)AY JANUARY 14, 1967
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
n A n W +rTrlDw a
'AYJANARY14, 967THEMICIEANhA~Y U A £q u -L Z,
ralit; THREE
- 0 .... "
I
LongAn:A Frustration To U.S. Pacificatioi
n Drive
EDITOR'S NOTE: South Viet
Nam's Long An Province, just south
of Saigon, provides a clear Iliustra-
tion of the frustrations encountered
in efforts to pacify the Vietnamese
countryside and liquidate Commu-
nist control. Pulitzer Prize report-
er Peter Arnett, in the fourth of
five articles on the crucial pacifica-
tion program, reviews past at-
tempts at pacification in the prov-
ince and plans for the future.
By PETER ARNETT
SAIGON ()-The oblong mass
of Long An Provinces wedges
across Saigon's southern gateway,
a tumor of Communism that stub-
bornly resists corrective surgery.
Of all the provinces in Vietnam
controlled by the Viet Cong, Long
An province, with its broad pad-
dyfields, lacework of canals and
numerous hamlets, is the worst.
Long An has been the testing
ground of all of Saigon's pacifica-
tion schemes. "We've put more
energy ifto that province per
square kilometer than anywhere
else," one U.S. AID official com-
mented.
The failures in Long An show
in stark detail why pacification
has so far failed in Vietnam. The
Communists have compelling rea-
sons to keep Long An province
their own domain. They have re-
cruited 4,000 mainforce soldiers
from the area in the past six
months, according to reliable mili-
tary sources.
And 40 per cent at least of this
year's large rice crop will go into
their hands. ,
Long An is also a crossroads for
the Viet Cong cadres and supply
bearers who move back and forth
from the Mekong Delta into the
plantation regions north of Sai-
gon, and the Communist war
zones.
Saigon Is just 15 miles to the
north.
U.S. and Vietnamese author-
ities are so concerned about the
province that two regiments of
regular Vietnamese troops have
been sent there, and several Amer-
ican battalions are moving in.
The biggest effort in the 1967
pacification program will be in
Long An.
The Mekong Delta has been
fertile ground for the Communists
since the early days after World
War II. In 1954, after the country
was divided at Geneva, the Com-
munists began laying the ground-
work for a political takeover of
South Vietnam.
Cells were planted in delta vil-
lages and, by 1959, Long An and
other provinces were bathed in
blood. The Communists moved
against. villages and hamlet
against officials, butchering them
in their sleep, molding kangaroo
courts for others and summarily
executing them, and blowing up
country buses to terrorize the pop-
ulation. '
Early in 1862 the strategic ham-
let program was launched to try
to separate the rural population
from the Viet Cong. Government
officials in Long An stampeded to
fulfill Saigon's wishes.
One-quarter of Long An's pop-
ulation of 388,000 people was relo-
cated into fortified strategic ham-
lets. More were built in Long An
than anywhere else in the country
-a total of 211.
For several months, the strategic
hamlet program was a total suc-
cess. U.S. advisers could drive any-
where in the province without es-
corts.
But by November of that year,
the Viet Cong ruled Long An.
The reasons for this about-face
wete twofolds. The strategic ham-
lets were faultily conceived, built
with great urgency and not much
forethought, hardly visited by
government health and civil af-
fairs officials, and sometimes far
beyond government security areas.
And after appearing nonplussed
by the program, the Viet Cong
acted. Someone gave them the
word to wipe out the hamlets.
The Viet Cong were 95 per cent
effective in eliminating govern-
ment influence in the province.
In January, 1964, a crash pro-
gram was introduced with the per-
sonal blessing of U.S. Ambassador
Henry Cabot Lodge. Six hamlets
near the capital of Tan An were
chosen for intensive effort.
Lodge commented, "I hope to
see Long An cleared up quickly."
The ambassador returned to the
United States later that year.
Three years have gone by, Lodge
is back again, but Long An re-
mains as truculent as ever. The
six hamlets they started working
on in January, 1964, are still not
really pacified.
American officials in the pro-
vince have been arguing over how
many hamlets in the province
have been pacified. The province
chief says 30. The Americans say
far fewer.
