Wednesday, May 3, 1972
Say N. Viet Statement A Letdown
WASHINGTON (AP) --A U.S. State Department spokesman, expressing indignation at the continuing North Vietnamese offensive in South Vietnam, said Monday the United States was disappointed in the statement of Hanoi's chief peace negotiator on his arrival in Paris.Press officer Charles W. Bray said "We did not expect to find anything new" in the public statement of Le Duc Tho who arrived in Paris, presumably to conduct private talks with Dr. Henry A. Kissinger, President Nixon's personal emissary and adviser on national security affairs."We found it something of a disappointment," said Bray, "but we were not in a position to anticipate or discuss matters covering this subject in private.""We are, as a general proposition, deeply upset. And while North Vietnam insists on the need to find a peaceful solution to the situation in Indochina, their offensive invasion of the South has not slackened, but has increased in intensity in recent days."Bray described the current situation as "serious and sorry business."He said he had seen official reports that the North Vietnamese invasion has produced 250,000 refugees in South Vietnam.The spokesman did not elaborate on the military situation, but pointed out that it was fluid -meaning anything could happen."Say N. Viet Statement A Letdown", by (AP) published in the Pacific Stars and Stripes on Wednesday, May 3, 1972 and reprinted from European and Pacific Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense publication copyright, 2002 European and Pacific Stars and Stripes.