Levels of Violence

The Viet Nam truce of 16 months ago satisfied one urgent desire of the Americans and the North Vietnamese-- extrication of U.S. forces from the combat. But fighting continues as both the South Vietnamese and the Communists violate the agreement with metronomic regularity. Neither side seems genuinely interested in further compromise that could lead to real peace.

Henry Kissinger has noted that "the level of violence is markedly less" than in 1972. U.S. military aid, however, remains high--$1.1 billion in the current fiscal year for South Viet Nam and Laos--and the Administration says that more is needed. It has requested a ceiling of $ 1.6 billion in fiscal 1975 for South Viet Nam alone. The rationale is that the military balance must be maintained, and the Pentagon insists that it is merely replacing South Vietnamese materiel losses on a one-to-one basis.

Congress is reluctant. The House last month voted against raising military assistance for the current fiscal year, and last week the Senate rejected a $266 million increase by a vote of 43 to 38. The funds, said Senator Edward Kennedy, would merely "help perpetuate old relationships and policies at the same old level." The standoff between the Administration and Congress points up the cruel dilemma that Viet Nam continues to pose for the U.S. Having invested so many lives and dollars in the conflict, the U.S. has a natural reluctance to cut back drastically on financial aid and thereby weaken the Thieu regime. Just maintaining the present spending level means an actual reduction because of inflation. Yet continuing or raising the assistance would seem to guarantee the new status quo--a bloody, inconclusive struggle among the Vietnamese that could go on indefinitely. No one in the Administration or in Congress appears to have any fresh ideas about a way out.

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