONDA his pledge of yesterday to crack down on corruption by clipping the wings of the nations four war- lord corps commanders, informed sources said. They reported that some time before April 15 Thieu will set up six national administrative groups with a civilian at the head of each. In a major policy speech, Thieu' said he would serve as chairman of two new administrative groups -the National Planning Council and the Committee for Admin- istrative Reforms. Draft Increase Thieu also announced in the same speech that he has ordered an additional 135,000 men for the South Vietnamese forces, because "this is our country, the existence of our nation is at stake, and this is mainly a Vietnamese responsi- bility." This increase would bring South Vietnam's troop strength to 909,, 000 including both regulars and militiamen. The proposed committee ap- parently will serve as a basic tool in Thieu's plans to attack ineffi- ciency in government operations and to weed out corruption from national and local governments. The use of civilian administra- tive delegates, each appointed by the president, firstwas begun by the late President Ngo Dinh Diem., War Lords During the military juntas that followed Diem's downfall, the sys- tem was abandoned. The com- manders of the nation's four mil- itary corps areas gradually took over their responsibilities, making themselves virtual war lords. Until Thieu and Vice President Nguyen Cao Ky took office, the central government had no power to change the situation. Nor did it have the power to attack cor- ruption in a corps area if the corps commander condoned it. Under the soon-to-be-announced setup, the 2nd Corps - central highlands and coastal lowlands- and the 4th Corps-Mekong Delta -each will be divided in half, informants said. Nonmilitary Function The six civilian delegates will as- sume the nonmilitary functions now handled by the corps com- manderc_ Under j t i i 1 s t 1 t t The civilian delegates also will TEL AVIV P -Israeli ,troops, function as inspectors over all 15,000 strong by Arab estimate, civilian administrative functions reported wiping out four El Fatah in their area, reporting all short- terrorist bases in an invasion of comings and corruption directly Jordan yesterday, then fought to the president. back homeward under unexpect- They will serve as intermediaries edly heavy fire. between the nations 44 province Jordanian resistance slowed the chiefs and the central government. withdrawal, but the Israeli chief Under Thieu's plan, the civilian of staff, Maj. Gen. Haim Bar delegates also will be the presi- Lev, said late last- night that all dent's representatives for political Israeli forces had returned to the matters. west bank of the Jordan River, the cease fire line between the two Encouraged nations. The west bank was seized U.S. officials are encouraged by from Jordan in the Arab-Israeli the upcoming changes, for which war of last June 5-10. they had been pressing. Fierce engagements were re- The Thieu government already ported around the Damiya and has fired six province chiefs and Allenby bridges between Arab replaced two of the four corps riflemen and Israeli rear guards, commanders riflemen after 14 hours of fight- -ing. Amman radio claimed "the fHeaw, enemy has lost most of the ve- hicles used in his attack and his forces tried to abandon them." The pullback, under jet fighter cover, came after the Israeli army said it was certain the alleged. terrorist base at Kerameh, justj inside Jordanian territory, had been neutralized. Bar Lev reported the raiders also destroyed staging areas at Dahal, Feifa and Safi, from which the Arab guerrillas are accusedI of launching terrorist attacks for the past six months. First Thrust It was Israel's first major thrust into Arab territory, since the war of last June and the longest sustained clash since then. The raid on a 200 mile front was officially described in Tel Aviv as a police action. T o Jordan Jordan Requests UN Sanctions In Response to Israeli Invasion UNITED NATIONS, N.Y. OP) - Jordan accused Israel of making a "cowardly attack on refugees and other Jordanian citizens" yes- terday and asked that the Secur- ity Council respond forcefully with sanctions. Israel replied that its strike into Jordan was an act of self-defense to prevent new incursions of Arab guerrillas which It said were back- ed by Jordanian authorities. Israel said the 15-nation council should urge Jordan to abandon what Israel called a policy of war and help toward an Arab-Israeli set- tlement. The exchange was at an urgent council meeting called on succes- sive requests from Jordan, and Israel after the Israelis struck with troops, tanks and planes. Combined claims added up to 350 killed. 