A' URDAY, JANUARY 21, I96?
THE MICHIGt N DAILY
PAGE THREE
SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 1967 THE MICHIGAN DAILY
i ii\ i/ . 3i Mi ii
Shortcomings
Imperil
Battle
Against Guerillas
1, EDITOR'S NOTE: What success
is Thailand having in its efforts to
combat Communist insurgency on
its territory and what are the pros-
rects for the future? AP military
correspondent Fred Hoffman, who
went to Thailand after several
months in Viet Nam, gives the an-
swers he received to these questions
in this last of a series of articles
on the insurgency problem.
, By FREI HOFFMAN
BANGKOK, Thailand (P) -
"There has been very real im-
provement in the northeast," some
American officials believe, as a
result of the measures Thailand'
is taking against the worrisome
threat of Communist guerrillas.
Other well-placed Americans
hard at work here to help the
Thais do not dispute this. But they
point * to shortcomings that they
say could imperil lasting progress.
These include:
Difficulty in getting Thai of-
ficials "not to feel they are super-
ior to the peasants they are sup-
posed to be helping."
Problems of finding ways to in-
volve largely illiterate, unskilled
villagers in self-help.
A lack of enough motivated, edu-
cated young people willing to go
into the rural areas from Bang-
t kok. Some of them who have gone
are finding village life rough but
are reported adjusting well.
Reluctance of some doctors, sent
into the northeast with mobile
medical teams, to continue mov-
ing around among the hard-to-
reach villages. These doctors
would prefer to set up in central-
ized offices.
In the past, scandal has even'
reached into the top levels of gov-
ernment.
The Thai treasury wants to sue
former mistresses of the late
Prime Minister Sarit Thanarat
for rent paid for them by Sarit
and now claimed by the govern-
ment. Sarit, who preceded Than-
om Kittikachorn as head of Thai-
land's military government, is re-
puted to have had about 100 mis-
tresses, mostly models, film stars
and beauty queens.
Trade-Fair Project
An American who works closely
with the Thai government said he
knew of one case in which $5,000
was allotted for a trade-fair pro-
ject.
But by the time it got to the
man who was to do the work only;
14 per cent was left.
Another American, saying the
Thai police "do nothing for free." country, right down to the petty opened up contacts with the out-
told of an experience in Bangkok level. side world. As a result, agriculture
when he reported that his apart- "Salaraies are very low, and officers and rice experts are able
ment had been cleaned out by there are plenty of opportunities to get to the villages and demon-
thieves. for thievery." strate better methods. They are
Seemed Concerned But he reported "small signs of showing the farmers how to grow
"They came with fingerprint changes for the better" in this cotton, for example.
equipment, asked a lot of ques- regard. "School systems and public
tions, seemed concerned - and How effective have the pro- health systems are growing and
then left," he related. grams been? spreading out." .
"Then nothing happened, nothing Gains
at all for weeks, I mentioned it Remoter Vilages.
to my Thai landlady. She sug-
gested I should have given the
police a present and I would have
gotten results."
"Thai officials ai'e crooked as
hell, from top to bottom," said a
critic in the American official.
community.
Bangkok
"A lot of the crooked ones are
right here in Bangkok. The ten-
tacles reached right out into the,
An aid mission leader spelled
out what he considered to be
gains this way: "Economic con-
ditions in the northeast are im-
proving. Roads are going in, and
farm products are getting out to
market."
An American who holds an im-
portant place in the accelerated
rural development scheme said:
"The efforts of the Thais have
had impact, definitely. Roads have
He acknowledged that "in the
remoter villages the people still
don't know anything about the
Thai government,"
But this senior official added:
"In the villages along the roads
there is a surprising amount of
travel in the northeast, and rapid-
ly increasing travel should in-
crease their sense of belonging to
the country."
The American added: "I am en-
couraged by one thing. Three
years ago, I could name only one
or two Thai officials who gave a
damn about what the people in
the northeast thought. There are
a lot more now.'
Friendly Feeling
Another division chief in the
U.S. aid mission told a reporter:
"I think the peasants up there
have a friendlier feeling toward
the government. But this is hard
to measure or document. If some-
body challenged us to prove it,
we just can't."
What is the outlook for the fu-
ture?
A top U.S. general summed up
his prognosis in these words:
Future
"I see continued dissident ac-
tivity in Thailand for a long time
-rising activity if there is an un-
satisfactory solution in Vietnam.
"I look for the Reds in Thai-
land to concentrate on develop-
ment of their clandestine appar-
atus, the training and grooming
of leaders. I expect, overt activi-
ties not to be appreciably higher
than now.
"I do not expect the Commu-
nists to try to put the northeast
in flames but to .try to work as
hard as they can to extend and
improve their network-so at the
proper time they can be ready
to go.
