Muskegon Chronicle Article May 9, 1969

SAIGON (AP) - The Viet Cong's high command has called for a summer offensive in South Vietnam to force the Saigon regime to agree to a coalition government and compel the United States to Withdraw troops from the country, according to a captured document made public today.

The U.S. mission said the document was issued by the Central Office for South Vietnam, the Viet Cong's supreme headquarters.

"The importance of the summer (offensive) should be clearly pointed out," the document said. "It is a very important phase intended to compel the enemy ... to accept serious negotiations with us, to withdraw troops, to recognize the National Liberation front, and to accept a coalition government."

The documet gave no timetable for the new offensive, but documents captured earlier have indicated it would start in May or June.

The National Liberation Front (NLF), political arm of the Viet Cong, put forward a 10 point peace program at the Paris talks Thursday. It included a coalition government and withdrawal of all American forces.

The Viet Cong document made public in Saigon outlined these requirements for the summer offensive:

--It must be more aggressive, stronger and more painful to the Americans and the South Vietnamese than the spring offensive launched Feb. 23.

--It must succeed in destroying, wearing down, and disintegrating more American potential, more main force South Vietnamese troops, and especially more South Vietnamese village and hamlet officials.

--It must destroy large amounts of allied war materials and supply facilities.

--It must include strong attacks on allied rear bases.

The document also called for incitement of a general uprising among the population, and "liberation of hamlets and wards when the situation is favorable."

The document said the Communists "do not intend to attain the (final) victory overnight or in a single phase ... The victory will not come to us in such an easy way, but it will come in a difficult and complicated way. It will be a limited victory and not a clearcut, complete victory."

The document termed the spring offensive a success which had upset President Nixon's plans.

"We did not conduct any phase (offensive) from September to February," the document said. "This made Nixon think that we lost the initiative and that he can hold a firmer, stronger position at the negotiation table.

"The success of the 1969 spring offensive upset Nixon's plan because U.S. forces were heavily hit, and their weakening puppet (South Vietnamese) army could no longer provide support for the implementation of neocolonialism."

"The antiwar movement in the U.S. flared up again, strongly demanding withdrawal of U.S. troops. In short, the 1969 spring offensive forced Nixon to adopt a clearer policy for Vietnam and to end the war in our direction."

The document claimed 45,000 allied troops were killed in the spring offensive, half of them Americans. Official allied figures for the first five weeks of the offensive--which U.S. experts now feel was the effective period--show 1,718 American, 1,799 South Vietnamese, and 24,361 enemy troops killed in action.

Meanwhile, informed sources said the U.S. Command has received no orders from Washington to scale down offensive operations.