McNamara And Lodge Flying To Saigon

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30803, 15 July 1965, Page 15

McNamara And Lodge Flying To Saigon

(N Z.P.A -Reuter— Copyright)

WASHINGTON, July 14.

Mr Robert McNamara, the United States Secretary of Defence, and Mr Henry 7 Cabot Lodge, the Ambassador-Designate to South Vietnam, fly to Saigon today for talks which could bring another massive step-up in United States strength there.

President Johnson said yesterday that “new and serious decisions” were in the offing over Vietnam.

He told the press that increased aggression from the north might be matched by increased United States ground response against the Viet Cong, in turn demanding steps to ensure that reserves in America remained adequate “for all and any emergencies.”

Observers said this could mean calling up reservists, indicating a possible planned in* crease in United States strength in Vietnam from the present two combat divisions to four or five. The Associated Press said Mr McNamara and Mr Lodge would make a week-long survey of the war in Vietnam. Any extra commitment of troops as indicated by President Johnson at his news conference would await the return of Mr Lodge and Mr McNamara, the agency said. The prospective commitment of more fighting men could result in a call-up of thousands of military reservists and an increase in American draft quotas. Mr Lodge conferred with the President last night about his trip to Saigon. He told re-

porters that since his previous assignment as Ambassador in Saigon there had been the important new element of the appearance of North Vietnamese Army units in the south. Message Sought Meanwhile, the Republican leader in the House of Representatives, Mr Gerald R. Ford, called for a “state of emergency message” from the President “to dispel the myths, to squelch or confirm the speculation, to calm the growing

uneasiness and unrest in the nation.”

In Paris, the United States Under-Secretary of State, Mr George Ball, sought to convince the European allies of the United States that Vietnam is not just an American crisis, says the “New York Times.” American officials later reported that the response of the delegates of the 14 other

members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was one of “general understanding” for the American position. Mission ‘Buried’ Chu Teh, chairman of the Chinese National People’s Congress standing committee, said in Peking yesterday that China opposed United States “schemes of peace talks.” A Moscow radio commentator said the idea of the Commonwealth peace mission on Vietnam was “as good as buried” because Britain had sought to exploit the idea "to bolster up her greatly undermined international prestige."