South Vietnamese Prepare to Invade Laos

U.S. bombers saturated the southern part of Laos and the northwest corner of South Vietnam over the weekend in preparation for an imminent U.S.-supported invasion of Laos by South Vietnamese troops.

Other indications that the invasion will take place sometime in the next few days were a news embargo placed on all information emanating from the area, a statement by Secretary of State William P. Rogers Friday holding open the possibility of U.S. air support for a South Vietnamese invasion of Laos, and the announcement Friday that the South Vietnamese have been conducting small unit operations on the ground in Laos for several months.

The news embargo was originally scheduled to be lifted by 6 p.m. Saturday but was later extended for an indefinite time. There was speculation that bad weather in southern Laos had caused a postponement of the invasion and that the embargo will stay in force until the invasion has actually taken place.

The objective of the invasion would be to sever the Ho Chi Minh trail leading from North Vietnam through Laos into South Vietnam. The jungle trail is the main route for reinforcements and supplies being transmitted from North to South Vietnam. An additional objective would be to relieve the forces of Premier Souvanna Phouma in Laos, Souvanna said on Sunday that he was convinced that the North Vietnamese are planning a general offensive against Laotian government positions, weakened by constant warfare with Pathet Lao forces since 1962.

In Cambodia, fighting between the South Vietnamese troops and their Cambodian allies broke out twice over the weekend. On Saturday night, according to the Associated Press, South Vietnamese marines attacked a Cambodian outpost at Veal Thom, seven miles outside of Phnom Penh. Later a Viet Cong force attacked the same outpost and a Cambodian spokesman said he did not know whether the three Cambodians killed and seven wounded were victims of the South Vietnamese or the Viet Cong.

Earlier Saturday, South Vietnamese sailors and Cambodian soldiers shot it out in the streets of Phnom Penh, killing a Cambodian pedicab driver and wounding 14 Cambodians.

Congressional opponents of the war expressed concern over the weekend that the U.S. may be violating the Cooper-Church amendment passed last year which prohibits combat ground troops and military advisers in Cambodia. Rep. Michael Harrington (D.-Mass.) said Sunday that "there is no question in my mind that we are further involved in Cambodia than we were expecting to be." He said that

A national antiwar conference will be held in Ann Arbor, Michigan next weekend, from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. The meeting, sponsored by the National Student Association, will discuss various alternatives for antiwar activities this spring.

It's a 15 hour drive to Ann Arbor, and a round trip should cost about $75 in gas and tolls. Split that among five people in a car and it comes out to $15 each. If you need a ride or can offer rides, call the CRIMSON and leave the necessary information. the presence of 16 American soldiers in Cambodia was "a direct violation of the intention of the Senate, the sentiment of the country, and the President's statement of last June." At that time, Harrington said, Nixon "said that we would not give direct air support to either Cambodians or South Vietnamese and that we would not support ground operations."

Despite reports that U.S. troops landed in Cambodia during the fight for Highway 4 last week, Secretary Rogers assured the Foreign Relations Committee that the United States is staying within the limits of the Cooper-Church amendments and that the administration feels that it can do everything it wants to within the limits.

Senator John Stennis, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, however, expressed doubts that the U.S. could meet the threat in Cambodia without violating the Cooper-Church amendments. He said that if conditions take a turn for the worse in Cambodia it may be necessary for the Congress to extend the limits of the amendment.

War critics in the Senate had a different reaction to the weekend's activities. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield said that major new operations in Indochina would touch off renewed efforts in Congress to cut off funds for the war. He said that a joint U.S.-South Vietnamese invasion of Laos would "increase the chances for passage" of the Hatfield-McGovern amendment calling for a total withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Indochina by December 31. The amendment was defeated 55-39 last year.