The Deep-Breathing Season

After a string of monsoon-season victories in which they chewed up eight South Vietnamese battalions, the Communist Viet Cong suddenly slowed their offensive. Whether they were pausing to catch their breath -- or to fathom President Johnson's recent pronouncement, calling for both a buildup of U.S. forces and a renewed try for peace -- was un clear. But the fact was that while the guerrillas have conducted some small-unit actions, it has been weeks since they have risked any big, battalion-scale attacks.

Nip-Ups, Not Knockouts. The Viet Cong had reason enough to work out in nip-ups rather than knockouts. According to Saigon, they sustained their heaviest losses of the war last month: 3,050 dead (by actual body count), an estimated 6,000 wounded, 4,130 defectors --about the equivalent of a full combat division. Clearly, the losses were hurting. Squawking to North Viet Nam, the Viet Cong requested enough volunteers to "step up the resistance of the war ten times." The request, of course, was a mere formality, since Hanoi is estimated to have 10,000 regulars in the South already. Red China chimed in, too, offered for the umpteenth time to send volunteers at the request of the guerrillas. "The 650 million Chinese," roared Peking, were ready to send "our men to fight shoulder to shoulder with [the Viet Cong] to drive out the U.S. aggressors."

Along with the lull in the fighting came a frantic flurry of diplomatic activity. At the United Nations, in London, Cairo and Belgrade, statesmen scurried about in quest of the magic formula to end the war. Among the few whose efforts deserved notice was veteran U.S. Ambassador-at-Large W. Averell Harriman. Returning to Washington from a "vacation" in the Soviet Union, Harriman advised the President that Russia's leaders "sincerely wanted peace," but could not be counted on to take any initiatives to settle the Viet Nam war. "I don't know whether they have any influence," said Harriman. "The indications seem to be that Peking considers this conflict in their interest to continue."

Most Fatuous by Far. Of all the striped-pants sorties, the most fatuous by far was launched by Ghana's President Kwame Nkrumah. Amid great fanfare, Nkrumah sent Foreign Minister Alex Quaison-Sackey off to Washington with a personal letter for Lyndon Johnson. If U.S. officials were hoping for news of an important development, however, they were in for a letdown. Nkrumah, who expects to visit Hanoi soon, was chiefly interested in making sure that U.S. bombers would not turn his arrival into the wrong kind of reception blast. Patiently, L.B.J. assured the Ghanaians that "not a bomb has fallen" on Hanoi, but that the U.S. would not stop its bombing of other parts of North Viet Nam.

The mission that held the most fascination was French Minister of Cultural Affairs Andre Malraux's visit to Red China. At week's end it was not certain just what, if anything, had transpired, but it was at least a top-level visit. Malraux represented Charles de Gaulle and he did speak with Mao Tse-tung (see THE WORLD).

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