Laos: Lingering War

In Laos last week everything was quiet except the guns. In accordance with the 14-nation Geneva agreement last July, the Communist Pathet Lao has released five U.S. and one Filipino prisoner, and anti-Communist Vice Premier Phoumi Nosa-van last week handed over six North Vietnamese prisoners to the Social Welfare Minister. One of the six turned out to be Chinese-born, and two of them said they did not want to go home. The Cabinet also designated three exitpoints for foreign troops. Some 800 U.S. military advisers with the Royal Laotian Army will leave via Vientiane; North Vietnamese technicians with Prince Souvanna Phouma’s neutralist forces will depart from the Plaine des Jarres. Red Prince Souphanouvong named Nhommarat in south-central Laos as exit point for his Communist allies—which made little sense, since the majority of his estimated 10.000 Vietnamese troops are concentrated in the dense northern jungles, far from Nhommarat.

The Communist-held north, in fact, was where the shooting was. And the men being shot were the sturdy Meo tribesmen who form pockets of resistance in the mountains near the Plaine des Jarres and along the Laos-North Viet Nam border. U.S.-supplied and advised, the tough Meo guerrillas still deny to the Communists effective control of these areas. Unfortunately, the Meos are dependent on air drops for everything from food to ammunition. The U.S. therefore faces an unpleasant dilemma: the one useful force it created in Laos is in danger of being starved out unless resupplied by parachute. Souvanna’s government has repeatedly charged the U.S. with air intrusions since the cease-fire agreement. Fortnight ago. Souvanna’s antiaircraft gunners in the Plaine des Jarres claimed to have shot down a U.S. F101 jet. U.S. officials in Vientiane curtly denied the charge and said that no U.S. jets were missing.