Laos: More Troublesome Trail

Each morning the 35 fighter-bomber pilots of the Royal Laotian Air Force file solemnly into the office of their commanding general and remove their personal horseshoes from pegs on the wooden wall. Then the pilots trot out to their American-built T-28s for an other crack at the Ho Chi Minh trail.

The horseshoes are for good kick—an old Western custom adapted to Laos—and the fliers need it, for in the past few months the Ho Chi Minh trail has undergone a grim transformation.

Elephants & Trucks. Since 1959, the 800-mile labyrinth of jungle tracks, muddy rivers and bamboo way stations within Laotian territory has been the major route south for some 45,000 Communist infiltrators heading to battle in South Viet Nam. This, despite North Viet Nam’s solemn signature on the 1962 Geneva accord guaranteeing Laos’ neutrality and barring foreign troops from Laotian soil. The infiltration now comes to an estimated 4,500 bo dot (regular infantrymen) a month. More than one third of the “trail” has been converted into broad-shouldered, two-lane dirt highways. Truck convoys move by night, along with pack elephants and rubber-sandaled coolies.

In blatant violation of the Geneva agreement, several thousand North Vietnamese soldiers are now permanently stationed in the Laotian “panhandle” to keep the route secure. At the same time, they plunder rice from surrounding paddies to feed the infiltrators. Said U.S. Army Vice Chief of Staff Creighton W. Abrams last week: “The road net can now move sufficient supplies to meet the requirements of all North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces in the northern two-thirds of South Viet Nam.”

Proof of that came during last month’s fierce fighting around Plei Me —a South Viet Nam terminus of the trail. North Vietnamese fought fiercely to keep the U.S. 1st Cavalry out of the mountains above Plei Me, expending vast supplies of ammunition in the process. The any-cost resistance convinced many Americans that the area is a major stockpile site of the Red forces.

Laotian troops trying to maintain a semblance of sovereignty over their own territory also hit tough resistance when they pushed toward the trail around Thakhek and Savannakhet. Last month Royal Laotian T-28s trapped a company of mixed Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese troops in the open near Thakhek, killing dozens of the “Laoviet” with their 500-lb. bombs, while ground forces pinned another 40 in a nearby cave. Last week 14 of the North Vietnamese prisoners were on display in Vientiane.

Anger & Appetite. Also last week, the International Control Commission provided for by the original Geneva agreement listed the North Vietnamese violations. And Laotian Neutralist Premier Souvanna Phouma ordered his U.N. mission to issue a complaint. “We had always respected the North Vietnamese leaders and army,” said Laotian Counselor Khamchan Pradith. “We have since found out that they are only warmongers, murderers, thieves and liars.”

Despite the evidence of the captured North Vietnamese soldiers, Hanoi blandly denied the charges. The supply caravans rolled on; the attacks continued. To reinforce the Laotian T-28s, U.S. jets are striking almost daily at the trail from bases in northeast Thailand and carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin. But the only way that the infiltration route can be cut off permanently is by ground blocking forces. Americans in Laos believe that it would take three full U.S. divisions to stem the flow of men and material from North Viet Nam. (Another two would be needed to block South Viet Nam’s narrow upper neck at the 17th parallel.) Eventually, the U.S. may well have to come to Laos’ rescue if it is to win the war in South Viet Nam. “Hanoi has an appetite,” said U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk last week. “It has an appetite for South Viet Nam, and, I have no doubt, an appetite for Laos. The important thing is that the 1962 Geneva agreement ought to be carried out. And there is no one more ready than the United States to ensure that it is carried out.”