Sunday, May 7, 1972
Viet Envoy: We'll Stand Firm
WASHINGTON (AP) --South Vietnam's ambassador to the United States says his country is willing to sacrifice "not-so-important" cities if necessary to save its crack fighting units."If it comes to a choice of losing a not-so-important city and of losing some crack units of our reserve, we prefer to keep our reserves," Ambassador Bui Diem said in an interview."We know that losing one provincial capital has a political impact," he added. "But if we have to face the difficult choice of losing a city or of losing a division, we prefer to lose the city, because we can fight our way back if the division is intact."If the division is lost, we cannot go back."South Vietnamese forces abandoned the northern provincial capital Quang Tri last Monday.Diem also urged Americans to avoid making instant judgments about his country's ability to defeat North Vietnam."I do not deny that we have difficulties," he said. "I do not say that we are going to win everywhere. But it is a long fight.""It is a test of will and we intend to stand firm in this test," he said.Diem said that at the time of the Communists' 1968 Tet offensive there were predictions that South Vietnam's army would collapse in a matter of weeks and the Saigon government would fall soon thereafter."But we are still around," he noted.Diem said he is pessimistic about any chances of negotiating a settlement so long as the current Communist offensive continues."They won't talk seriously until they are convinced they cannot go any further on the ground," he said. "There is a possibility of contacts and soundings but serious negotiations will only come when they are convinced that they cannot go farther on the battlefield.""Viet Envoy: We'll Stand Firm", by (AP), published in the Pacific Stars and Stripes on Sunday, May 7, 1972 and reprinted from European and Pacific Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense publication copyright, 2002 European and Pacific Stars and Stripes.