Laos: The Tiger in the Pagoda

The seldom reported war in Laos ebbs and flows with the seasons. In dry weather, the Communist Pathet Lao and their North Vietnamese allies go on the offensive. During the monsoon rains, the more mobile Royal Laotian Army is trucked or helicoptered into battle and usually regains what has been previously lost.

The scenario was rewritten last spring, when the Communists mounted an un precedented monsoon offensive, captured the town of Muong Soui and threatened to drive all the way to the Mekong River. Now the scenario has been modified further. In an...

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