Banner Graphic, Greencastle, Putnam County, 17 July 1973 — Page 7

Tu—dqy, July 17, 1973

Bann«r-Graphic, Greencattle, Indiana

Pog« 7

War Still Rages In Vietnam Arnett Reports

EDITOR’S NO It — It is more than six months since the Vietnam cease-fire accords were signed in Paris. Where does that embattled country stand now? What of the future? Peter Arnett, a Pulitzer Prize winner for his coverage of the Vietnam war, recently returned to that country for the following report on Vietnam Now. PETER ARNETT Associated Press Writer SAIGON (AP) — The Vietnam battlefield is taking final, predictable shape. War has raged across it for three decades, and troops from six foreign nations have gambled with death here. The war is still on. The two cease-fire agreements signed in January and June this year have only slowed it down long enough for the United States to pull out entirely. The French Foreign Legion left 18 years earlier. The Australians, the New Zealanders, the Thais, and the South Koreans left more recently but without a backward glance or commitment. On the battlefield now, alone for the first time, are the Vietnamese. And also for the first time in three decades it is possible to deduce the probable outcome on the battlefield if a

political solution is delayed, and the war continues. Here is how the battlefield looks to both sides: The South Vietnamese. The United States came to Vietnam to win the war, but when it became too costly in men and money, tactics were changed and the concept ol “Vietnamization” was introduced. The idea was to build the Saigon army into a copy ot the American one, as far as weaponry was concerned. The American strategy remained the same until the cease-fire agreement in January: Win the war. Has “Vietnamization” worked? The answer has to be no. First of all, Saigon has had to yield an enormous part of the country to the Communist side, as much as 25 per cent according to some estimates. This lost terrain includes the sites of some of the most famous American battles—the la Drang Valley, Dak To, Khe Sanh, War Zone C. Secondly, “Vietnamization” never did fill the holes left by the departing allied troops. “I have not been able to fill up the vacuum left when the South Koreans went home,” said the chief of coastal Khanh Hoa Province, Col. Ly Ba Pham. The 3rd U.S. Marine Division

held Quang Tri Province until the Americans went home. Now yellow-star Communist flags dot the hillsides there. The same flags fly in Kontum Province, Loc Ninh, and the other “holes” left behind when the allies went home. “Vietnamization” never did work in weaponry, either. Saigon has one of the world’s biggest air forces, but few planes that can do adequate aerial combat with the Hanoi government’s MIG 2 Is. What about the combat soldiers? Last year the Saigon forces held Kontum and An Loc despite major Communist attacks, and fought back into Quang Tri City. But this was with the help of the whole U.S. Air Force arsenal. The South Vietnamese soldier has grown used to attacking with massive air support. The Communist soldier has grown used to fighting under those American bombs. Take away American planes and you have a much stronger Hanoi soldier and a much weaker Saigon one. Here is how the Communist

side shapes up.

The North Vietnamese are linking up territory captured inside South Vietnam via a road network estimated at 500 miles long. Truck traffic indicates a buildup of military equipment as massive as that which preceded the major Communist offensive of last year. Free from American bombing for the first time since 1965, the Communist side is laying in surface to air missiles around lengthened airstrips at Khe Sanh and the Asahau Valley, and building

small towns. The offensive last year brought the Communist armies to within touching distance of the major population centers. Heavy guns are within range of Kontum City, Quang Tri and Hue, and possibly Da Nang. The environs of Saigon are within a day’s march of Communist regiments in War Zones

C and D.

The whole Cambodian border

along the populous Mekong Delta is in the hands of Communist troops, giving easy access to

the population.

What is likely to happen?

What is the shape of the future? The hope was that the ceasefire agreements would put an end to the fighting this year, that zones of control could be determined, and that an orderly transition would be made to a political settlement. At best the Communist side would like participation in a coalition government such as that in Laos; at worst, recognition by the Saigon government, and official acknowledgement of Communist control over occupied territory. The Communist side can be expected to use military pressure to achieve any, or all, of its political objectives. It has all the options; Saigon can only defend. One Communist option is the renewal of the guerrilla war. The guerrilla “people’s war” organized by the Viet Cong almost overwhelmed the government in 1965. That is what brought American troops in. The Viet Cong were nearly put out of business because the entry of American troops into the war tipped the balance

against them. North Vietnam sent down not only infantry divisions to fight the Americans, but thousands of replacements for dead Viet Cong guerrillas. One reason tor tne demise of the Viet Cong was that the government extended its control over the population, gave every farmer a gun and told him to point it at the Viet Cong. That was all very well while the government’s control in the countryside was firm. Now control is weaker because of the close proximity of Communist troops. Already in Chuong Thien Province in the Mekong Delta guerrillas are being recruited from all the hamlets, according to a defector. In effect the Communists are now telling the farmers to point their guns at the government. How effective can this guerrilla regeneration be? Knowledgeable Americans point out that while the South Vietnamese regular army is loyal to Saigon, the local militiamen who number in the hundreds of thousands, are loyal to the hamlets where they were born. Some fought for the Viet Cong

before the government in Saigon extended its control in the late 1960s. Presumably they could fight for the VC again if government control erodes. Another Communist option is this, the long-term indoctrination of selected South Vietnamese who are taken North. Such people returning to South Vietnam in the late 1950s created the Viet Cong insurgency. Now from every province in the country there have been reports of young people from 12 to 18 years of age, either kidnaped or willingly leaving home, going North. In Binh Thuan on the coast 90 young persons were taken in April and May. The Communist side is already repopulating Quang Tri with some of the more than 20,000 people it took North after overrunning the province in the 1972 offensive. There is a third option: Another full-scale Communist offensive launched from secure base areas against Tay Ninh, An Loc, Kontum, Pleiku, Binh Dinh Province, Hue and se-

lected Mekong Delta targets. While anything can happen in Vietnam and often does, knowledgeable Americans and Vietnamese see the Communists using a combination of all their options. Firstly, they will continue to strengthen their territory with roadbuilding and resettlement. They will attempt to build the Viet Cong back into a powerful military force. And they can launch the occasional “mini offensive” that will help demoralize the Saigon army and grab more terrain. If all this were to fail, then the Communists could take the long-term viewpoint, methodically building up a reinvigorated cadre from those Southerners now being taken North, and sending them down South some day to start the whole thing over again. This last possibility — failure — seems the most unlikely. “The main purpose of the North Vietnamese these past few years has been to oust the foreigner,” said Khanh Hoa Province Chief Col. Pham. “Now they have us all alone.”

