President Ford appealed to Congress in a nationally televised news conference to provide additional military assistance to Cambodia. He said “time was running out” and that aid was necessary to assure the survival of the Cambodian government and to permit a negotiated settlement of the war. At the same time, Mr. Ford pledged that despite the deteriorating military situation in Cambodia, the United States would not send troops back into Indochina. “All American troops have come home,” he said. “They will not go back.” In a statement read at the opening of a White House news conference, Mr. Ford said there was “no hope” for a negotiated settlement “unless the Congress provides the necessary means for Cambodia to survive.”
If the United States was to cease its assistance now, he said, it would draw into question the “reliability of the United States” and encourage the belief that aggression pays. “If we abandon our allies,” he said, “we will be saying to all the world that war pays. Aggression will not stop; rather it will increase. “In Cambodia, the aggressors will have shown that if negotiations are resisted, the United States will weary, abandon its friends and force will prevail.”
It was apparent that Mr. Ford was not easing his pressure on Congress, despite a message conveyed to him personally this morning by Senator Hubert Humphrey that Congress would not approve any of the $222 million in additional aid requested by the administration. In the President’s statement tonight, however, there was a shift of emphasis in his arguments. When he first asked for the aid, Mr. Ford emphasized that the Cambodian Government would fall if additional aid were not provided immediately by the United States. That theme was still present in tonight’s statement. But this time the President placed his emphasis upon the need to demonstrate the “reliability” of the United States in support of allies and upon the interrelationship of continued aid to Cambodia and a negotiated settlement.
The Phnom Penh airlift continued today despite the shelling, but there were some hitches and nervous moments. One C‐130 was hit by shrapnel, but the damage was slight and the plane continued flying. Another was about to land this afternoon when a shell exploded nearby. The pilot immediately gunned his engines, climbed into the sky and flew back to Thailand without landing. By 5 P.M. about 30 shells had fallen on Pochentong Airport, again disrupting but not stopping completely the. American airlift that is now Phnom Penh’s only supply line. The shells were a mixture of inaccurate rockets and artillery shells, which are very accurate. Several of the shells landed close to the airlift’s cargo planes as they landed and took off. The Communist‐led insurgents would seem to have a forward observer reporting the planes’ positions back to the gunners. Yesterday was the first time the insurgents had hit the airport with shells from the American‐made 105‐mm artillery they have captured in this war.
Yesterday, despite the shelling, the airlift managed to complete 44 flights, which brought in a total of 1,300 tons of American food, fuel and ammunition. But today—though no figures were immediately available—the number of flights wall down, as airlift crews were taking greater precautions and ciroling over the airport for longer periods before landing. One DC‐8 cargo jet was hit by shrapnel yesterday but there were no casualties. No hits were reported today although several shells fell extremely close. The civilian side of the airport was shut down tight today, not a single passenger flight coming in or out. The Government says it plans to resume civilian flights tomorrow but this may be wishful thinking. Pochentong Airport, five miles west of the center of Phnom Penh, is at the moment the capital’s last supply link with the outside world. All others have been cut by the insurgents, who began their latest offensive on New Year’s Day.
Insurgent pressure continued heavy on the other major fronts today, too, ranging in an arc from north of the city around Prek Phnou to the northwest and down to the southwest below Route 4. It is on the northwestern quadrant, in the area around the town of Tuol Leap, that the insurgents have placed their rocket pads and their artillery. Military sources here think the shells are being fired from a marshy stream slightly to the north and east of Tuol Leap. Government troops have begun a push to try to clear the area of the enemy gunners, but first they must retake Tuol Leap. The plan was to retake it today, but the thinly stretched government forces got stalled half a mile from town. So the gunners were undisturbed and the shells kept falling on the airport about five miles away. The insurgents also fired rockets from the east and northeast of Phnom Penh, where they hold positions on the east bank of the Mekong and on a peninsula opposite the city. These rockets fall directly into the capital, not the airport, and have spread fear throughout the city. But despite daily civilian casualties, there has been no panic.
