Evening star., 1961-04-07

mentS IN its own ranks,
found itself engaged again by
tough, elusive guerrillas.
There was no going back,
however. In April, 1860, after
a highly questionable elec-
ton, a government of COM
mittee candidates, with Gen.
Phoumi NoSavan as its all
powerful minister of defense,
was duly installed in Vien-
tiane.
Last Chance
The last chance to go back
came just five months later
when an unknown but highly
discontented captain named
Kong LIE suddenly seized
Vientiane at the head of his
battalion of paratroopers.
Taking advantage of the
temporary absence of the
government, the nocturnal
coup met with virtually no
resistance from the local gar
rison. Finding himself master
of the Situation-apparently
somewhat to his own sur
prise-Kong LIE declared the
government overthrown and
installed and Prince Souph-
anna Phouma. Once again,
a neutralist government was
installed and Prince Souv-
anouvong appeared in Wen
tiane to talk things over.
Once again, however. Amer
ican policy makers moved de-
cisively into the picture. Al
though the new government
was apparently supported by
the people, recognized by the
United States and warmly
Endorsed by the British and
French. the whole American
apparatus in Laos was soon
geared to the task of bring
ing it down. The effort was
successful. When the troops
of Gen. Phoumi re-entered
Vientiane on December Is
after an artillery lombard
ment that caused 200 civilian
deaths, the American ambas-
Sador held a victory celebra-
ton at the Setha Palace Ho-
tel.
The victory, however, was
Short-liVed. Though Kong
lie had been routed and
Souvanna Phouma had flown
off to exile in neighboring
Cambodia, two important
new factors had entered the
picture.
The first was that Kong
LIE, in leaving, had taken
with him 400 of the best
soldiers in the Royal army.
From Vientiane, the battalion
cut directly northeast to the
strategic Plaine des Jarres,
routed some 1900 troops
which Gen. Phoumi had sta
toned there, made contact
with the Pathet Lao and dug
in.
The Russians Move In
The second factor was that
the Russians decided that
the time Waa ripe 10 take a
hand in the game. During
his second brief interlude of
authority, Souvanna Phouma,
acting in accordance with
his ideas of neutralism, had
established diplomatic rela-
tionS with the Soviet Union.
A few weeks before his down.
fall, faced with a shortage
of gasoline and food in Wen
tiane. he had appealed to the
Russians for help.
1t came quickly by airlift
from Hanoi. After Souv-
anna Phouma was over
thrown, the Russians, who
refused to recognize the new
government of Premier Boun
Gum, kept right on coming.
Only now the IllyuShins
carried mortarS, 85-mm.
cannon and Russian experts
from Hanoi to the Plaine des
Jarres. The Pathet Lao with
new strength, and reinforced
by Vietminh volunteers,
moved to the offensive,
cutting the vital road juno
ton at Phou Khoun and ad-
vancing to within Is miles
OF the Royal capital of Luang
Prabang.
Against this background,
the choices that have faced
the new administration have
been grim. A decision to in
tervene militarily if a nego-
tlated settlement was not
Forthcoming would be a des-
perate alternative to total
military defeat. The decision
to seek a political solution
based on a neutral and in
dependent Laos amounts to
belated recognition that the
course of American policy
IN Laos over the last five
years has been consistently
and obStinately wrong.
1t is idle, perhaps, to spec
ulate what might have hap
pened if the United States.
instead of deliberately scut-
Ting Souvanna Phouma in
1858 and again last year had
offered him support in his
effort to create a neutral
state in Laos. What is quite
clear is that what might
have been possible then is
no longer possible now. In
Bangkok and even in Vien-
tlane one still can hear
plenty of optimistic talk of
a political settlement that
would exclude the Pathet Lao
from any positions of real
power. But IN the light of
the realities as they appear
In Laos today the happy end
ing to the sad story is hardly
believable.