Dark Events

The Vietnamese Communists, between 100 and 200 strong, infiltrated Phnom-Penh during the dead of night, divided into three teams and went quickly to work. One group of sappers blew up the city's largest and most modern bridge. Another blasted its way into a stadium and tried to hijack ten armored personnel carriers parked there. The third group, armed with automatic weapons and rockets, filtered into a residential section near the stadium and entered the French embassy compound. By the time the attackers were repulsed, 83 Communists had been killed and seven captured; 26 Cambodians were dead and 58 wounded.

That assault two weeks ago sent shock waves reverberating well beyond the city limits of Phnom-Penh. For one thing, it was the first time the central part of the city had been attacked on the ground since the war in Cambodia began in 1970. For another, it is precisely the sort of hit-and-run operation that allied intelligence has predicted for Saigon almost any day now. Regiment-sized units of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong occupied seven hamlets near Saigon at the beginning of last week; South Vietnamese forces recaptured some hamlets but only after they were pounded to rubble by U.S. bombers. The assault on Phnom-Penh was also timed to have the maximum psychological impact, TIME Correspondent Stanley Cloud reported from the Cambodian capital last week. It coincided with both the Buddhist "Festival of the Dead," when Cambodians commemorate their ancestors, and the second anniversary of the Khmer Republic, which was founded seven months after the ouster of Prince Norodom Sihanouk.

The attack underscored the fact that the Communists are essentially fighting one war in South Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia. Their main objective in the latter two nations is to protect the massive supply lines that support the Vietnamese main front. But they are also fighting in order to bolster the claims of indigenous Communist organizations --Cambodia's Khmer Rouge and Laos' Pathet Lao--for representation in any new governments that might be established in an area-wide settlement of the war. The relative ease with which the Phnom-Penh attack was mounted points to the impressive gains the Communists have made in Cambodia since the start of the Easter offensive. They have expanded their area of control (see map, preceding page) from the sparsely populated north and northeast into the more populous south. They have also taken over virtual command of the segment of Route One that runs from the Mekong River to the Viet Nam border--in all, they control more than half the country.

The 150,000-man army of the Khmer Republic has made no serious attempt to expel the Communists since its troops were dealt a disastrous defeat last December at Rumlong, 50 miles north of Phnom-Penh. That defeat led to mounting criticism of the leadership of then Prime Minister Lon Nol. He responded by canceling the constitution, dissolving the National Assembly and proclaiming himself the first President of the Republic--actions since ratified by a series of blatantly rigged elections.

Bad Smell. Cambodia's political problems have been exacerbated by economic woes. The rice harvest, because of war and drought, is down to roughly half the normal yield. The Cambodian reaction has been not opposition to the government but apathy. Many civil servants no longer show up for work. One local paper summed up the situation: "The regime has been sinking into defeat and humiliation. Many dark events have occurred in Khmer society, and a bad smell drifts over the international scene."

Last week the new Lon Nol-dominated National Assembly convened in Phnom-Penh, and it was expected that the President would soon appoint a new Cabinet. But changes of Cabinets mean little to the apathetic Khmers these days--a fact that may have emboldened Prince Sihanouk, who has been living in exile in Peking, to renew his pledge to return to a position of leadership in the government. Though he is decidedly unpopular with the Khmer Rouge, Sihanouk is the nominal leader of the anti-government forces in Cambodia. The Cambodian Communists might be preparing a peace proposal similar to that made by the National Liberation Front in South Viet Nam--that is, a government composed of Communists, neutralist and rightist factions. The unpredictable Sihanouk, who recently has vowed that he would soon set up a government in the ancient imperial ruins of Angkor Wat, might well be put forth as titular head of the "neutralists."

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