Interest Rate Ceiling Lift To Have Sobering Impact On Lives Of Americans

m JOHN CUNN1FF AP Business Analyst NEW YORK (AP) — Aside from creating controversy, the lifting of interest rate ceilings on savings accounts is likely to have another very visible and sobering impact on the lives of Americans. It will, of course, have a profitable impact too. Passbook savers at commercial banks will be able to get 5 per cent instead of 4.5. And at savings banks and associations, a 5.25 per cent rate is an improvement over 5 per cent. But despite this good news, it is likely that there will also be an immediate de-emphasis of levity at the local bank and a reassertion of that grey, sober mood that once was considered so appropriate when money was involved. When savings institutions became aware 30 years ago that ordinary Americans were accumulating substantial bundles of money they were forced to recognize that they must be catered to. Consumers were a growing force. As they accumulated capital, the savings institutions learned, they might just as often come through the doors with a fistful of money to deposit as they might come with empty pockets and in need of a loan. Consumers, they concluded, must be encouraged, even entertained if need be. And so, deprived by federal regulations from competing for the consumer dollar by offering higher interest rates, the savings institutions discovered the lure of “fun ’n games." Having made this discovery later in life than others, the money men found themselves in an unrestrained revel. Savings institutions began to look like catalog stores, offering furs, trips and assorted household hardware. In some communities, competition seemed to depend on who offered the biggest premium, and it was rare in some neighborhood for a new outlet to open without creating a carnival to lure depositors from other banks. But now, just as supermarkets were forced to return competition from sweepstakes and stamps to prices, the banks also seem destined to return at least part way to more serious, more realistic competition. One provision of the new regulations is that banks and thrift institutions can offer a savings certificate of $1,000 with no interest ceiling at all if left to maturity in four years.

Seldom have saving institutions been given such an unfettered opportunity to compete for dollars. And knowing this, many savers will be unwilling to accept transistor radios in lieu of higher yields. One innovation, already introduced by First Pennsylvania Banking & Trust Co., would guarantee 7.5 per cent, plus a cost of living bonus, on fouryear certificates. The smallest certificate is $1,000. The inflation bonus will be paid each year at the rate of !4 per cent interest for every I per cent increase in the consumer price index. A $4 per cent rise in the index means a 1 per cent higher interest payment. Infant Still In Serious Condition YONKERS N Y. (AP) Robert Smith Jr., an infant who received the “breath of life” from a fireman who snatched him from a burning building, was reported still in serious condition yesterday. The 18-month-old was rescued by fireman Buel McQuay before dawn Sunday from one of two wood-frame tenements ablaze in this Westchester county suburb north of New York City. “I gave him mouth-to-mouth,” McQuay said, “Then he gave a little lurch and started breathing.” Eight persons including three children were injured in the fire. McQuay and his partner, Carmine Viggiano, found Robert Smith unconscious on a floor with his daughter Tracy Ann lying nearby. Also present was another child, James O’Neill, 4. Robert Junior was in the intensive care unit of the Montefiore Hospital, the Bronx, Tracy Ann in intensive care at St. John’s Yonkers, and the O’Neill boy in intensive care at Yonkers General Hospital. Robert Senior was reported in fair condition at Yonkers General. All suffered from smoke inhalation and the Smith baby had serious burns. Firemen said the fire apparently started in a sofa in the Smith living room. Damage to the two houses was estimated at $35,000 with $15,000 damage to contents.

Mooresville Fire Damage Runs High

MOORESVILLE Ind. (AP) — Authorities estimate more than $250,000 damage resulting from a weekend fire which destroyed Kelly’s Grandview Restaurant, south of here along Indiana 67. Kelly Poe, who converted an old farmhouse into the restaurant 13 years ago and has operated a restaurant in Mooresville for 30 years, discovered the fire shortly after 4 a.m. Saturday morning when

he arrived at work. The restaurant seated 208 and Poe said that during normal weekends “well over 2,000 would eat at the restaurant.” He said he was partially covered by insurance “but in no way enough. Being out here in the country, it’s just impossible to get enough coverage.” The cause of the fire was not known, but Poe said it may have started in the grill room near a coffee maker.

You sure did . . . the last time you used electricity. Around here, coal is electricity. We convert the energy of coal into electricity to make it a cleaner and more convenient form of energy. Of course, any time coal is burned, it is a potential air polluter—unless the pollution is trapped. We've been able to filter out almost all the dust particles from our power plant stacks (so far, at a cost of $31 million). But removing sulfur dioxide gas is a job the whole industry's still working on. Public Service Indiana and Westmghouse have teamed up with the coal industry and others in a

coal gasification project, to take the impurities out of coal BEFORE it's made into electric energy. We expect this $80 million research effort to produce results within the next few years. We know abundant coal power can be clean power. . . and we're putting our money on the line to prove it. PUBLIC SERVICE INDIANA