Southeast Asia: The Rains Went

As the rainy season ended in Southeast Asia, the time of decision began.

In SOUTH VIET NAM, the Communist guerrillas have doubled their strength in the past six months and seem able to muster a battalion-sized force at any point they choose, strike with it, and be gone before the road-bound army of President Ngo Dinh Diem can retaliate. Washington expects at any time a Communist announcement that the western plateau of South Viet Nam, next to the Laos border, is "liberated territory," complete with a "capital'' and a Communist government. Should it happen, Washington suggested last week, the U.S. will...