World: A Limit on War

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The Free Strikes. But, for all the safeguards, mistakes are made and civilians hurt, which is why Westmoreland last week tightened the leash on his weaponry still further with another memorandum demanding greater caution. Hard on its heels came an Air Force decree tightening control over some 200 "free-strike zones" at which pilots had been free to blast away at will. Henceforth FAC planes will patrol each of the known Viet Cong zones, pinpoint strikes within them as in the rest of South Viet Nam. A B-52 raid originally planned for the big allied sweep of the Ben Cat area fortnight ago (TIME, Sept. 24) was canceled on the outside chance that some stray bombs might hit uninvolved villages. And in an area west of Saigon, undirected artillery fire was banned—because civilians, despite orders to stay out, persisted in moving into the area.