The United States Embassy in Phnom Penh, authoritative sources said, believes that the best that can be hoped for in Cambodia is little more than a negotiated surrender in which the only subjects open for discussion would be the details, humaneness and orderliness of the takeover by the insurgents. This assessment, which differs from the Ford administration’s views, is shared by virtually the entire diplomatic community in Phnom Penh. The assessment is distinctly at odds with the Ford Administration’s public statements in Washington, which continue to cite the possibility of a compromise settlement or a negotiated solution — phrases that suggest a coalition government and diplomatic give‐and‐take rather than a negotiated surrender.
On the peace prospects, neither the embassy as such nor its officials would comment on the subject, but it is understood that the Ambassador, John Gunther Dean, has communicated the embassy’s pessimistic views to Washington. The gap between the embassy and the State Department — or at least the department’s public stance — would appear to have widened as embassy officials have become steadily disillusioned about what can be accomplished by continuing the United States involvement in the five‐year Cambodian war. After Ambassador Dean, who played a key role in the coalition settlement in Laos in 1973, came to Cambodia a year ago, he spoke enthusiastically to visitors about his hopes for settlement here in the same pattern. Since then he has worked to strengthen the Government of Marshal Lon Nol in the hope this might build a reasonable negotiating posture. But as he came up against reality here, he began talking to visitors of a solution like that in Algeria, then of an “orderly” settlement and finally of a “controlled solution.”
The embassy, those knowledgeable about its views say, sees the erosion of the Cambodian Government’s position as inexorable and irreversible, and it apparently feels that though more military aid may keep it propped up a while longer, defeat is inevitable. At the moment Phnom Penh is being kept alive solely by an American airlift, because other supply routes from, the outside — the Mekong River in particular — have been cut by the insurgents. Even the airlift is endangered now because the insurgents have moved rocket launchers and, more important, artillery close enough to shell the airport. The shelling, stepped up in the last two days, has disrupted though not yet stopped the airlift, but it has been only chance that big cargo planes have not been more than superficially damaged.
Cambodian Government troops, thinly spread and hard‐pressed by the dry‐season offensive of the insurgents, are being reinforced mostly by inexperienced soldiers, according to two colonels in the field. Most of the reinforcements, they said, are desk soldiers from the central command, “invalids” from hospitals and technicians. The inexperience of many of the defenders, the officers and other military men said, is a major reason for the recent gains the insurgents have been able to make. Senior officers and soldiers were interviewed during visits to the fronts near Phnom Penh during the last week. In some tight situations in the last several weeks, they said, some units fled in the face of heavy assaults by the insurgents. Morale in some units seems to be plummeting with military reverses or the inability to retake lost positions, and earlier this week the commander in chief of the Cambodian Government forces issued an order to all troops urging them to “continue to fight, to keep heart.”
“The new troops are so afraid,” said Colonel Van Dy, commander of the key 23d Brigade, a special force commissioned to hold a line from the town of Tuol Leap southward toward Pochentong airport. Early last Friday insurgent forces overran the town and the surrounding territory has been used as a base by them for shelling the airport. Colonel Van Dy said that his unit had lost nearly one‐third of its strength since the insurgents began their offensive Jan. 1. He said he had been unable to use his reinforcements to retake any territory. Sitting in his forward command bunker built from sandfilled ammunition boxes and tree trunks 10 miles northwest of Phnom Penh, the colonel, a young American‐trained career officer, shook his head as he spoke of the new troops. “They do not want to fight,” he said, “and they want to be paid. So they leave the unit to go back to Phnom Penh for their paychecks.”
On the east bank of the Tonle Sap, across from downtown Phnom Penh, the 28th Brigade has received no reinforcements since the start of the dry‐season offensive, according to its commanding colonel, who asked not to be identified. In the command center—a fortified abandoned agricultural school in a gully beside the narrow asphalt roadway—the colonel noted that his casualties were mounting rapidly and that he was being forced to defend some of his rear positions with “territorials,” members of a sort of ragtag national guard. This morning a probing force of insurgents penetrated an area, he said, and he feared that the 2,000 main force enemy troops might again press his depleted brigade of little more than 900 men before the week was out.
