Gathering Intensity

The ground war in Viet Nam is intensifying, with mounting casualties on both sides. Aided by a sudden infusion of mortars and fresh weapons, and often impelled by a growing sense of desperation, the Viet Cong have turned more aggressive in the hope of scoring some badly needed victories. With the increase in the U.S. troop levels--which last week reached 427,000--more Americans are ranging through the countryside than ever before, spoiling for a fight. The war's vicious turn was reflected last week in two sets of statistics.

Saigon reported that in the week ending March 18, casualties for both Communist and U.S. troops reached new highs for the war. A weekly record of 2,675 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese soldiers were killed; there is no sure way to count Communist wounded, but they must have been proportionately large. The U.S. lost 211 dead, and suffered 1,874 wounded and seven missing or captured, bringing total U.S. casualties to more than 2,000 in one week for the first time. So far this year, American deaths are averaging 150 per week v. 96 a week during 1966.

Sad as those figures are, they are dwarfed by the enormous bloodletting that has been inflicted on the Communists. The Pentagon announced that since Jan. 1, Allied forces have killed some 19,500 of the enemy, a rate of 1,770 weekly as compared with last year's average of 1,100. Even so, the Communists keep coming. U.S. intelligence last week put Red fighting strength up by 4,000 men to a total of 286,000, an increase that just matched last week's U.S. increase of 4,000 new men. When last week's totals are released this week in Saigon, Communist dead are likely to reach another new high.

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