1967
"I wouldn't say that 1967 will
be a particuarly crucial year, from
the point of view of crisis or deci-
sion, either one."
Corruption
Persistent corruption
amongj
officials, including policemen,;
in the Bangkok ministries.
Chinese
Lin Directs
Attack On
Top Deputies
Reports Indicate Two*
Leading Communists
Comnitted Suicide
TOKYO (P)-Defense Minister
Lin Piao has termed Red China's
confused power struggle "civil
war" amid attacks on two military
strong men and reports that two
leading Communists committed
suicide, Japanese accounts from
Peking said today.
A Yomiuri newspaper corres-
pondent said wall bulletins posted
in Peking on Friday quoted Lin
Piao as saying "at present China
is in a state of civil war."
The wall papers said Lin, con-,
sidered the No. 2 man in Red -"
China after Mao Tse-tung, also
called for attacks on military MAO TSE-TU]
strong men Ho Lung and Liu The two mena
Chih-chien. the Communist
Lin's Attack'
The Japanese report said Lin T
directed an attack on Vice Pre-
mier Ho and Gen. Liu, deputy di-y
rector of the army's General Poli-
tical Department, before the Com-
munist party Central Committee's E xtet
Military Commission. It did not
say when the commission met.
There were reports of bitter cri- SAIGON, Sout
ticism by Mao's purge committee Gen. Maxwell D.
against a trusted aide of Lin-Hsi- terday progess i
ao Huao, head of the army's Poli- Vietnam, but t
tical Department. "How much p
And wall posters put up in Pe- eonugn?" The for
king by a unit of Red China's ar- to Saigon retur
my reported that purged general Presdent Johnsc
staff chief Lo-Jul-ching and De-Presid
puty' Premier Po I-po killed them- Taylor told net
selves but did not say how. The five-day visit, he
accuracy of the wall bulletin re- across-the-board
ports could not be determined, with the emphasis
activities. Those
Intensified Struggle from direct econ
The developments, reported by1
the Japanese correspondents quo- "e
ting Peking wall posters, sketched Vietllai
a picture of the intensified strug-
gle between pro-Maoists and for-
ces believed led by President Liu Price
Shao-chi.
There also were reprts of new
violence and hoodlum activities SAIGON, Cout
, by Mao's Red Guards, and some Concern is spreai
accounts said the teen-agers' ex- erican officialsi
tremism was nauseating Mao fol- falling rice prod
lowers. prices.
A Mao propaganda organ, the The price, of N
theoretical journel Red Flag, in- creased 17 perc
dicated this when it disclosed some month, reflecting
Mao supporters were alarmed .by under effects of v
4 the turmoil sweeping the Chinese for larger import
mainland and warned: "You are "Rice is a gro
going too far. You are making a one official comp
mess of it." He said about 6
stock in Saigon n
Criticism there will be eno
The Japanese reports said cri- needs in three o
ticism of Hsiao came Thursday a real question.
W. from Chen Po-ta, purge leader, Need I
and his deputy, Chiang Ching, South Vietnam
Mao's wife, following a meeting of other Southeast1
the Red revolutionary rebels of recently as 1963.
the Political Department of the ports of 447,000 t
army and purge committee. last year. Amer
h.
Defense
Minister
FEDERAL TRIAL:
Baker Testifies; Sought Aid
From Johnson, Senator Kerr
;ruggle
'Civil
Warr
U.S. Bid Met
With Interest
By Russians
~~1
Proposal Indicatest
Decreased Pressure
In 'Retaliation Race'
WASHINGTON ()-The State
Department reported yesterday
that the Russians are showing in-
terest in President Johnson's pro-
posal to foresatll a potentially
costly U.S.-Soviet race to build
defenses against ballistic missiles.-
The State Department disclosed
that Secretary of State Dean Rusk
and Deputy Under-secretary Roy
D. Kohler have held several dis-.
WASHINGTON (IP) - Bobby
Baker testified yesterday that he
sought advice in 1962 from Lyn-
don B. Johnson and described him
as "the best friend I had around
the Capitol."
Without using Johnson's name
directly, Baker said he called on
"the then vice president" and was
told to take his financial woes to
Sen, Robert S. Kerr, an Oklahoma
Democrat now dead. ,
Testifying in his trial on charges
of income tax evasion, the former
secretary of the Senate Democrats
put it this way:
Financial Trouble
"I was in very serious financial
difficulty. I went to the best
friend I had around the Capitol.
I went to see the then vice pres-
ident and told him I had a very
serious problem."
Baker said the vice president
then called "his friend and my
friend," Sen. Kerr, a wealthy oil-
man.
"He-Johnson-advised me to
go immediately to Kerr's office,
which I did," Baker, 38, added.
Johnson Praise
While he was a senator from
praised Baker but has made no
comment on the case since the
former Senate page boy from
Pickens, S.C., quit his secretary's.
post in October 1963.