At the offical ceremony desig-
nating the complete pacification
of a hamlet in eastern Long An
in mid-December, U.S. observers
discovered that the revolutionary
cadre had built a mud wall "for-
tification" around the hamlet
three miles long but only two feet
high, topped by bamboo.
One American commented, "All
this served was to enable the Viet
Cong to creep up on the hamlet
uAobserved, which they did the
day we were there, firing into the
official group and scattering it
away into the middy ditches run-
ning through the village."
The Americans also learned
later that two hamlet officials had
been murdered by the Viet Cong
the previous evening, and that a
battalion of government troops
had been deployed to secure the
road to the hamlet, "so that our
American guests can visit it."
The hamlet was one of nine
said to be pacified in the district
which had 187 hamlets.
This year will see a major new
effort in Long An. For the first
time, one man will head the U.S.
military and civilian teams in the
province. He is Col. Sam Wilson,
a career officer well thought of in
Washington.
Wilson reports directly to Gen.
William C. Westmoreland, the U.S.
military commander in Vietnam,
and Deputy Ambassador William
E. Porter, in charge of the U.S.
pacification effort.
Wilson's program calls for re-
volutionary development terms of
59 members each of pacify nine
hamlets in northern Long An.
Eight other hamlets are to be
partly pacified.
Saigon has promised Wilson
anything he needs. Hopes are as
high as ever that 1967 will see
real progress.
One American oficial comment-
ed, "now that American troous
are around here we might start
getting real security. We can
build in that kind of atmosphere."
I
I
I
i
i
I
build in that kind of atmosphere."
Mao Purges
Four Top
Deputies
Backers of Premier,
Rival Liu Shao-Chi
Collide in Peking
By MARK KtJRAMITSU
TOKYO (IP) - Four more top
Chinese Communists, including
Deputy Premier Tao Chu, the No.
4 man in the party leadership,
have been purged in the attempt
to crush all opposition to Mao
Tse-tung, reports from Peking
said Friday.
Word of the new purge coin-
cided with a report from Peking
to the Tokyo newspaper Yomiuri
that Red Chinese workers, in-
cluding supporters of both Mao
and his rival, President Liu Shao-
chi, were pouring into the city.
Yomiuri said this raised the pos-
sibility of violence in the capital.
Anti-Mao Mobs
Yomiuri's correspondent report-
ed a bloody clash already had
taken place at the State Council-
cabinet-building. It said anti-Mao
mobs, some armed, stormed the
building Tuesday and damaged it.
Quoting wall bulletins, it said,
"Bloody clashes ensued between
the mobs and pro-Mao forces who
tried to protect secret documents."
Japanese press reports said wall
posters reported Tao Chu was
fired from his important position
as propaganda chief.
But there was no word as to
whether he also had been dismiss-
ed as deputy premier and a mem-
ber of the standing committee of
the powerful Politburo.
Party Hierarchy
Tao rose rapidly during the
purge to become No. 4 man in the
party hierarchy behind Mao, De-
fense Minister Lin Piao and Pre-
mier Chou En-lai.
Then a short time ago Tao broke
away from the Mao-Lin group,
and immediately came under
heavy attack on wall posters. and
at Red Guard rallies.
The men appointed to take over
the task of the purged leaders
suggested a stronger influence for
the military in Mao's sweeping
"cultural revolution."
Hsiang-chien Succeeds
Gen. Lin. was succeeded by
Marshal Hsu Hsiang-chien as di-
rector of the Military Revolution-
ary Committee.
Three men, two of them mili-
tary leaders, were assigned to take
over the propaganda work of Tao.
Without saying who were the
m riltary men, the posters identi-
fied the three as Wang Li, assist-
ant editor in chief of Red Flag,
the theoretical journal of the par-
ty's Central Committee; Tang
Ping-chu, editor 'of the People's
Daily, the Communist party paper;
, Hu Chi, editor of the Liberation
Army Daily paper which speaks
for Mao and Lin.
-Associated Press
WEST GERMAN CHANCELLOR KURT GEORGE KIESINGER, left, and German Foreign Minister
Willy Brandt, right, met with French President Charles de Gaulle in Paris yesterday, in an effort to
better relations between their countrie s.
