New Demands

For the soldiers and their women, for the civilian hangers-on and the peace demonstrators, for the orphaned and crippled, the American phase of the seemingly interminable Viet Nam War was due to end this week. After more than a decade of combat and at a cost of 46,000 American dead and 304,000 wounded, the last American forces were scheduled to pull out on March 28, leaving any future warfare to the Vietnamese themselves. As the milestone day approached, G.I.s crowded the streets of Saigon, bidding farewell to their bar girls, jamming the U.S. consulate to get visas for Vietnamese fiancees, wives and children and buying souvenirs.

But as the troops were ready to depart, the cease-fire agreement hit a snag. U.S. Government officials in Saigon insisted that the North Vietnamese release, in addition to all remaining U.S. prisoners in both Viet Nams, the ten P.O.W.s known to be held in Laos, arguing that that had been part of an "understanding" between Le Due Tho and Henry Kissinger. Until that condition was met, the U.S. said, it would refuse to continue the withdrawal of its troops.

The North retaliated with new demands of its own. A spokesman for the Viet Cong declared in Saigon that the North would not consider the U.S. withdrawal complete until the 825 U.S. soldiers on the Joint Military Commission and the 159 Marine guards who are to serve at the U.S. embassy are withdrawn along with the 5,249 other remaining American servicemen. Up to that point, the U.S. had planned to keep its JMC soldiers on hand in case the four-party commission agreed to continue functioning past the March 28 deadline. As for the P.O.W.s held in Laos, the North insisted they had not been part of the written agreement and were in any case the responsibility of the Pathet Lao.

It seemed possible that the impasse could be overcome before the deadline. Even so, the task of supervising the cease-fire accord was proving almost impossible. South Vietnamese and U.S. officials strongly protested to the International Control Commission that two South Vietnamese bases north of Saigon were being besieged by North Vietnamese regiments. But the Polish and Hungarian members of the commission refused to investigate, arguing that they might get hurt in the battle. The Saigon government was obliged to send a 1,000-man task force to relieve the troops at Rach Bap. The second base, Tong Le Chan, remained surrounded.

Shaky. There have been thousands of cease-fire violations, but only a few hundred "observations" by the ICC and virtually no unanimous decisions on which side was at fault. Of more than 40 formal cease-fire protests made by the South Vietnamese so far, only two have been investigated. In Giong Trom in the Mekong Delta, ICC delegates spent weeks trying to persuade the South Vietnamese district chief not to fire his artillery over their encampment. He finally moved his pieces, but persisted in firing into Viet Cong territory in violation of the ceasefire.

Possibly as a result of President Nixon's recent implied threats, the North Vietnamese were moving less materiel into the top of the Ho Chi Minh pipeline. Still, Communist tanks, heavy artillery and other weapons continued to enter South Viet Nam. U.S. Administration officials refused to speculate on the North's intentions. Hanoi may well figure that such supplies simply counterbalance all the warplanes and weapons that the U.S. airlifted into South Viet Nam in the weeks prior to the ceasefire. Both sides want to be ready should larger-scale fighting break out. Despite all the incidents, though, the shaky peace was still holding together.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.