The Press FRIDAY, MAY 22, 1970. Cambodian Operation In The Balance

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32303, 22 May 1970, Page 12

The Press FRIDAY, MAY 22, 1970. Cambodian Operation In The Balance

Three weeks after American and South Vietnamese troops entered Cambodia it is still not clear that sending them there was justified. The “ body count ”, the number of Communists killed, stands at 8300; the quantity of arms, ammunition, and food captured from enemy dumps is satisfactory, but no more. It falls far short of the ambitious expectations of some American commanders when they first crossed the border. There has been no decisive battle with Communist units, no major command and communications centre has been captured, no highranking prisoners have been taken, and the underground bases and hospitals uncovered so far do not appear to be the main complex of camps which is said to exist in the area.

President Nixon appears determined to have all American troops withdrawn by the end of June. It is less certain that American air power will stop operations in Cambodia, or that it will continue to respect the 21-mile limit in its incursions over the frontier. But, as in Laos, the Americans are likely to find that air power is no substitute for troops on the ground in- South-East Asia’s jungles. The burden will probably fall on South Vietnam to maintain a military presence over a wide area of Cambodia in the hope' of uncovering more supply dumps while keeping the enemy away from South Vietnam’s borders. This, in turn, might increase the demands on American troops inside Vietnam and force the President to delay his withdrawal timetable—with incalculable effects on public opinion in the United States. For the Communists the invasion of their sanctuary may be far from an unmitigated disaster. It must hamper their operations in South Vietnam for some months; it has also allowed them to concentrate their activities in the more remote parts of Cambodia and to threaten the new Government in Phnom Penh; the real sufferers are the Cambodians, who have little hope of defending themselves. The selfimposed limit for the American advance means that the Cambodians can expect little outside help. The Communist rearguard along the frontier has paid a heavy price; but the Communists are winning the war against General Lon Nol and it may be that only a long and costly occupation of parts of Cambodia by South Vietnam will stop them.

Most important of all, the incursion into Cambodia has revived the anti-war movement in the United States and thrown back into its ranks many Americans, particularly in Congress, who had been prepared to support the President’s plan for phased disengagement. This is a substantial bonus for North Vietnam, which has had morale problems of its own but which has always placed great emphasis on the effects of protest movements. Protests within France forced the French Army out of Indo-China in 1954 and allowed North Vietnam to come into existence; Hanoi’s leaders appear confident that the road to Saigon now lies through mass protests in Washington. President Nixon’s handling of his domestic critics in the last few weeks has done little to prove them wrong.