A Limit on War

A creaking back-country bus filled with women and children suddenly explodes; a small town echoes to the shrieks of the dying as mortar shells are casually lobbed into its midst; a plastique charge shreds a Saigon cafe. Common enough events in South Viet Nam, they are part of the Viet Cong's conscious policy of killing and maiming civilians. Last year alone, some 11,000 innocent civilians were killed or kidnaped by the Viet Cong in their calculated campaign of terrorism.

U.S. commanders in Viet Nam have a far different problem. It is their difficult task to conduct a growing war against the Communists and at the same time avoid killing or wounding civilians--a mission spelled out in some detail by U.S. General William Westmoreland to U.S. forces in Viet Nam last July. "It is imperative that all our officers and men," said Westmoreland, "understand the importance of minimizing noncombatant casualties whenever possible." Easier said than done in a guerrilla war that often makes the innocent the willing or unwilling neighbors of the enemy.

FAC Marks the Spot. The techniques of "prestrike" and "reconnaissance by fire" worry Westmoreland most. A pre-strike by artillery or air is often essential to weaken possible V.C. resistance in areas where helicopters are about to land a load of troops. But its random nature makes it dangerous near villages. Artillery is especially feared--and hated--by villagers. Most peasants have long since built bomb shelters near their huts, and the sound of approaching bombers or helicopters provides time for civilians to scramble into them. But an artillery shell's whine gives warning only when it is too late for anything except to hit the dirt--or die.

The very nature of air reconnaissance by fire suggests a civilian hazard in built-up areas. By stitching a few random bullets through the underbrush, armed choppers hope to draw fire that will reveal a Viet Cong position. It often works; but now and then the bullets hit buffaloes, houses--or people.

Though U.S. and Vietnamese bomb strikes have risen to a rate of 450 sorties a day, they are hardly indiscriminate. Normally, a strike begins with the request of a Vietnamese province chief, whose Vietnamese divisional commander must approve. Tactical Air Control centers in Saigon or Danang send out the planes, which are preceded to the target by a FAC (Forward Air Controller) plane. FAC marks the exact target with a smoke rocket, and the attackers then "hit the smoke," usually with remarkable accuracy.

The Free Strikes. But, for all the safeguards, mistakes are made and civilians hurt, which is why Westmoreland last week tightened the leash on his weaponry still further with another memorandum demanding greater caution. Hard on its heels came an Air Force decree tightening control over some 200 "free-strike zones" at which pilots had been free to blast away at will. Henceforth FAC planes will patrol each of the known Viet Cong zones, pinpoint strikes within them as in the rest of South Viet Nam. A B-52 raid originally planned for the big allied sweep of the Ben Cat area fortnight ago (TIME, Sept. 24) was canceled on the outside chance that some stray bombs might hit uninvolved villages. And in an area west of Saigon, undirected artillery fire was banned--because civilians, despite orders to stay out, persisted in moving into the area.

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