SOUTH VIET NAM: Signs of Unease in the Palace

THE South Vietnamese last week launched their first serious counteroffensive since Communist troops rolled into northern Quang Tri province three months ago. Some 5,000 marines and airborne troops—preceded by the heaviest naval and air bombardment of the war—were dispatched to Quang Tri province; some, in fact, were helilifted to within four miles of Quang Tri city. The operation's immediate aim was to secure two districts as bases for future thrusts into the rest of the Communist-held territory.

For the time being, at least, the South Vietnamese—or more precisely, U.S. saturation bombing—seemed finally...