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Thursday, Sept. 10, 1970
University Daily Kansan
Cambodian Troops Thrust Northward
PHNOM PENH (UPI) — A multi-battalion Cambodian force, striking unexpectedly in gunboats from the southwest, entered Kompong Thom Wednesday and broke a 60-day Communist siege of the beleaguered provincial capital, military spokesmen said.
The spokesman said Communist attention had been focused on the huge task force pushing slowly toward Kompong Thom, thus leaving the city "wide open" for a "lightning" thrust from another direction.
The 4,000-man force and its supply convoy reached Phum Kok village Wednesday, nine miles north of Skoum, where the offensive began, and 36 miles south of Kompong Thom.
The Cambodians swept into Kompong Thom, 80 miles north of Phnom Penh, after gunboats had snaked their way up the flood-swollen Stun Sen River.
The special force encountered only light resistance during the assault.
The surprise thrust from the southwest into Kompong Thom came as the largest Cambodian military operation of the war slowly pushed its way northward toward the city by road.
But a 600-man force of Viet Cong eluded a Cambodian army trap Wednesday and slipped away through passes in a mountainous region south of Phnom Penh, spokesmen said.
In South Vietnam, Communist gunners shot down two U.S. helicopters.
South Vietnamese artillerymen exchanged fire with Communist troops operating inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Saigon spokesmen said the government troops received about 33 rounds of unknown type rocket fire. They returned the fire with unknown results.
U. S. officials reported that two crewmen were wounded when the two helicopters were shot down more than 300 miles north of Saigon.
Cambodian spokesmen said the Communist maneuver to escape through the mountain passes enabled the force to avoid possible annihilation by Cambodian troops who had surrounded the Vietnamese four days ago near Srang, 26 miles south of the capital.
But the battalion commander at Srang said Wednesday he has been unable to get airstrikes against the Communists when they began moving out of the trap through mountain passes.
Elsewhere in the Indochina war, a force of approximately 300 Communists disguised as Cambodian paratroopers attacked the northern town of Siem Reap before dawn Wednesday; the biggest Cambodian Army offensive of the war pushed forward slightly toward the provincial capital of Kompong Thom; and in South Vietnam a U.S. helicopter accidentally dropped three fuel drums on the city of Hoi An and killed three civilians.
Cambodian military spokesmen said 13 were killed on each side in the fighting at Siem Reap.
Military spokesmen in Saigon said a sling supporting three 55-gallon fuel drums beneath an Air America helicopter apparently snapped Tuesday, dropping the drums on Hoi An, a city of 44,000 about 357 miles northeast of Saigon. Three civilians were killed and seven injured in the accident, they said.
In other Vietnam action, U.S. military spokesmen reported two Americans were killed and 28 others wounded in scattered action across the country.
Evacuation Planes Sent To Base near Jordan
WASHINGTON (UPI) — The United States dispatched medical evacuation planes Wednesday to a Turkish base within an hour's flying time of Jordan where nearly 300 airline passengers are held hostage by Palestinian guerrillas.
President Nixon, described as "very concerned" about the hijacking of the Trans World Airline and Swissair jetliners, was said to be devoting his full attention to gaining the hostages' freedom safe and unharmed. Diplomatic action was centered at the United Nations.
Officials of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and commercial airlines conferred with White House authorities as members of Congress proposed stiff new precautions against future hijackings on international routes.
"The United States without question deplores these hijackings," White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler said, and is "in diplomatic contact with all governments involved."
Air Act May Cut Auto Production
DETROIT (UPI)—Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday some of the proposed changes in the Federal Clean Air Act may cut off automobile production in 1975, lead to huge price increases and do "irreparable damage" to the American economy.
Even then, the act could bring about only small improvements in the quality of the air, said Lee A. Iacocca, president of Ford's North American automotive operations.
Ziegler said Nixon was behind the U.S.-British decision to call an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council as a way of putting the international community on record in favor of the immediate release of the passengers and the two planes.
House Republican Leader Gerald R. Ford and other legislators proposed baggage searches and even personal searches of passengers. Ford recommended putting armed guards on all international passenger flights.
WICHITA (UPI) — Sedgwick County Sheriff Vern Miller, Democratic attorney general candidate, said Wednesday rock music festivals "are a major place for wholesale distribution of narcotics by large suppliers and dealers in dope."
Miller has been critical of Attorney General Kent Frizzell, Republican gubernatorial candidate, for not prosecuting alleged drug violations last weekend at the festival near Weir in southeast Kansas. Frizzell said his office intervenes in such cases only when requested by local officials, and no such request was received in this instance.
'Enforce Law At Festivals,' Says Sheriff
"Purchasers and suppliers of dope distribute and sell freely under the theory that law enforcement officials are reluctant to enforce the law within the confines of the rock festival area," said the democrat.
First Juror Accepted In Black Panther Trial
NEW YORK (UPI)—A Negro musician who once left America because of racial discrimination was selected Wednesday as the first jurror in the Black Panther bombing conspiracy trial.
James J. Fox, a 57-year-old pianist, composer and arranger, was selected during the afternoon session of the second day of the trial for the 13 Black Panthers, including two women. He was the fourth prospective juror examined, the first three having been rejected.
Under questioning by Michael Tabor, one of the two defendants who Manhattan Supreme Court Justice John M. Murtagh ruled could defend themselves, Fox testified that he had experienced racial discrimination in the publication and production of his works.
He also said he thought "whites in this country are generally prejudiced against blacks."
Tax Called 'Vital' To Limit Pollution
He also said he was not at all upset by the revolutionary attitudes of today's youth, saying it is a strong force in music and the arts.
WASHINGTON (UPI) — The Nixon administration told Congress Wednesday a tax on lead additives in gasoline is vitally needed to fight a potential health problem and desperately required to lower a mounting budget deficit.
In the opening round of hearings before the House Ways and Means Committee, Treasury Secretary David M. Kennedy testified that the tax is "vital to our attempt to reduce some air pollution immediately."
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HOPE AWARD
NOMINATIONS DUE
Fri., Sept. 11
Dean of Men's or Alumni Association Office
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