The War: Moving Forward

Despite President Marcos' pessimism over the "other war" in South Viet Nam, a report handed Lyndon Johnson last week noted that social and economic reforms in that country are "moving forward on a broad front." The 44-page assessment by Robert Komer, the President's special assistant for peaceful construction in Viet Nam, was described by Johnson as "impressive."

Komer estimates that about 55% of South Viet Nam's population has been brought under the government's wing, a "modest gain" of about 5% in the first eight months of 1966. Accentuating the positive, he notes a rapid increase to 28,539 workers in the key Revolutionary Development Cadre program, describing the 59-man teams sent into the countryside as "a dagger pointed at the Viet Cong's heart" (though an official Vietnamese assessment in preparation tells another story—of faulty recruiting, bad training, improper use of workers and ill-advised psychology). Komer notes proudly that 12,106 Viet Cong have surrendered under the Chieu Hoi (Open Arms) amnesty program so far in 1966—nearly 1,000 more than for the whole of last year—but, again, ignores a sad record of Vietnamese in difference and downright hostility to rehabilitating yesterday's enemy.

On hand to get first copies of Komer's report was Donald MacDonald, 44, who replaces Charles Mann as AID chief in Viet Nam. MacDonald has headed AID programs in Pakistan and Nigeria, and is known as an expert troubleshooter. The report's main points: > Galloping inflation, which could yet undo all the benefits of the U.S. buildup by swamping Viet Nam's economy with more money than it can absorb, has been curbed by a drastic 50% devaluation of the piaster, as well as by new economic restraints worked out jointly by U.S. and Vietnamese officials. — Saigon's creaking dockyards, once a crucial brake on the war effort, have been more than doubled to handle 380,000 tons of cargo each month. An increase to at least a 650,000-ton capacity is planned for next year, but bottlenecks still abound.