Asked for comment on Baker's
testimony, White House press'
secretary George Christian said:
"This is a matter pending in court.
I don't have any comment and
won't have any."
Baker took the stand in U.S.
Disrict Court for a second day to
defend himself agaist charges of
tax evasion, fraud and conspiracy
in financial dealings.
Needed Money
Baker told the jury that around
July of 1962. he needed money be-
cause of problems in building the
Carousel Motel in Ocean City, Md.
He had a loan of $145,000 and no
further collateral for additional
loans-"I had reached the limit,"
he said.
The former $19,600-a-year Sen-
ate secretary testified that before
he went to see Johnson he tried
several sources to see "if I could.
keep the project afloat."
Following the then vice presi-
dent's advice, Baker said, he told
Kerr it was absolutely essential,
some way, some how, that he be
granted a line of credit for $300,
000.
Credit Arranged
Kerr arranged for a line of
credit for $250,000 from the Fidel-
ity Bank & Trust Co. in Oklahoma
City, Baker said, and then made
his own personal commitment for
the remaining $50,000.
Part of the Fidelity loan, Baker
said, was to pay the $145,000 loan
at American Security & Trust Co.
in Washington to relieve Baker's
back collateral there.
Kerr suffered a heart attack in
December 1962 and died Jan, 1,.
1963.
His name loomed large in the
trial Thursday. Defense attorney
Edward Bennett Williams said the
defense would show that money
given Baker for political cam-
paigns was handed over to Kerr.
Carousel Project
Baker said he and two brothers,
Ben and Alfred Novak, went to-
gether in the Carousel project and
it was expected to open May 15,
1962.
In March 1962, Alfred Novak
died. Very soon thereafter, a
tropical storm did damage to the
motel which Baker estimated at
over $100,000.
After Novak's death, Baker said,
his widow was financially unable
to keep up her part of the obliga-
tion on the motel.
Baker said he had to raise more
money "to keep us from going
bankrupt."
Tax Evasion
Earlier, Baker testified about
his income tax returns for 1961
and 1962-the years in which the
government has charged him with
tax evasion. ,
Williams has contended that
Baker, in fact, overstated, his in-
come for those years.
Under questioning from Wil-
liams, Baker went through de-
tailed examination of instances
where Baker said he was entitled
to deductions he did not take.
;' cussions on the matter with Soviet
Ambassador Anatoly F. Dobrynin
here this month.
State Department press officer
-Associated Press Robert J. McCloskey added:
"The Departmnent has no reason
ese Red Guards. to believe that the Soviets arenot
now going on in seriously considering the Presi-
dent's expressed interest ih halt-
ing an antiballistic missile arms
'NG (left) and Lin Piao review a demonstration put on by the Chin
are the main powers behind the recent upheavals and the civil war
country.
S'1
I i
or Visits Saigon To Study
nit of Progress, Problems
'exas and the Democratic leader
n the Senate, Johnson publicly
race."
Llewellyn E. Thompson, who re-I
cently succeeded Kohler as. US
k
1
}
t
t
h Vietnam (JP)-
Taylor said yes-
s being made in
he question is:
progress, is it
Lmer ambassador
ed for a personal,
pecial adviser to
on.
wsmen that, on a
e hopes to have'
briefings here,
is on non-military
activities range
omic aid to co-
operation with Saigon authorities "The only thing I can see is a
in a country ise pacification pro- I military victory. To pull out of
gram. Vietnam now would mean that
LeMay Comment dozens of Vietnams would break
In Washington, retired Gen. j out all over the world, immediate-,
Curtis E. LeMay, calling for a ly," he says.
i~~~~ ~ ~ d'A1lf IIAl' Yl li Vl ('ffY i1P1.«... ... } .
k
1
}
t
t
stepped up air anU naval oi ensUve ,
says the United States has no
choice but to win the Vietnam war
"and win it quickly."
LeMay, who was Air Force chief
of staff from June 1961 until
January 1965, sees no hope of
trying to negotiate with North
Vietnam.
m Rice Output Drops;
ise Causes Concern
h Vietnam (/P)-
ding among Am-
in Vietnam over
uction and rising
o. 1 rice has in-
ent in the past
a crop dwindling
war and the need
s.
owing headache,"
mented Friday.
60,000 tons are in
now, but whether
'ugh to meet the
r four months is
mports
exported rice to
Asian nations as
Emergency im-
tons .were needed
can rice farmers
helped fill the gap. Experts fore-
cast more than 600,000 tons will
be needed in 1967.
The Mekong River delta is Viet-
nam's rice bowl and large-scale
military operations are now get-
ting started there. U.S. military
leaders say they are aware that
widespread fighting in the popu-
lous delta could further cut rice
production.
Unseasonal rains have hamper-
ed the peak harvest this winter.
Analysts say the harvest is good
but not great.
