Bom bing Began A Year Ago

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30979, 8 February 1966, Page 17

Bom bing Began A Year Ago

fN.Z.PA. Reuter—Copyright) SAIGON, Feb. 7. One year ago today American warplanes dived without warning out of the clouds north of the 17th parallel frontier to begin punishing North Vietnam in a systematic onslaught of bombing raids.

Twelve months and more than 18,000 combat sorties later, the situation is strikingly similar.

The raids began a year ago as a reprisal for Viet Cong attacks on American bases in the South, and as a clear warning to North Vietnam to stop aiding the guerrilla movement.

Not Unprecedented The action against the North was not unprecedented. American planes had bombed North Vietnamese torpedo boat bases the previous August in retaliation for attacks on Seventh Fleet ships in the Tonkin Gulf.

But this time it marked the beginning of a remorseless, intensifying offensive. Apart from some brief interruptions due to bad weather, the only real break last year was a five-day pause in May: it ended like the latest one, with no known response from Hanoi.

The results achieved by all the thousands of tons of bombs and rockets have not been spectacular. In spite of the widespread severance of communications, North Vietnam has not been forced or intimidated into ceasing its aid to the Viet Cong cause, according to American intelligence reports. Latest informed estimates claim that more than 2000 regular North Vietnamese troops are moving into the South every month, together with supplies and weapons for the war. The American military

command considers, however, that the raids have at least succeeded in curbing North Vietnam’s help for the Viet Cong.

160 Aircraft Lost The campaign has not been without cost. Although the outclassed North Vietnamese MiG 17s and 19s soon gave up tackling the faster American jets, the United States still lost more than 160 aircraft over the North. Most of the losses were from conventional ground fire, but at least 10 were shot down by Soviet-supplied sur-face-to-air missiles. In return, the American planes hit back at 18 of the missile launching sites ringing Hanoi and Haiphong. As the United States Air Force and Navy planes once more range the North, they again face the possibility of aerial “dogfights.” Air reconnaissance has shown up-to-date MiG 21s in North Vietnam for the first time, and the five-week pause has given useful time for uninterrupted training.