ASIA: Orphaned Cornucopia

Even as Cambodia and South Viet Nam were falling to Communist armies, millions of dollars in U.S. aid to those countries were still surging through the pipeline across the Pacific. The Defense and State Departments acted immediately to turn off the flow: they rescinded letters of credit to recipients, canceled orders to suppliers, and cabled ships at sea to "frustrate" their cargoes (that is, dump them) at the nearest port. Result: military aid was routed directly to U.S. bases but non-military goods are piling up in warehouses all over Asia, especially in...

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