College Try

INDOCHINA

Against a blackening backdrop of despair, the U.S. outlined its new plan to try to save South Viet Nam (pop. 10.5 million) from Communism. The U.S. plan, debated for the past six weeks with French and Vietnamese, is much less ambitious than expected. Fundamentals:

P: The unpopular French army, 125,000 strong, will be reduced to 70,000 in step-by-step withdrawals. They will be sped on their way by a 74% cut in U.S. aid.

P: The shaky South Vietnamese army, 200,000 strong, will be cut to 90,000, reorganized and retrained by U.S. instructors, not as an army capable of resisting an invasion from the north, but as a constabulary to cope with subversion.

P: South Viet Nam's only real protection against a renewal of full-scale war will be a U.S. threat to invoke the eight-nation Manila defense treaty.

The trouble is that the Manila Pact, the chosen U.S. instrument, has yet to be ratified by most of its partners, and calls only for consultations in the event of an attack. South Viet Nam itself is not a member.

In deteriorating circumstances, a U.S. general last week urged an honest college try in Indo-China. "I haven't even begun to think of writing off this country," said Lieut. General John ("Iron Mike") O'Daniel, head of the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group in Saigon. "Americans don't walk out on a situation because of a few setbacks, or because we don't get dollar-for-dollar value.

"We have earned a reputation," Iron Mike went on, "for standing by people who need our help. We must show that we are willing to help our friends, even though they may be down. This is a new kind of situation. But it's a test of our guts and resiliency."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.