The world market in the com-,
modity is tight.
A kilogram, 2.20 pounds, of No. 1
rice now costs the equivalent of
12 cents in Saigon. Rice directly
from the paddy in delta villages
costs about five cents, which is
half again as much as a year ago..
Concern over Rice
American officials viewed with
concern a reduced production of'
rice and rising prices for that
staple food grain. South Vietnam,
which exported surplus rice to
other Southeast Asian nations as
recently as 1963, is now importing
it by the shipload.
On the military side, troops of
the U.S. 196th Light Infantry
Brigade probed a maasive tunnel
complex in the Ho Bo woods that
they believe served as the long-
sought headquarters of the Viet
Cong's 4th military region, a
springboard for guerrilla raids and
terrorist attacks on Saigon.
Ho Bo Woods
The Ho Bo woods mystery tun-
nel was uncovered in Operation
Cedar Falls, the war's biggest of-
fensive. The area is 25 miles
northwest of Saigon, on the west-
ern flank of the Iron Triangle, an
old Viet Cong stronghold that
30,000 American and Vietnamese
troops are trying to clear of both
guerrilla fighters and the peasants
who have supported them.
Brig, Gen. Richard T. Knowles
of Columbus, Ga., commander of
the 196th Light Infantry Brigade,
said his men have found and de-
stroyed more than 500 tunnel
systems of the enemy, "but this
is by far the most important one,
this was his headquarters."
ambassador to Moscow, is bearing
a Johnson message to Soviet lead-
ers, believed to include a plea to
curb the prospective antiballistic
missile rivalry. Thompson will pre-
sent his credentials to President
Nikolai V. Podgorny on Monday, it
was announced.
For more than a decade, U.S.-
Soviet 1'elations have been domi-
nated in the military field by mu-
tual deterents-the ability of each
to knock out the other with nu-
clear missiles. If either side were
to develop an effective missile de-
fense, however, U.S. officials say
this would set off another, extre-
Imely expensive arms race spiral.
Johnson reported in his State
of the Union message that the So-
viet Union ''has begun to place
near Moscow a limited antimissile
defense." He said, "We have the
duty to slow down the arms race
between us.,
An all-out antimissile system
for the United States could cost
$30 billion or more, according to
Pentagon experts. Secretary of
Defense Robert S. McNamara has
resisted antimissile deployment so
far on grounds that no system yet
devised is sufficiently effective
and that the Russians have not
installed an antimissile network
either.
At the time, McNamara saidin Le
Defense Department was "elim-
inating everything that can pos-
sibly be deferred without eating
into the muscle" of U.S. military
power, committed as so much of
it was to Vietnam.
BERKELEY, Calif-Using a sys-
tem of identification similar to
fingerprinting, a California physi-
cist claimed yesterday he has
found chlorophyll in outer space.
Fred M. Johnson, chief scientist
with Electro-Optical Systems, Inc.,
told scientists at a University of
California meeting that his dis-
-
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'12
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1T
World News Roundup'
By The Associated Press covery implies that life itself
WASHINGTON - Secretary of could exist on other planets.
defense Robert S. McNamara re- The life forms could be familiar
eased $564 million yesterday for to man, he said.
he construction of military hous- WASHINGTON {A}-Last year's
ng, barracks and other projects. sharpest siege of price increasesI
7he money had been appropriated since 1957 showed signs of tape-
y Congress in 1965 but never ring off in December when living.
pent. costs edged up only one-tenth of
McNamara's action means that 1 per cent, the government re-
onstruction will begin as soon ported yesterday.
s possible on nearly 52,000 bar- The rise of 3.3 per cent in 1966
acks spaces, 8,500 units of family is expected to slack off to about
ousing, 5,000 bachelor officer 2.5 per cent this year, said Com-
paces and several hospitals, missioner Arthur M. Ross of the
hapels and schools on 285 bases Bureau of Labor Statistics.
n 42 states, the District of Co- That, said Ross, "would not be
umbia and overseas, too high a price to pay," if the
The defense chief rescinded in- alternative is a recession.
efinitely his Dec. 21, 1965, order Ross said the 1967 outlook is for
ihich had deferred $620 million a 2 per cent rise in both food and
n construction. clothing prices, about half the
eT a1966 increases.
U
'
CINEMA 11
TONIGHT & TOMORROW
Charlie Chaplin's
1947
with MARTHA RAYE
Chaplin's "most
fascinating picture"-
and a brilliant con-
demnation of war
SUNDAY 9:05
performance
it's
today,
Ernest
at
a
HOOT-
enanny
II
(CinemaScope and Technicolor)
GREGORY PECK
Anthony Quinn David Niv
Plan To Spend Your Weekend.
at the Movies
A enrenpreview of the MISKFT 6;7
TOMORROW
GRADUATE STUDENT MIXER
en
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