The Soviet bloc proposed in Vienna that the United States and the Soviet Union should spearhead gradual troop reductions in Central Europe over a two-year period. Communist officials said the move represented a substantial change in Soviet bloc proposals presented earlier at the 19-nation troop reduction conference. The Soviet bloc previously accepted the principle that the United States and the Soviet Union should inaugurate a reduction program only this year, to be followed by other countries with troops in Central Europe. There was no official Western response but a spokesman said he didn’t see “any great changes in substance.”
Because Export-Import Bank loans to the Soviet Union have been restricted, the Bank of America has offered to form a banking syndicate to lend $500 million to the Russians to finance imports from the United States. If the credit arrangement is established, it would play a major role in financing trade with the Soviet Union. In 1974 exports from the United States to the Soviet Union totaled $602‐million. If the Soviet Union approves the proposal, the Bank of America would organize a syndicate of banks to share the $500‐million credit. So far, however, the proposal has not been discussed with other banks, the Bank of America said.
The Soviet government newspaper Izvestia painted a harrowing picture of emigre Soviet Jews in the United States flooding the Soviet Embassy in Washington with pleas to be allowed to return home. The article, one of a series on the problems of the migrants, quoted letters reportedly received by the embassy from Jews who had left the Soviet Union during the last three years, all declaring their inability to live under capitalism.
A 26-year-old breadman was killed near his home at Portadown, Northern Ireland, when his booby-trapped car exploded. Police believed that Edward Clayton, a Protestant, may have been the victim of a mistaken revenge attack for the murder of a Roman Catholic in the neighboring town of Lurgan two weeks ago.
A Bomb destroyed the Paris office of the Axel Springer publishing company of West Germany tonight and a group sympathetic to the Baader-Meinhof anarchist group claimed responsibility for the attack, the police said.
Eighteen major oil consumer nations met in Paris today to consider two American proposals for insuring development of alternative energy supplies. The United States is demanding broad support on at least one of the proposals as a condition for participating in a preparatory conference between oil producer and consumer nations tentatively scheduled for April 7 in Paris. One proposal calls for the consumer nations to establish a floor price for oil to protect investors against the risk that falling prices would endanger investment in new energy sources. The other proposal would achieve a similar objective through the levying of a common tariff on oil imported from outside the group of 18 nations.
An offer to negotiate with industrial nations on the “stabilization” of oil prices was made by the oil-exporting countries, but they said the agenda could not be limited to energy prices. The international conference they envision would have to deal with issues of raw materials, monetary relations and the development of poorer nations, they said in Algiers at the close of the first meeting of the sovereigns and chiefs of state of the 13-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Secretary of State Kissinger expressed concern tonight that the attack in Tel Aviv yesterday could endanger his forthcoming Middle East diplomatic efforts. But he pledged to persevere because, he said, the alternative to a negotiated settlement was “more travail and tragedy, not only for the peoples concerned, but ultimately for the world.” In a speech delivered at a dinner tonight honoring two British political figures, Mr. Kissinger said that he would arrive in the Middle East tomorrow night on his latest mission “saddened” by the “random” and “senseless” terrorist act which reminds us once more of the tragic dimension of this conflict.” Apparently anticipating an Israeli retaliatory strike, Mr. Kissinger said: “Violence does not forward the cause of peace.”
An Israeli military spokesman announced that the navy had captured a ship that had carried the two smaller boats in which eight Palestinian guerrillas landed in Tel Aviv Wednesday night before seizing a shorefront hotel. The spokesman identified the captured ship only as a “Fatah ship.” Al Fatah, the major Palestinian guerrilla group, has claimed responsibility for the raid on the hotel.
