U.S. LAOS POLICY FAILURE SEEN

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29828, 22 May 1962, Page 13

U.S. LAOS POLICY FAILURE SEEN

Blame Placed On General Phoumi

(N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright)

WASHINGTON, May 21. The sudden crisis which has swept United States troops into South-east Asia appeared to have resulted in part from a failure of United States policy in Laos, according to the Associated Press’s chief Washington correspondent. This had caused searching, but so far informal, discussion among high officials of the Kennedy Administration about what went wrong and whether similar errors could be avoided in future, he said.

So far President Kennedy's angry dissatisfaction has centred on General Phoumi Nosavan. the “strong man” in the pro-Western Royal Lao Government of Prince Boun Oum.

The White House was believed to have told American representatives in the field that General Pho-umi’s power must be curtailed — preferably by getting him to relinquish his various Cabinet positions and confine himself to purely military matters.

Administration informants said all United States Government agencies involved in Laos had given assurances that they had loyally supported Mr Kennedy’s policy of trying to settle the dis-

pute through the formation of a three-way coalition Government. There had been suspicions, particularly in high quarters of “the State Department, that some elements of the United States Government might have been pulling against other elements and encouraging General Phoumi to disregard the United States advice he was receiving officially, the Associated Press correspondent said. This speculation arose because there were divisions within official Washington over whether a neutral Laos with a government of neutralists. Communists and pro-Western elements had any chance of withstanding an eventual Communist takeover.

The groups principally involved in the Laos struggle apart from the White House, had been the State and Defence Departments, and the Central Intelligence Agency. Several years ago, during the Eisenhower Administration. the United States rejected a neutralist solution for Laos and the Boun Oum Government took over as a strongly pro-Western regime. General Phoumi became the central figure in the Administration. reportedly with

powerful backing from the C.I.A.

A year ago, President Kennedy moved United States sea and air forces into the South-east- Asian area, but in the face of opposition from allies and advice against intervention from some of his own officials, he decided against landing combat troops. Mr Kennedy decided to support a programme to make Laos neutral under a government of national union headed by the neutralist. Prince Souvannah Phoump. Then, about three weeks ago. the cease-fire in Laos

was shattered by a proCommunist assault on the Royal Lao garrison town of Nam Tha. a provincial capital in north-west Laos.

The move produced an extraordinary reaction in Washington. Instead of raising a massive outcry against the Communists. United States officials told reporters that General Phoumi carried at least a large part of the responsibility. The pro-Communist rebels were publicly accused of breaking the cease-fire, but from Mr Kennedy down. Administration officials accused General Phoumi of having: (1) Reinforced the Nam Tha garrison with too many troops. (2) Deployed his forces on low. ground instead of high ground recommended by United States military advisers. (3) Ignored United States warnings that his actions would provoke the rebels (4) Permitted the retreat to develop into a complete rout with the officers running away faster than the men.

With General Phoumi's troops crumbling, Mr Kennedy was faced with the possibility of a Communist drive across the borders of Thailand, endangering all of South-east Asia immediately. He therefore felt compelled to introduce United States power into Thailand to stabilise the situation.

He felt compelled, in fact, to do what for several years United States policy had aimed at avoiding—that is. land combat forces.