By Terence Smith Special to The New York Times
April 1, 1970
SAIGON, South Vietnam, Wednesday, April 1—The South Vietnamese Army’s penetration of Cambodian territory last week has caused considerable concern among United States diplomats here.
Senior members of the Unit ed States mission are worried that if the South Vietnamese continue to conduct sweeps across the Cambodian border, they will threaten the neutral ity of the new regime in Pnom penh and complicate American efforts to stay out of the Cam bodian crisis.
On the other hand, the South Vietnamese appear eager to ex ploit the changing situation.
“We see the present situa tion as an opportunity,” an aide in the Presidential Palace said today, “and we are not nearly so concerned as the embassy about the diplomatic complica tions.”
The operation last weekend, in which three battalions of South Vietnamese troops at tacked sanctuary two miles in side Cambodia with Cambodian Army cooperation, caught the United States embassy here by surprise.
Planned by South Vietnam
Reliable sources said that the sweep had been planned and executed by the South Vietna mese alone, without the knowl edge or consent of the United States mission here.
“The South Vietnamese never informed us of the opera tion or asked for our approval,” a ranking American source said today, “probably because they knew in advance what our an swer would be. Coming so quickly after President Nixon’s statements about limiting Amer ican involvement and respect ing Cambodian, neutrality, we would have had to say no.”
Most of all, the United States officials here are concerned about the impact that future South Vietnamese operations across the border may have of American public opinion.
“It would open us to the charge of widening the war,” one official said. “That’s the last thing the Administration wants at this point.”
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The diplomats also fear a strong reaction by Hanoi against the new Government in Pnom penh, particularly when Cambo dian troops are involved.
As a result, caution has been urged on the South Vietnarnese. Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker saw President Nguyen Van Thieu on March 24 and again yesterday.
Some members of the United States military command in Sai gon said that they had had suspicions that the South Viet namese were going to push the operation beyond the border last Friday. But they appar ently did not pass those sus picions along to the embassy or Washington; both were caught unprepared by the initial news reports.
The South Vietnamese, how ever, continue to want to get at the sanctuaries across the Cambodian border, which are believed to contain 20,000 to 30,000 enemy troops and tons of supplies.
Many South Vietnamese com manders, particularly those re sponsible for the border areas, arc urging further sweeps through the sanctuaries.
A number of American com manders also believe that the Communist effort in the South can be crippled if the Cambo dian sanctuaries are denied to the enemy. Some officers be lieve that North Vietnam would be forced to sue for peace within six months if it lost its Cambodian supply routes and hideouts.
The top American diplomats here are far more skeptical. They believe that short‐term gains from South Vietnamese actions would be outweighed by the political disadvantages.
This military‐civilian division of opinion follows lines that have become traditional in South Vietnam. The hawks have been concentrated in “Pentagon East,” as the military headquarters is called, while the doves, such as they are, have been in the Embassy.
The diplomats here, for the most part, have abandoned any hope of a military victory in South Vietnam. Some command ers, however, still nurture that hope, and tend to act upon likely opportunities.
The operation last weekend marked the first time that South Vietnamese troops had crossed the Cambodian frontier in strength, except in so‐called hot pursuit.
On Friday and again on Sat urday, South Vietnamese Rang ers in a long column of ar mored personnel carriers pene trated at least two miles into Cambodian territory. Two bat talions of Cambodian Army troops served as a blocking force. The operation ended Sun day night, with 94 Vietcong reported killed and 3 reported captured.
The “suspicions” of some thing unusual apparently came up through military channels from the American advisers working with the South Viet namese forces on the planning of the operation. The advisers were never told directly that the operation would be extend ed into Cambodia, but they de duced it.
The unprecedented South Vietnamese‐Cambodian coordi nation resulted from five meet ings of border officials held be tween March 18, the day of the Cambodian coup d’état, and March 26.
Held in Mud‐Walled Post
The meetings were held in a mud‐walled Cambodian Army outpost just across the border at the northwestern tip of Anphu District, on the edge of the Bassac River. The South Vietnamese representative was Lieut. Col. Truong Dinh Chat, the Anphu District chief, who had met periodically in the past with a Lieutenant Ean, the Cambodian outpost commander.
Reliable sources give the following chronology of their contacts. On the initiative of Lieutenant Ean, the two men met the night of the overthrow of Prince Norodom Sihanouk and discussed possible military cooperation against the Viet cong. They met a second time at noon March 20, this time accompanied by a French s?eaking American military ad viser to Colonel Chat.
Lieutenant Ean reported at the second meeting that his men were in contact with a Vietcong force estimated at 300 men in the nearby Paknam Forest and asked for air and artillery sup port from the South Viet namese. Within two hours, Vietnamese Air Force planes struck at the enemy positions, roughly two miles inside Cam bodia, and Vietnamese artillery began shelling the target. It was the first time Vietnamese airstrikes had been provided for the Cambodians.
On March 21, Colonel Chat again crossed the border, this time to meet a delegation of Cambodian officers headed by Maj. Ly Khieng, the Cambodian chief for military affairs of Kandal Province. Altogether there were 13 Cambodian offi cers at the meeting, including Lieutenant Ean.
At this and a subsequent meeting the next morning, the Cambodian delegation proposed that a large joint operation be mounted, involving two bat talions of Cambodian forces and at least two Vietnamese bat talions, against the Vietcong sanctuary in the Paknam Forest.
The Cambodians recom mended that the area, which is believed to be unpopulated except for the enemy, be sub jected to artillery and air strikes. They specifically sug gested that napalm would be effective because of the dense woods.
Tentative agreement on the operation was reached at this morning meeting, which was witnessed by 30 Cambodian Army soldiers in fatigues and 20 Cambodian militiamen in pajama‐like uniforms. All of the Cambodian soldiers carried AK 47 rifles.
A fifth and final meeting on he operation was held at 9 A.M: on March 26 and the op ?ration was launched at 3 A.M. on the 27th.
For the record, the South Vietnamese authorities have re used to acknowledge that their troops crossed the border. But ?rivately, they seem eminently ?leased with the results.