South Viet Nam: The Prospect of Action

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Buzzing with Rumors.With 27,500 Americans already in Viet Nam—a 50% increase since the Tonkin Gulf crisis of August, the U.S. may well expand that force still further. After Army Chief of Staff General Harold K. Johnson wound up an eight-day tour of Viet Nam, Saigon began buzzing with rumors that a beefed-up U.S. Army division of nearly 20,000 men might be sent over to guard key bases. The fact that 6,000 marines were moved out of Hawaii last week to replace the 3,500 who landed in Viet Nam might indicate further leatherneck reinforcements at any moment.

Escalation could take other forms. Admiral U.S. Grant Sharp Jr., the U.S. commander in the Pacific, has suggested that the Seventh Fleet might help Saigon's force of 800 junks patrol coastal waters for infiltrators. A squadron of torpedo boats is on hand at Subic Bay in the Philippines for that purpose. The attack carrier Midway may soon leave the West Coast for the South China Sea, either to relieve one of the three carriers now on duty or to reinforce those already there. In the air, the U.S. has ticketed North Vietnamese targets up to Hanoi and beyond for destruction if necessary. All last week U.S. bombers flew out of Danang with South Vietnamese Skyraiders on "mystery" missions—mystery in the sense that officials refused to say whether they had been hitting Viet Cong units in South Viet Nam or bases north of the 17th parallel.

Missing Link. As far as negotiations were concerned, Washington officials made it clear that there was no point even considering them as long as North Viet Nam refused to halt its support of the guerrillas. "What is still missing is any indication—any indication from anyone—that Hanoi is prepared or willing or ready to stop doing what it is doing against its neighbors," said Lyndon Johnson at his Rose Garden press conference. Added the President: "A great friend of mine who had great responsibilities for a long period of military and executive life in our Government"—Dwight Eisenhower, perhaps?—"said to me the other day, 'When I see the suggestions about negotiations, I wonder if folks don't recognize that there must be someone to negotiate with, and there must be someone willing to negotiate.' "