U.S. Changes Policy, To Send
Infantry Unit to Mekong Delta
De Gaulle,
Kiesinger
Begin Talks
European Alliance,
East-West Relations
Constitute Discussion
By STEPHENS BROENING
PARIS (A) - Chancellor Kurt
Georg Kiesinger of West Gernmany
flew here yesterday for some
fence-mending with France, and
first indications were that he got
off to a good start with President
Charles de Gaulle.
Ushered into the presidential
palace shortly after his arrival,
Kiesinger immediately "got right
down to the essentials" in a pri-
vate meeting with De Gaulle,
A French spokesman said the
two leaders discussed Europe,
EastWest relations and problems
within the Western alliance. The
talks were described as frank and
cordial, but neither side was giv-
ing much detail.
The 61-year-old chancellor came
here pledged to improve Franco-
German relations, which cooled
considerably under Ludwig Er-
hard, Kiesinger's predecessor. It
was Kiesinger's first meeting with
De Gaulle as chancellor.
The Germans were making it
clear they were willing to revive
the neglected 1963 Franco-Ger-
man cooperation treaty but were
not, however, ready to adopt all
of De Gaulle's viewpoints to do it.
The, Germans and French have
different and perhaps irrecon-
cilable viewpoints about what
Paris calls Bonn's special rela-
tionship with the United States.
On this topic, sources said De
Gaulle listened while the chancel-
lor spoke.
It was understood that De
Gaulle outlined to Kiesinger his
belief that France, in seeking a
relaxation of East-West tensions
and an understanding with the
Soviet Union, could help create
conditions for German reunifica-
tion.
Sources said Kiesinger, wno has
vowed to seek better relations
with Eastern Europe, listened
sympathetically.,
Coming out of the palace after
his meeting with De Gaulle, Kies-;
inger declared himself "satisfied
with what we have discussed."
Earlier, in a luncheon toast,
the cancellor said: "There has
been much talk in the past about
German-French cooperation. But
we are concerned primarily with
the practical steps that can lead
our two countries to a common
policy in Europe and for Europe.
AP SURVEY:
Many Negroes Feel Powell
Subject of Raci il ?rejudice
By AUSTIN SCOTT Powell should not have been de- Julian F. Witherspoon, 45, chair-
NEW YORK ()--Despite con- nied his seat. man of Detroit's. Inner City Voters
gressional disclaimers, there is a Some Negroes argue that pre- T.eauue, commented: "It is ironic
widespread feeling among Ameri- cedent runs counter to barring a
can Negroes that Rep. Adam Clay- member for the offenses com- that Congressman Powell's Sen-
ton Powell (D-NY) was the victim monly charged to Powell. ate counterpart Sen. Thomas Dodd
of racial prejudice, an Associated An official of the National Ur- of Connecticut has been charged
Press survey indicated yesterday. ban League, speaking for himself, with offenses that are far more
There was little agreement on said that when the late Sen. grievous and more serious since
what Negroes should do in the Joseph R. McCarthy (R=Wis) was they involve not only conflict of
wake of House action that stripped accused of dishonoring the Sen- interest, but a conflict of working
the flamboyant Harlem Democrat ate. as Powell has been accused on behalf of foreign governments
of his committee chairmanship of giving the House a bad reputa- against the best interests of this
and temporarily denied him his tion, "he was merely censured. country.
House seat. They didn't try to keep him from Senate hearings on Dodd's fi-
But as Negro leaders listened his seat." nancial affairs still are pending.
to mounting calls for action, vet-
eran civil rights leader A. Philip's
Randolph announced he hopes to
call a Negro summit conferencef mie re u icial
within two weeks to explore var-
ious proposals. °
The tendency to label Powell an- e-t
other victim of racial injustice is
"ntabsolutely monolothic,'" said
"not ote ationai - SACRAMENTO, Calif. (R)-Cai- I!"Any su'h sizeable projected re-
an official of the National Asso- , * eo" p n- ijettev wrko d '
ciation for the Advancement of f',a, o Ganttr'' -wrla ,x
Colored People. Sl.SquiLiy to (k,v Ru. . to mean ,ewer
ThedAP survey of the nation's ald Reagan's plan for trimming faculty, and if we are going to
largest cities showed that anger budgets of all state agencies by maintain academic quality, 8 re-
was tempered somewhat by dis- 10 per cent. duction in the number of stu-
approval of Powell's action, and Rea °,n. two weeks aftr . ali T 1-nis " D1mkc said.
