ALLIES' AIMS & HOPES, IN WAR & PEACE

THE seven nations meeting in Manila last week reasserted their desire for peace and their determination to bring the war in Viet Nam to an honorable conclusion. In three separate documents resulting from the conference, the allies also went a long step further. They laid the groundwork for an eventual Asia-wide security grouping under U.S. auspices. They emphasized as well their resolve to achieve a Pacific consensus on the peaceful development of the region's resources.

Social Revolution

The allies' 31-point, 2,000-word main communique was the first genuinely multilateral statement of war and peace aims in Viet Nam. These aims set fourth with the full concurrence of Saigon, emphasize an accelerated effort to "forge a social revolution, even as the conflict continues." They include wider use of South Vietnamese troops in "clear-and-hold" actions designed not only to rid villages of guerrillas but also to help them build a more productive society afterward, a top-priority program of land reform and agricultural modernization, and scrupulous observance of the Geneva conventions on war prisoners. In the political field, the document commits Saigon to bend every effort to complete its constitution by March, the holding of nationwide elections by October and of village and hamlet elections all through 1967.

The most controversial part of the communique was Point 29, an allied offer to withdraw foreign troops from Viet Nam within six months if "the other side withdraws its forces to the north, ceases infiltration and the level of violence thus subsides."

When newsmen quickly noted that a withdrawal of North Vietnamese troops was no guarantee that violence would subside as long as the Viet Cong were around, a U.S. briefing officer argued: "The North Vietnamese have always provided the cutting edge for the Viet Cong. Subtract them from the picture and Saigon could handle the situation by itself." If not, highly mobile U.S. troops could make a swift return. Actually, the point was inserted more for bargaining than anything else. "This isn't much of a timetable," an Australian diplomat conceded, "and Gromyko will see the weak spots. But at least it gives him something to take around to other Communist countries."

Open Arms

A more promising approach was Saigon's pledge "to open all doors to those Vietnamese who have been misled or coerced into casting their lot with the Viet Cong" and "to reintegrate these people as full members of our society." As Viet Nam's Premier Ky explained it, those who want to live under Communism can go North, and those who want to renounce Communism can "lay down their weapons" and stay in the South. "As for those who persist in bringing misery to the people," Ky added, "we shall give them no quarter." So far this year, some 13,000 Viet Cong have defected under the Chieu Hoi ("open arms") program, but many of them have been unable to find jobs or overcome the suspicions of local officialdom. Thus Saigon hopes to win over significant numbers of Viet Cong while making life more attractive for those who might be tempted to join the enemy.

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