Laos: Recon & Retaliation

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As quietly as their bellowing engines will permit, U.S. Navy and Air Force jets have been flying reconnaissance missions over Laos since last May. Their purpose is twofold: to keep an eye on the Communist Pathet Lao, who have been relatively passive lately, and to see who or what is filtering down from North Viet Nam along the Ho Chi Minh Trail through Laos and into South Viet Nam. Last week, three days apart, two U.S. jets were knocked down by Communist guns near the murkily marked "panhandle" where North Viet Nam forms a narrow corridor between Laos and the sea. One pilot died, while the second was rescued by helicopter, and a typical Laotian muddle ensued.

The Red Chinese and their Hanoi allies claimed that the "American air pirates" had been violating North Viet Nam's air space. Washington officials maintained that the planes had been clearly within the Laotian border, stressed the fact that escorting jets had "retaliated" with guns and rockets against the Communist antiaircraft batteries—probably Soviet-designed 1,4.5-mm. machine guns mounted on fast-moving armored cars.

Whether there would be stronger

U.S. retaliation against North Viet Nam in the manner of the Tonkin Gulf incident remained to be seen. But on no account could the U.S. afford to stop its recon flights.