the feeling that his conduct 0. h'l of California Pn .si-
brought on most of his troubles. 'e.nest i der hdeciy :it C'ark Kerr, however, came
Nevertheless, many Negroes who requested for the fiscal year bo ut of a meeting with Reagan and
ordinarily wouldn't defend Powell ginning July 1 applies roughly to some university regents saying
are joining his traditional sup- the University of California and. on: "We had a good discussion
porters to attack the House action. sta-isr'Tted roll',es. +b + s financial picture
The question that disturbs them ', itv's relation i
most is why Powell was singled out o; zas lookin: ',
from other congressmen who, to rduiu. enrollmesilt. The uW- o I ; mlks.
many feel, have committed sub- versity of California asked a re- Waves of shock traveled through
stantially similar "sins." prieve. thf' government as Reagan blunt-
"I don't say he did right, but if "I would hate very much to take; ly announced all the budget re-
he was a white man he'd have got- any step that would limit "nio'?- ;s s bmitted for the coming
ten away with it," remarked a ment," Reagan said. -idin y( ar will be cut by aver-
Harlem beauty shop operator. Chancellor Glenn S. Dumice of a e of 10 per cent. His goal is to
Some speak of a "double stand- the state colleges said Reagan eliminate a predicted $473 mil-
ard" and say the House should wants to cut his 1967-68 aur1get Rio r deficit without imposing too
ards itn st tr tand- request from $189 million to $170 n-w taxes. He also clamped
asintends to set for its mem- .*athing
bers, and then make all adhere to million. on state hiring
them.
Similar reaction came from
Philadelphia and Chicago, San
Francisco and Miami, where the
National Newspaper Publishers As-
sociation, representing 18 Negro-
oriented publications, c a 11 e d
Powell a "crusader for freedom
and equality," and demanded that
he be allowed to take his seat.
An exception came from Kansas
City, where The Call, a Negro"
weekly, said in an editorial "WeN O
cannot join the ranks of thoseW SH OW ING
who say that what was done to
Adam was done because of his Georgy loves Jos... Jos loves Meridith... Meridith loves Meridithl
race. It is past time for Powell to ..'" ".
'straighten up and fly right.'"
The paper did say, however, that
By JOHN LENGEL
SAIGON ()-The U.S. Com-
mand disclosed yesterday a major
step in the long-range commit-
ment of American forces to the
Mekong River delta, the only part
of South Vietnam where war
against the Viet Cong has been
left largely to the Saigon govern-
ment's army.
Spokesmen announced U.S. sig-
nal, security and engineer units
are preparing a base site 40 miles
southwest of Saigon on the My
Tho River, one of the many
streams that lace this heavily
populated rice bowl. It is expected
that at least a U.S. infantry di-
vision, about 15,000 men will be
ordered in to give a hand to three
Brezhnev Says Air Raids
Hinder Viet Noam Peace Bids
MOSCOW (JP)--Adding his own
prestige to the charge that U.S.
planes bombed residential districts
in Hanoi, Leonid I. Brezhnev said
yesterday the United States has
put new obstacles in the way of
a settlement of the Vietnam war.
"Washington politicians spared
no words to convince world opin-
ion of their love of peace and their
desireto sit down at a conference
table," the Soviet Communist
party's general secretary said in
an address at Gorky.
"Now they have shown their
real face once again."
Brezhnev's remarks were car-
ried by the Soviet news agency
Tass.
Hanoi Not Target
A truck park and railway yards
near Hanoi were hit heavily by
American fighter - bombers Dec.
13-14. U.S. authorities have denied
the capital itself was a target,
through acknowledging the possi-
bility of accidents. American pi-
lots speculated that Communist
antiaircraft shells and missiles
may have wrought damage within
Hanoi that was blamed on U.S.
bombs.
Making his first major public
pronouncement since November,
Brezhnev repeated that the Soviet,
government is convinced the Com-
munists will win in Vietnam. He
pledged continued Soviet support
for them.
