Can the Cease-Fire Be Salvaged?

ONE afternoon last week, the U.S. Air Force provided the citizens of Phnom-Penh with a spectacular display of aeronautical fireworks. As Phantom jets bombed the east bank of the Mekong River scarcely two miles from the center of the Cambodian capital, throngs of strollers lined the west bank to watch the show, clapping and cheering when the planes made their dives.

Despite the sense of unreality that seems to pervade Phnom-Penh, the unresolved war in Cambodia has become the most crucial factor in the quest for peace in Indochina. If Cambodia falls to the Khmer insurgents, the Communists will gain easier access to South Viet Nam and thus be able to increase their pressure on the Saigon government.

In an effort to end the Cambodian fighting and make the cease-fire work in South Viet Nam and Laos, the U.S. has been trying to get Hanoi's top negotiator, Le Due Tho, back to Paris for another meeting with Presidential Adviser Henry Kissinger. The North Vietnamese originally agreed to such a meeting, according to the White House. But then they refused to cooperate until the U.S. promised to resume the clearing of Haiphong harbor and discuss postwar American economic aid for the North--both of which had been suspended by the U.S. in protest against Hanoi's cease-fire violations.

Last week the preliminary session involving the deputy negotiators, William Sullivan for the U.S. and Nguyen Co Thach for North Viet Nam, ended acrimoniously. In a particularly sharp rebuke, Sullivan warned the North Vietnamese that they must comply with the Paris accord or face a return to "the unfortunate military situation" of the past--presumably meaning U.S. bombing of the North.

In Washington, President Nixon underscored the point that Hanoi could hardly expect U.S. aid while the fighting continued. The $2.9 billion foreign aid proposal that he submitted to Congress last week included $632 million for the reconstruction of South Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia, but not a penny for North Viet Nam. At a later time, if Hanoi abides by the cease-fire agreement, said Nixon, he will recommend aid to the North as "a sound investment in confirming the peace."

In his 232-page State of the World message, which he sent to Congress last week, the President expressed the hope that U.S. problems with North Viet Nam "can be solved at the conference table." But he added, "We will not turn our backs on our friends and allies while Hanoi makes a mockery of its promise to help keep the peace."

Angry Storm. Few members of the Congress disagreed with the President on the issue of withholding aid to Hanoi, but many were angry about the continued U.S. bombing in Cambodia. When Secretary of State William Rogers appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to defend the Administration's bombing campaign in Cambodia, he was greeted by a storm of opposition. The bombing, declared Democrat Edmund Muskie of Maine, "is without justification in policy, in the Constitution or in the law." Demanded New York Republican Jacob Javits: "Is this a commitment forever? When does it end?"

Rogers maintained that the bombing was merely a continuation of longstanding U.S. policy in Indochina and a "meaningful interim action" in salvaging the ceasefire. To argue that the President had the constitutional authority to negotiate the Paris accord but does not have the power to continue the bombing in Cambodia, Rogers insisted, is to contend that "the Constitution contains an automatic self-destruct mechanism designed to destroy what has been so painfully achieved."

Whether constitutionally legitimate or not, U.S. bombing was unquestionably helpful in keeping the shaky government of Marshal Lon Nol alive. Night after night, the windows of Phnom-Penh rattled as B-52s and F-111s dropped their loads a few miles away. For the moment, following their recent victories, the Khmer insurgents seemed to have halted their attack on the capital--partly because of the U.S. bombing but also to give their overextended supply lines a chance to catch up with them.

Two weeks ago, Lon Nol set up a four-man "High Political Council" in response to U.S. demands that he broaden his regime's power base (TIME, May 7). So far, however, the new council has not demonstrated much solidarity. When Lon Nol appeared at a May Day rally last week, Washington's favorite council member, Sirik Matak, remained conspicuously absent. "Perhaps he is a bit ill," suggested one Cambodian official. "Perhaps he does not like to celebrate May Day, which has Communist connotations," speculated another. Whatever the reason, it was not an encouraging sign. When asked to describe the alliances within the council, one Western diplomat replied tartly: "One, two, three, four--all against each other."

The U.S. strategy has been to try to strengthen the Lon Nol government in advance of negotiations with the Khmer insurgents. But at the moment the insurgents do not seem to have much interest in negotiating anyway. One unresolved question was whether or not they would accept the titular leadership of deposed Prince Sihanouk, who is strongly backed by both Hanoi and Peking. Although Communist elements among the insurgents have little use for Sihanouk, there was a possibility that they might try to use his popularity with the peasantry to broaden their own movement. One Eastern European diplomat in Phnom-Penh suggested half seriously that in the end, Cambodia could well become "the first socialist constitutional monarchy."

Meanwhile, Lon Nol's undermanned, overmatched army waited resignedly for a renewed insurgent attack on the capital. "It's only a temporary rest," said one Cambodian lieutenant in charge of twelve men who were guarding a highway bridge ten miles from the capital. His soldiers, he said, were in need of uniforms and rice, and two enemy regiments were waiting a few miles away to seize the highway, thereby securing a level position within easy rocket range of the capital. "In a week or two," said the lieutenant matter-of-factly, "they will come and take the bridge."

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