Pacific Mission

THE PRESIDENCY

As soon as the news tickers told him that Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt was missing in a cruel sea, Lyndon Johnson knew that he would journey halfway round the world to say goodbye if his trusted friend and ally were not found alive. Holt and Australia had stood firm with Johnson on Viet Nam, and Johnson led 300 aides and newsmen in four jetliners 10,200 miles to honor him. For the President, who was genuinely saddened, the trip was of course much more than a re spectful condolence call. In just a few days' time, he focused world attention on Asia, impressed allies with his steadfastness, and cheered U.S. troops in Thailand and Viet Nam--where he stopped on the way home.

The trip also provided an opportunity to reaffirm the bond with Australia, which is becoming an increasingly closer ally in political, economic and cultural matters. By way of welcome, Holt's interim successor, John McEwen, promised "no change in Australia's commitment until a just peace is won." Johnson also had a rare chance to meet with the leaders of the five other Viet Nam war allies, some of them for the first time since the Manila Conference 14 months ago. He conferred with South Viet Nam's President Thieu, South Korea's President Chung Hee Park, Thailand's Prime Minister Thanom Kittikachorn, Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos and New Zealand's Prime Minister Keith Holyoake. He also saw British Prime Minister Harold Wilson.

Significant Shift. The timing of these talks was auspicious, because it coincided with a significant shift of emphasis by the U.S. in possible means for negotiating an end to the war. Johnson has often called for direct negotiations between the U.S. and North Viet Nam.

Last week he declared that the shortest road to settlement might lie within South Viet Nam itself--and that the two parties to travel it first should not be Washington and Hanoi but the Saigon government and the rebel Viet Cong. The trouble was that the South Vietnamese President and his colleagues --not to mention the Viet Cong--seemed reluctant to make the trip.

The President highlighted the change in the tone of U.S. policy by enunciating it before the largest possible audi ence. The day before leaving for Australia, Johnson and three television-network interviewers taped a "conversation with the President." The informal session--Johnson's first such TV discussion since 1964--ran for an hour in prime time and was watched by an audience estimated at 52 million Americans.

With great deliberation, Johnson declared: "Peace is going to be found by the leadership of South Viet Nam, the people of South Viet Nam, in South Viet Nam." But how? He acknowledged, and agreed with, Saigon's longstanding refusal to give formal recognition to the Viet Cong's National Liberation Front. But, he went on, Thieu had expressed willingness to undertake "informal talks with members of the N.L.F., and these could bring good results." So concerned was Johnson with driving home this point that he restated it twice more, and still further repetition was edited out of the tape before the broadcast. Johnson said that the talks, if accompanied by agreement on several fundamental points such as withdrawal of North Vietnamese forces from Laos, could end the war "in a matter of days."

A Southern Solution. A number of factors lay behind the statement. The most obvious is that the repeated calls on Hanoi to negotiate or to join in a mutual de-escalation have been futile. Why not explore anew what diplomats might call a southern solution? There have also been vague hints that the N.L.F., or factions in it, might be more amenable than Hanoi to a settlement providing for a political role for the N.L.F.

If so, it would seem wise to at least try to exploit any divisions in the Communist camp. At the same time, by giving Saigon rather than Washington primacy in any negotiations, Johnson attempted to allay South Vietnamese fears that the U.S. might negotiate over Saigon's head and against its interests. Finally, Johnson's statement was a clear nudge to President Thieu and his colleagues to implement the policy of "national reconciliation" agreed on last year at Manila but never vigorously pushed.

Thieu, however, had his own reasons for nudging back. Any recognition of the N.L.F. as an entity to be bargained with can be construed as support of the claim that the conflict is a civil war rather than resistance to external aggression. The hard-liners in his own government might move to depose Thieu if he dared to dicker with the Viet Cong. Before he left for Canberra, Thieu iced the idea by saying that while he is always willing to talk peace with anyone, he could never recognize the N.L.F. as a "legitimate party." After press reports of their differences had appeared from Washington to Saigon, Johnson and Thieu sat down to an "informal working dinner" at the U.S. embassy in Canberra. It appeared from the headlines, Johnson told his guest, that they were "squared off" against each other. Not at all, said Thieu: "Thieu does not disagree with Johnson." That was a very diplomatic utterance, but meaningful agreement seemed as elusive as the morsels of shrimp and duck under Johnson's questing chopsticks.

Later, in a joint Canberra communique, Thieu referred to Johnson's proposal by reaffirming "a willingness to discuss relevant matters with any individuals now associated with the socalled National Liberation Front." But unity hung up on this caveat: Thieu said that Saigon "could not regard the Front as an independent organization in any sense" and that "it was not useful to attempt constructive discussions with any elements in South Viet Nam committed to violent methods to obtain their political ends." Certainly there will be intricate negotiations in the future between Washington and Saigon on this question, and Johnson at least laid the groundwork.

"Right Will Prevail." Diplomatic duties completed, the President went to Melbourne's St. Paul's Cathedral for the memorial service. He was red-eyed and drawn; to the Australians who had seen him during his well-received visit last year, he seemed much older. Before ending his 36-hour stay in the country, he paid a condolence call on the Holt family, emerging from their home hand in hand with Holt's grandson Christopher, 8.

Then Johnson was off to the first of his war-area stops--Thailand's Korat Airbase, from which U.S. fighter-bombers strike North Viet Nam. "I realize," he told 200 flyers in their smoky officers' club, "that an old man is a poor excuse for your wife and family and loved ones, but I want ed to be with you at Christmas. I wanted to look each of you in the eye, and tell you that right will prevail." He heard individual pilots tell of their combat missions, then praised air power's contribution to the war effort in strong terms. Next the President made a onehour, 49-minute stopover at Cam Ranh Bay, where he was greeted by General Westmoreland, Ambassador Bunker, and that other famous traveler--Bob Hope.

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