Almost visibly, the U.S. was falling back in Southeast Asia. Emerging from top level meetings, U.S. officials talked not of Laos, but of South Viet Nam and Thailand. Obviously, the concern now was to bolster these countries, who will be acutely exposed when Laos is abandoned to a Communist-dominated neutrality.
Recently the U.S. shipped Thailand 20 F-86 Sabre jets, the hottest planes in Southeast Asia. Last week, after prolonged debate in the National Security Council, President Kennedy decided to about double U.S. military aid for South Viet Nam, to some $80 million a year. Kennedy has already sent General Lyman...
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