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 to have contained the Communist offensive. Embattled An Loc was still under siege, but in the north, the long-predicted push on Hué had not materialized. American intelligence analysts are now convinced that the attack was scheduled for June 9 but was canceled after the North Vietnamese commander reviewed the condition of his four divisions in the area. The analysts believe that the U.S. bombing around Hué hurt the Communists so badly that it may take them a long while to recover.
Despite the evidence that the military threat was subsiding, there were some decided signs of unease emanating from the Presidential Palace in Saigon. They were primarily visible in President Nguyen Van Thieu's increasing use of —and demand for—arbitrary power. During the past 2½ months, his government has ordered the arrest of thousands of "suspected Viet Cong sympathizers," including virtually the entire student body of Hué University; arrests are continuing at the rate of 14,000 per month, though U.S. and Vietnamese officials maintain that most of those detained are quickly released. Thirty-two opposition groups issued a statement denouncing the campaign, but no Saigon newspaper printed the story for fear of government censure.
Special Powers. Last week Thieu also assumed new dictatorial powers for six months in all matters relating to the country's national defense, internal security, financial and economic affairs —though he had considerable trouble getting his request for "special powers" approved by the South Vietnamese Senate. He had asked for the authority primarily to be able to deal by decree with South Viet Nam's worsening economic situation, most probably by levying new taxes and borrowing piastres from the National Bank. As the final Senate vote approached, Thieu's forces put pressure on Senators; some of them said that they had been offered as much as $12,200 and a round-the-world air ticket for a yes vote. In the end, though the Senate had previously defeated a similar bill, the opposition could muster only 24 out of 60 votes. With passage certain, they tried to delay the vote, then simply boycotted a meeting called by pro-Thieu Senators, who waited until after the 10 p.m. curfew and finally voted 26-0 to give Thieu what he wanted.