He called the American involve-
ment "probably the most disgrace-
ful page in the history of the
United States."
Mao Criticized
He also attacked Red China's
Mao Tse-tung, saying Mao hurt
the Communist party and people
of China with his cultural revolu-
tion.
"This is a great tragedy for all
real Communists in China," Brezh-
nev said. "We express our deep
condolences to them."
The charge that the United
States bombed residential areas in
Hanoi had never been made pub-
licly before by a Soviet leader,
though it was carried in the Mos-
cow press and relayed to the world
by Tass.
Indignaiton
"Words fail to express in full
measure the indignation felt over
this new action of aggression,"
Brezhnev said,
"Who will believe the calls for
peace if these calls are accom-
panied by provocative actions
which aggravate the situation and
create new obstacles on the way
to settlement of the conflicts.
Vietnamese divisions that have
achieved only a stalemate in years
of lethargic campaigning against
guerrilla battalions.
North of Saigon, a mistaken
shelling by 155nm American ar-
tillery killed eight Americans and
wounded 34 in Operation Cedar
Falls, a massive, drive to clear the
Viet Cong from the Iron Triangle.
Ten shells fell on a company of
the 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Di-
vision, a spokesman said, and
"preliminary investigation indi-
cates error in plotting the firing
data."
Hundreds of other shells churn-
ed up suspected guerrilla hideouts
and B52 bombers struck at four
enemy base camps of the triang-
'ular Communist stronghold in
their 12th raid in support of the
'operation, which engages about
30,000 American and Vietnamese
troops.
A U.S. spokesman said 237 Viet
Cong have been killed, 51 captured'
and 105 have switched to the al-
lied side under the government's
open arms program during the'
six-day-old offensive.
About 5,000 of the 10,000 peas-
ants being removed from the Iron
Triangle's 60 square miles have
now been resettled elsewhere.
U.S. Marines manning an artil-
lery position near Chu Lai, 340
miles northeast of Saigon, re-
pulsed a predawn attack by a pla-
toon of 30 or 40 Viet Cong. A
spokesman said they killed 17 of
the enemy and captured seven.
The Marines, members of the 2nd
Battalion, 11 th Regiment, 1st
Marine Division, said their own
casualties were light.
A similar attack on a Vietnam-
ese government post about 20
miles farther north was reported
to have cut heavily into a 30-man
Militia platoon.
I
World News Roundup
TONIGHT AT
The ARK C ee /ou e
The John Miller Jazz Trio
$1 .00 cover charge for aIl YOU Canl eat
WASHINGTON M) - The gov-
ernment introduced checks, in-
voices and oral evidence yesterday
in support of its charge that Bob-
by Baker conspired to conceal the
nature and source of much of his
Sincome.
Baker, former secretary to the
Senate's Democratic majority, is
on trial charges of tax evasion,
larceny and diverting $80,000 of
campaign contributions to his
Carousel Motel, and other per-
sonal uses.
In one the counts, it is alleged
that Baker entered into a con-
spiracy with Wayne L. Bromley,
Washingon lobbyist-lawyer, where-
by Bromley would falsely declare
some of Baker's income as his
own. Bromley is not on trial and
is expected to testify for the
prosecution.
Mr
union-league
CREATIVE ARTS FESTIVAL
I HA PRESENTS
SIMON and
GARFUNKEL
January 28
I III A ,.
"SUPERIOR! WONDERFUL PELL-MELL
ENJOYMENT, IMMENSELY ORIGINAL!
THE WAY IT IS WITH THIS NEW BREED
OF YOUNG PEOPLE RACING CRAZILY
THROUGH A CHANGING WORLD:'
-Bosley Crowther.N.YTimes
COLUMBIA PICTuRES as
JAMES MASON- ALAN BATES" LYNN REDGRAVE
duarmm CHARLOTTE RAMPLING ScrmeinbMA)RGARET ORSTER aPETER NICHOtS &s,4me nU MAR(R EORSTER
ftouuzROBERT A GOLOSTONow OTTO PLASCHKES on aySILV1 NARIZZANO mERGAoEsP.,a
5,7, 9, 11-Saturday
v m n -
i