Iran and Iraq announced a settlement in their border dispute at a meeting of the OPEC nations in Algiers. The Shah of Iran signed on behalf of his nation, while Iraq was represented by Saddam Hussein, an aide to President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr and future President of Iraq. The meeting was overseen by Algerian President Houari Boumediene. Iraq agreed to drop claims to half of the Shatt al-Arab, while Iran agreed not to supply weapons to Kurdish spearatists in northern Iraq. Both nations are members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The Persian Gulf region, they said, should be kept “free of all foreign influence.” In 1980, Iraq would break the agreement and invade Iran, starting the eight-year Iran–Iraq War.
At least 100,000 people surged through the heart of New Delhi today in a demonstration against the government, the biggest such march here in years. Led by Jaya Prakash Narayan, the 72‐year‐old follower of Mohandas K. Gandhi, the noisy and festive march and rally was marked by fierce attacks on the policies of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the Congress party, which has dominated India for 27 years. Some estimates of the crowd were as high as 300,000. “Today’s march will change India’s history,” Mr. Narayan said in a quavering voice. “It is the beginning of a new chapter. The rulers will be forced to listen to the people’s voice.”
Former Muslim rebels now loyal to the government killed 12 men encountered on a suspected supply route for dissident forces in the southern Philippines, the Defense Department reported in Manila. It said the ex-rebels, formed into a civilian defense force, captured seven weapons and 650 rounds of ammunition in the encounter with the Muslims, who are seeking self-rule.
Colombia resumed diplomatic relations with Cuba after a 14-year break, the Foreign Ministry announced in Bogota. Foreign Minister Indalecio Lievano said the step had been taken “in order to clear the cold war out of the continent and to strengthen the inter-American system.” Colombia broke relations with Havana in December, 1961, when a speech by Premier Fidel Castro was interpreted as offensive to the Bogota government.
A terrorist in a passing car machine-gunned a policeman to death in the northern Argentine city of Tucuman. Paulino Fernandez, 32, was walking toward his job at a local precinct when the gunman shot him in the back. Eleven bullet wounds were later found in the body. Fernandez I was the 57th victim of terrorist violence in Argentina this year.
Acting Secretary of State Robert Ingersoll asked 33 African nations to give Nathaniel Davis, recently nominated assistant secretary of state for African affairs, a chance to prove himself. Ambassadors of the 33 nations met with Ingersoll at the State Department. Davis was ambassador to Chile when Marxist President Salvador Allende was toppled in 1973, and his nomination was comdemned last month by the Organization of African Unity.
Two zoo workers in northern Tanzania have been charged with manslaughter following an incident last Sunday when two children were killed and eaten by a pair of lions. According to reports reaching Dar es Salaam, the lions attacked the children after escaping through a gate which the attendants had left open.
President Ford said in his nationally televised news conference that the tax-cut bill passed by the House, giving substantial tax relief to low and middle-income taxpayers, was weighted too heavily in their favor and did not sufficiently benefit those who might spend the money more readily. He said he was confident that the economy would improve before the end of the year, but said he thought additional help for the unemployed was needed.
The Labor Department reported that the Wholesale Price Index declined for the third consecutive month in February, providing further evidence that while the recession deepens, inflation is abating. The index declined by eight-tenths of 1 percent after adjustment for normal seasonal changes in some prices, and indicated that there would be some improvement in the rate of inflation at the consumer level.
Odds are that Treasury Undersecretary Edward C. Schmults will not move to the Justice Department as deputy attorney general, Administration sources said. Schmults’ earlier service as a director of Holly Sugar Corp. during a five-year period when the company is accused of price-fixing has made it unlikely that Attorney General Edward H. Levi will recommend his selection as No. 2 man at Justice to President Ford. The sources said there was no evidence Schmults knew anything about the alleged illegal activities, but that Levi was insisting on avoiding any questions about the management of his department, which is still recovering from Watergate shocks.
Officials of the Florida secretary of state’s office have ordered the Nixon Historical Association to halt fund solicitation to buy former President Richard M. Nixon’s two Key Biscayne homes until the project is properly registered and approved by the state. The fund solicitors, however, will not be penalized because they acted “unknowingly.”