'Waiting' "Sanctions are the answer," Jordanian Ambassador Muham- mad H. el Farra said. "Jordan, a small country, is waiting." He called on the council to act under Chapter VII of the U.N. charter, which authorizes it to enforce its decisions by calling for economic boycott, diplomatic iso- lation and even military action against an aggressor. Israel's note said, "Israel De- fense Forces this morning were compelled to take localized and 1 i m i t e d preventive measures against the training centers and staging bases of the raiders . . .on the east bank." It said the council should "deal with the continuous acts of aggression" by Jordan. El Farra pictured the attack as unjustified. He said raiders cross- ed from Jordan into Israel with- out the knowledge of Jordanian authorities - "young chaps" act- ing in "the cause of justice." He said the Israelis had made a "criminal attack . . . to terrorize, intimidate and expel the inhabi- tants of the area," causing heavy casualties and great damage. El Farra, who had told the council in a letter three days ago that an Israeli attack was com- ing, said a setback was not a de- feat and "the war is not over." 20-Year War Israeli Ambassador Yosef Te- koah said his country was the target of a 20-year war that the Arabs were still waging. He said their "publicly proclaimed aim" was the "total destruction of Israel."' Tekoah said Jordanian authori- ties supported Arab terrorist raids into Israel and knew where the terrorist bases were. Israel had "no other choice but to act in self defense" to head off an expected attack. The Israeli forces have "already disengaged," he told the council, but "if Jordan wishes to continue violations of the cease fire, she must bear the consequences." liver Bar Lev said the invasion was not a reprisal raid, "but an attack aimed at destroying Fatah in- stallations in the three .major sabotage holdouts." "We really hoped the Jordanians would take real and effective steps to halt the raids." The Karemal4 assault group apparently ran into stiff opposi- tion and was forced to hold their bridgeheads longer than planned and were unable to withdraw quickly under heavy Arab fire. Recovery Units They reportedly held their posi- tion to give army recovery units time to get several crippled tanks back across the river. Helicopters flew a shuttle service between the battlefront and Jerusalem hos- pitals. Pocket battles broke out as Jordanian units and guerrilla groups held out against the in- vasion force. Before the assault on Karemah transport planes had dropped leaflets on the area's refugee camp, housing 3.000 persons warning of the attacks. At the fighting's height, spokes- men said, paratroopers pressed to within 25 miles of Amman, Jor- dan's capital, before turning back. Iraqi Troops Iraqi troops stationed in Jordan were reported to have joined the fighting, Egypt's Middle East News Agency reported from Baghdad. It quoted an Iraqi Defense Min- istry spokesman. The Israeli command claimed killing at least 150 of the 1,000 El Fatah members it estimates are active in Jordan and said heavy' casualties were inflicted on King Hussein's Arab Legion. A spokes- man in Amman listed Jordanian casualties as "very minor." Jordan had warned att the United Nations that a "major at- tack" was coming this week, after Israel threatened retaliation for a series of terrorist raids that have killed nine and injured 50 since Feb. 15. A mine that ex- ploded under .a school bus Mon- day, killing two and injuring 28 children enraged Israeli public opinion and set the stage for the attack. Urge Withdrawal Both Britain and the United States urged Israel to withdraw from the east bank but sources in Tel Aviv said the retreat had no relation to the appeals. He described it as "a planned phase" of the operation. U Thant's Middle East media- tor, Gunnar V. Jarring, arrived in Jerusalem from his Cyprus base and went immediately into talks with Israel's foreign minister, Abba Eban, -CAR WASH- Lambda Chi Alpha SAT.-Noon-5 P.M. Hill and Washtenaw $1.00 I i I MONDAY AND. TUESDAY ONLY!I THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN PROFESSIONAL THEATRE PROGRAM I PRESENTS CINEMA BUILD. Thursday and Friday BOUDU SAVED FROM DROWNING Directed by Jean Renoir, 1931 First release in U.S.-1967 MICHEL SIMON as Boudu "Boudu, bearded and long haired like a premature Hell's Angel, is a dropout who refuses to be made over into the bourgeois image." (Pauline Koel, New Republic} U I >SATYRN) INC. BOOTS@ LEATHER CUSTOM + UNUSUAL CLOTHING 215 S. State, 2nd Floor EDWARD DAVID C. EARLE JONES IN TIE H/T MUSICAL 7:00 & 9:05 f ('' 0 71 75c. ARCH ITECTURE AUDITORIUM x L-887M I I I "Perhaps the most beautiful movie in history."-Bren- dan Gill, The New Yorker. "Exquisite is the only word that surges in my mind as an appropriate description of this exceptional film. Its color is absolutely gorgeous. The use of music and, equally eloquent, of si- lences and sounds is be- yond verbal description. The performers are per- feet - that is the only word." - Bosley Crowth- er, New York Times. "May well be the most beautiful m o v i e ever m ad e." - Newsweek. "Speaks lyrically to the 20th.century andbe-I yond."-Time Magazine. DIAL 5-6290 NOMINATED FOR 4 ACADEMYI -N- rL BEST DIRECTOR r -Richard Brooks BEST SCREENPLAY -Based on material from another medium T-Richard Brooks- BEST ,<~ ' 3rd Week A HIT SCORE! including- "WHO CAN I TURN TO?" "THE JOKER" "NOTHING CAN STOP ME NOW" Ih