Defense: At War with the Military

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No Carrier. Still pending is an amendment to cut more than $500 million from the bill by limiting the purchase of the controversial C-5A aircraft. The Senate critics also want to deny the Pentagon a $377 million nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. They argue that in the missile age the carrier makes too massive and lumbering a target, and that the U.S. is the only major sea power still building them. Another thorny topic to be discussed is whether the U.S. still needs—and can afford —to maintain 428 major overseas military bases.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, meanwhile, demanded to see a top-secret 1965 agreement with Thailand, which Idaho Democrat Frank Church said might "contemplate the use of American forces" in the event of a military threat to that small Southeast Asian country. At week's end the exact contents of the pact remained a mystery. It was learned, however, that the U.S. could be committed to send troops into Thailand under certain circumstances. This news caused Church to ask if the pact could lead to another Viet Nam."