U.S. District Judge John J.Sirica said the fair trial rights of the four Watergate coverup conspirators might be jeopardized by public broadcasting of the White House tapes. Sirica said if an appeals court should order a new trial, choosing an impartial jury would be difficult if the major television and radio networks had been permitted to broadcast tapes played during the three-month trial. The networks and a recording company are asking for rights to reproduce the more than 30 tapes. During the trial, U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell ruled there were no constitutional reasons for preventing the tapes from being aired. He later expressed reservations, however, and turned the issue over to Sirica.
Nancy L. Chotiner, widow of a former presidential political adviser killed in a collision with a truck driven by a government employee, has sued the government for $2.1 million in damages. Murray M. Chotiner, who helped former President Richard M. Nixon in several political campaigns, was driving his car to work through suburban McLean, Virginia, when the crash occurred January 23, 1974. The General Services Administration turned down a $2 million claim filed against the agency by Mrs. Chotiner after a jury acquitted the GSA driver of reckless driving.
About 1.5 million gallons of crude oil, spilled by three ruptured barges, swept down the Mississippi River as experts moved to clean it up. Two barges were beached on the Louisiana side of the river and a third remained wedged against a concrete support under a bridge at Vicksburg, Miss, after Wednesday night’s collision. One crewman on the towboat pulling the barges was killed. Jan Rogers of the Environmental Protection Agency said, “We hope we can recover approximately 25% of the oil.” He added, “We flew 40 miles downriver and we saw oil and it was still going.”
The Carnegie Council on Policy Studies in Higher Education urged today that the federal government embark on a multibillion-dollar program of subsidizing the tuition of students in private colleges and universities.
Former Governor David Hall of Oklahoma accused United States Attorney William R. Burkett of Oklahoma, the Justice Department, and several state officials today of conspiring to frame him on criminal charges for political reasons.
New York Telephone officials asked the FBI to look into a fire in an Elmhurst, Queens, telephone switching station after investigators termed the blaze suspicious. It was the third fire at a phone company facility in a week. The fire in an unused switchboard was brought under control in 30 minutes but hundreds of phones were out of service for several hours because of water damage.
The key 26.6 second section of the “Zapruder film”, the home movie which had inadvertently filmed the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, was shown for the first time on television, broadcast by ABC News.
Technical Sergeant Leonard Matlovich of the United States Air Force presented letter to his commander at Langley Air Force Base, Captain Dennis Collins, announcing, “After some years of uncertainty, I have arrived at the conclusion that my sexual preferences are homosexual as opposed to heterosexual.” In doing so, Matlovich became the first U.S. military serviceman to challenge a ban against service by gay men and lesbians.
Resolutions advocating equal rights for women and for homosexuals were passed today by the governing board of the National Council of Churches meeting in Chicagoe.
The nation’s top energy research official said more money and effort must be channeled into energy conservation. Robert C. Seamans Jr. head of the new Energy Research and Development Administration said research on energy conservation is presently the smallest item on ERDA’s budget, with a proposed fiscal limit of only $30 million out of the agency’s $2.3 billion. But he said increased funding might come either from supplemental appropriation or by shifting funds from other programs. He also said more research is needed on solar energy and advanced automobile engines.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 761.81 (+8.99, +1.19%)
Born:
Chuck Wiley, NFL defensive end (Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons, Minnesota Vikigns, New York Giants), in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Edgar Ramos, Venezuelan MLB pitcher (Philadelphia Phillies), in Cumaná, Venezuela
Aracely Arámbula, Mexican telenovella actress and singer (“Sexy”), in Chihuahua City, Mexico.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, French Canadian conductor (Montréal Orchestre Métropolitain, 2000-; Philadelphia Orchestra, 2010-26; Metropolitan Opera, 2018-present), in Montréal, Quebec, Canada.
Died:
Glen Hardin, 64, American athlete (Olympic gold medal, 400m hurdles, 1936).
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