Vietnamisation that never worked

Saigon, May 1: Vietnamisation not only never worked but never happened despite the American pull-out. This is the impression of newsman Peter Arnett and photographer Horst Faas of the Associated Press, who covered the Vietnam war from 1962 to 1970 and returned three weeks ago to report on the current Viet-Cong offensive. They write: what we have seen in the last three weeks looks like a film strip of the preceding 10 years reversed and rerun. The years peeled back as images of Vietnam at war flashed before our eyes. One morning last week, an American adviser for Rural Development held up a 1.8 metre computer readout of his province’s security rating that he had just received from Saigon. “Look at this”, he said, pointing to a bank of numbers. “That is supposed to give the current status of our popular force units. We cannot reach any of those units by radio. They have just gone. This paper is worthless.” He walked over to a chart detailing development plans for a score of hamlets in his northern districts. “We have lost them too”, he said, turning the chart to the wall. Elsewhere in the three major fighting areas we visited — the sense of swift, unexpected reversal was strong. We arrived 10 days after the North Vietnamese offensive began. Thrusts had been made deep into Quanv Tri province.