Flicker Of Optimism

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31654, 15 April 1968, Page 9

Flicker Of Optimism

(N.Z.P. A.-Reuter—Copyright) MOSCOW, April 14. A flicker of optimism seems to be emerging from the Kremlin that a settlement of the Vietnam war might be taking shape, the “New York Times” News Service reports. The Communist Party’s policy-endorsing Central Committee, which has met in Moscow, hints at this in a resolution pledging continuing Sov-

let assistance to North Vietnam but adding, significantly, that this help would be given “in the name of earliest peace In Vietnam”. North Vietnam has been calling the tune in the terms for a settlement, and the Soviet Union is expected to follow its lead. If the settlement were to involve a compromise by Hanoi on its rigid four-point programme—which calls for a complete American withdrawal and poses other terms unacceptable to the United States—Moscow will probably go along. For the last few years, Rus sla has adopted a less insistent tone on the acceptance of the four points, focusing its demands on a halt of United States bombing attacks on North Vietnam. The bombing raids against a Communist ally were particularly galling to Moscow, raising the perils of a direct confrontation with the United States if the Soviet intervened to defend its ally. The Soviet Union toyed foi a time with the idea of sending “volunteers” to North Vietnam, making, in the summer of 1966, comparisons be-

tween the Vietnam conflict and the Spanish Civil War, in which volunteers played a significant role. But the hazards of escalation were apparently considered too great. Russian observers see the United States involvement in Vietnam, and a continuation of the struggle at its presen! level, as a boon to Soviet strategy and propaganda. Putting aside compassion for the victims of the war, which Russians do not do, the Vietnam conflict has achieved, at relatively small cost to the Soviet Union, many objectives of Moscow policy—stirring bitter dissension inside the United States, alienating former friends and allies, and diverting attention from difficulties within the Communist bloc. The war has also provided a valuable proving ground for Soviet armaments and an opportunity for Soviet military experts to assess changes in warfare. But in spite of the advantages accruing to Moscow as a result of the Vietnam struggle, the Soviet leadership does appear to be completely earnest in its efforts to bring the war to an end.