Widening War?

Pretoria flexes its muscle

South Africa has made no secret of its intention to step up military operations against the guerrillas of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) and their bases in southern Angola. Last week the South African military command made good on the threat, pushing air-supported ground troops some 60 miles deep into Angola, clashing with Angolan troops, and bringing the 14-year-old bush war to a new and ominous stage. The purpose of South Africa's latest incursion: to strike at SWAPO sanctuaries and supply bases in Angola, with the possible side effect of strengthening Pretoria's position in negotiations over independence for the territory of Namibia, or South West Africa, which South Africa has controlled since 1920.

The South African action was initially described by the Angolan government as an armed invasion, complete with armored vehicles and aircraft. Just before the South African force began to withdraw at the end of five days, the Angolans threatened to deploy against the intruders some of the estimated 20,000 Cuban troops based in the country. South African Prime Minister Pieter W. Botha called Angola's charges exaggerated; had the Angolan army not "interfered," he told Parliament, the incursion would have gone unnoticed, like others before, as a routine hot-pursuit operation against SWAPO guerrillas. At least ten South African soldiers were reported killed.

The raid drew strong international condemnation--except from the U.S. France, Britain, West Germany and Canada, who with the U.S. have taken a leading role in trying to forge a United Nations-sponsored Namibia settlement, called for an immediate South African withdrawal. The U.S., for its part, issued a statement saying that the new South African action "must be understood in its full context" of the struggle against SWAPO and emphasized the "urgent" need for a Namibia solution. U.N. Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim cut short a vacation in his native Austria and hastily returned to New York to prepare for a Security Council meeting, as demanded by Angola, on the incursion. By week's end, heated exchanges had taken place in the Council, and one U.S. Administration official expressed concern that "lacerating South Africa at the U.N. will just make it easier for the South Africans to claim that the U.N. cannot serve as an impartial arbiter on Namibia."

Pretoria was naturally heartened by Washington's position. Editorialized the pro-government Johannesburg Citizen: "We are grateful that America has shown a sense of balance about the Angolan 'invasion' issue."

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