South Viet Nam: Opportunities Missed

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Hope springs eternal, and as 1964 began in South Viet Nam, there was still hope for victory in the grinding war against the Viet Cong Communists. But to many an American observer, the hope may be forlorn unless there are some victories soon over the Red guerrillas. In the third month after the overthrow of President Ngo Dinh Diem, the Viet Cong still reign supreme in 13 of the country's 43 provinces. The Communists control half of Long An Province on Saigon's southern flank (see map). From the fifth-floor terrace bar of the city's Majestic Hotel, idlers can view both bikini-clad girls water-skiing on the Saigon River and, in the distance, puffs of smoke rising from clashes between government and Viet Cong guerrilla patrols.

For weeks the military junta that replaced Diem has been promising a counteroffensive, and a Pentagon official predicts that the current month will see "very significant" action. But for all the generals' vows of increased aggressiveness, the story in the field is still, all too often, one of missed opportunities.

Maps v. Victory. Fortnight ago, 35 miles northwest of Saigon, a 400-man battalion of South Vietnamese Rangers found itself pinned down on a scrub-smothered river bank by 800 wellarmed, dug-in guerrillas. U.S. advisers suddenly saw a rare chance: here was a Communist regiment that was prepared to stand and fight the set-piece battle that Vietnamese generals claimed they so ardently desired. If the Reds would only stay in one place, they could easily be surrounded.

Eight other government battalions were in the area and unengaged with the enemy. But when called upon to rush them in, Vietnamese staff officers chain-smoked the afternoon away engrossed in their maps, deaf to American pleas. The pinned-down Rangers had no alternative but to retreat across the river under cover of darkness. The Viet Cong regiment, which might well have been annihilated, escaped, leaving behind five captured Rangers tied by their feet to trees with their heads hacked off.

Imperfect Circle. Five days later, 30 miles south of Saigon, a paratroop battalion surprised and gamely engaged Viet Cong Battalion 514, which a year ago inflicted a major defeat on the government in the notorious battle of Apbac. Now grown from 250 to possibly 600 men, Battalion 514 stopped the paratroopers with machine-gun fire. Out went a call for help, but it was slow to arrive. Armed American helicopters on stand-by duty 20 minutes away in Saigon were not called in by the Vietnamese until three hours after the initial contact.

Finally, the Viet Cong were virtually surrounded by the original paratroop unit, a second paratroop battalion, infantry and civil guardsmen, and were being pounded by air and artillery that killed or wounded an estimated 100 Reds. But the second paratroop battalion, ordered to move in and block a Viet Cong retreat, timidly stood off, leaving great gaps through which the bulk of the Reds escaped at dusk.

Musical Chairs. Top American advisers remain doggedly hopeful of improvement. Government probes have at least stepped up, and in the past month troops have uncovered three major Viet Cong arms caches containing tons of weapons and ammunition. Last week, in a step reportedly urged by U.S. Defense Secretary McNamara, the junta streamlined itself.