Word: oiled
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...American warplanes continued to pound its oil installations last week, North Viet Nam responded with a mixture of fear, rage and frantic determination. Hanoi decided to evacuate all of the capital city's residents "nonessential to fighting and production," and began dispersing fuel dumps into the middle of villages-where, in order to hit them, the U.S. would also have to hit civilians...
Last week Navy jets from the carrier Hancock went back to hit again Haiphong's major oil depot, a repeat of the raid that fortnight ago signaled significant new pressures on the enemy. At the time, reconnaissance indicated that 80% of the targets had been destroyed. When the roiling smoke cleared, the damage turned out to be closer to 30% . So the Navy went back, and for good measure, Navy and Air Force planes at week's end hit fuel dumps 35 miles north of Hanoi and 43 miles south east of Vinh. En route, Skyhawks and Intruders...
Wilson already had come out against the U.S. bombing of the Hanoi and Haiphong oil installations. With Anglo-American relations at stake, he would be pushed no farther. Summoning Labor M.P.s to a closed-door caucus the day before the Commons debate, he blistered the left-wingers, declared that some of them sought a Viet Cong victory. "What government, Western, Communist or neutral, has done more than the Labor government to seek a peace in Viet Nam?" demanded Wilson. When no one replied, he said dryly: "The silence is deafening and overwhelming...
Next day 32 Laborites abstained, but none dared vote against a government motion supporting the U.S. in Viet Nam -short of its bombing of the oil-storage areas in Hanoi and Haiphong. Wilson's cause was helped by the dramatic news that on July 16 he would be off to Moscow for talks with Soviet leaders about peace in Southeast Asia. Tactically, the announcement served to neutralize the dissidents. But Wilson has tried before and failed to persuade the Communists to talk about peace in Viet Nam. This time the pressure on him will be greater than ever...
...looking at the oil dump bombings is to see them as part of an Administration effort to quelch anti-war campaigns. Up until several weeks ago the State Department was daily informing reporters that Hanoi banked on U.S. public opinion to win the war for them. Now through the bombings the situation has reversed. North Vietnamese morale is said to be sagging, and Americans are asked to wait until it collapses...