Word: forbath
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...Ordeal. In any case, most Czechoslovaks are waiting uncomfortably for some sort of denouement. In the four months since the invasion, they have seen much of the excitement-and freedom-that was generated during Dubcek's early stewardship wither away under Soviet pressure. When TIME Correspondent Peter Forbath, who covered both the idyl and the ordeal, recently returned to Prague after an absence of two months, he found that the Russian presence was certainly the No. 1 reality in Czechoslovakia. Yet much of the country's mood, he found, remained resilient. For-bath's report...
...Forbath, who has been out of the United States for a year, said that the mood in Prague toward the invading Red Troops was not one of surprise. "The Czechs accepted the Russian presence as part of a decision made long ago," he said. "While we consider the invasion totally out of the question, the Czechs see themselves as being within the Soviet sphere of influence...
Citing reasons for the Russian military mancuver, Forbath said that the Kremlin has always wanted to put troops in Czechoslovakia to unify its western buffer zone. He added that the Soviets feared first an economic and then a political swing to the West in Czechoslovakia...
...Militarily the invasion was a beautiful operation, but politically it was bungled," Forbath said. Russian failure to instate a new regime cost them the appearance of legitimacy, he said...
Only about 13 or 14 of the 89 communist parties approved the invasion of Prague; the major communist parties in France. Italy and China opposed it, Forbath said. This disapproval, he said, made the Soviets use force as a last resort and also made them more lenient in their post-invasion tactics...