Thailand: B-52s & Green Berets

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More bad news for the Viet Cong came last week from nearby Thailand, which announced its readiness to base U.S. B-52s on Thai territory. Flying unseen and unheard at 40,000 ft. or more, the big B-52s have struck more terror into the enemy than almost any other weapon. But they have been limited until now by the necessity of hauling their 60,000-lb. bomb loads from Guam on a 5,200-mile, twelve-hour round trip. The Thai decision will place the bombers within a scant hour's distance of practically any Communist concentration in South Viet Nam, enabling each B-52 to make several sorties a day instead of one.

The Thai welcome to the B-52s is only the latest open admission of cooperation with the U.S. in fighting the Communists, reversing a long Thai reticence about publicizing their role in the war. The Thais already permit other U.S. fighter-bombers to fly from four bases in Thailand; they are readying a 2,400-man fighting force to join the Allies in Viet Nam later this year. Their increasing willingness to participate is a case of enlightened self-interest. Communist insurgency in the Thai northeast (TIME, Jan. 20) is growing in intensity, and the Thais are getting considerable U.S. help in combatting it. The Thai government thus did not hesitate last week to make clear its reasons for inviting the B-52s: "For common defensive purposes with the view to extinguishing the fire of aggression started by the Communists in South Viet Nam, and to prevent it from spreading further."

Bangkok About-Face. American preventive aid to Thailand covers a broad front. A 365-man Special Forces company is training Thai companies in counterinsurgency as well as in preparation for fighting in Viet Nam. The USIS produces a colorful spectrum of propaganda for the Thais' own distribution, from pictures of the King and Queen to anti-Communist soap operas and comic books. The CIA trains security and civic action pacification teams for use in remote villages. The U.S. has provided the Thais with equipment ranging from helicopters and shotguns to radios and movie projectors. All of this is a part of the campaign to strengthen the impoverished northeast provinces so that they will be able to defend themselves against both Communist blandishments and Red terrorism.

Because Communist insurgency is on the increase, the backbone of the Thai effort is the army, which is now being prepped in guerrilla counterwar in three upcountry field camps by a company of U.S. Green Berets. Last week TIME Correspondent Louis Kraar visited the camp at Pak Chong, becoming the first U.S. newsman permitted to see the Green Berets in action in Thailand. Led by Lieut. Colonel R. H. Bartelt, 40, a Viet Nam veteran with a decade of Green Beretmanship, the Special Forces arrived in Thailand last October from Okinawa, where they had trained intensively in Thai language, customs and the local insurgency problem. They came ready to fight alongside the Thais in the northeast, but U.S. officials, notably Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, decided against any direct American fighting in Thailand.