Tougher--& Then Some

In top-secret meetings behind the closely guarded doors of the War Room at Pacific Command Headquarters in Honolulu, the tough approach of the night hawks was implemented and re-emphasized: the U.S. not only will continue its military effort in Viet Nam, but has every intention of stepping it up.

Decisions to this effect came last week after a two-day Hawaii conference. On hand were Defense Secretary McNamara, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Earle Wheeler, Admiral U.S. Grant Sharp Jr., commander of all U.S. forces in the Pacific area, General William C. Westmoreland, commander of U.S. servicemen in South Viet Nam, U.S. Ambassador to South Viet Nam Maxwell Taylor, and a bevy of Assistant Secretaries of State and Defense.

Specifically, and with President Johnson's approval, the conferees decided that there will be no diminution of U.S. air strikes north and south of the 17th parallel. Such strikes were carried out every day last week, with as many as 250 U.S. Air Force and carrier-based jets dropping everything from 750-lb. bombs to canisters packed with copies of President Johnson's recent speech expressing the U.S.'s willingness to enter into "unconditional discussions." By conservative estimate, U.S. and South Vietnamese flyers have knocked out 16 key bridges, badly damaged the principal north-south highway, and forced the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese to order a halt to almost all daylight operations.

Aggressive Patrolling. The U.S. also will expand naval surveillance over Communist junks, which have become a major means of sneaking men and materiel into South Viet Nam. U.S. intelligence experts estimate that the Reds are presently using some 72,000 junks for this purpose. The U.S. will not only supply Saigon with swift new patrol boats, but will also order its own warships to track "suspicious" vessels.

About 33,000 U.S. Army and Marine Corps men are serving as ground troops in South Viet Nam. The Marines want to increase their 8,000-man force at Danang and Hue to some 30,000, and they are likely to get their wish before the year is out. Also available and being considered for use in Viet Nam is the Army's 25th Division, now in Hawaii.

In the past, marines in South Viet Nam have been limited to perimeter defense of the big airbases at Danang and Hue; they have been drastically restricted in seeking out the enemy. But last week they were told to start "aggressive reconnaissance patrolling." They did just that, and within a few hours, one Marine patrol sought out a Viet Cong unit in a hamlet nine miles outside of Danang, engaged in a 30-minute fire fight, and sent the Communists scurrying.

Upping the Ante. While sending more of its own people into Viet Nam, the U.S. will also do more to help the South Vietnamese help themselves. Returning from Hawaii, Defense Secretary McNamara announced that military aid funds to South Viet Nam will be upped from $207 million to $330 million this year; the main idea is to increase South Viet Nam's 575,000-man military establishment by as many as 160,000.

Meanwhile, the war of words over Viet Nam grew more virulent. Russia warned that U.S. efforts in Viet Nam might "invite retaliation in kind." Peking denounced President Johnson as a "hangman" and issued a well-hedged appeal to all Chinese organizations to "make full preparations" for sending volunteers to South Viet Nam.

But in that war of words, as well as the shooting war, the U.S. was getting tougher--and then some--as indicated by Rusk's speech and last week's decisions in Honolulu.

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