denounced “Indian expansionists” and has promised Yahya that Peking would1 support the Pakistanis “in their just struggle to safeguard their state sovereignty” And Chou could hardly translate his pledge into action-by ordering Chinese troops stationed along the Indian border to provoke skirmishes, or by infiltrating “advisers” to reinforce the Pakistani army. Pakistan has some promises from Peking to take military action of its own should war begin, warns a U.S. diplomat and India is trying to extract some counterbalancing promise of military aid from Russia. That could lead to- catastrophe.
An Agonizing Choice
Any such involvement by the two Communist superpowers would confront the United States with a cruel dilemma. Pakistan, despite the undeniable brutality of its policy toward the Bengalis, is a long-standing American any and a country that the U.S. is desperately trying to keep out of Peking's sphere of influence. At the same time, India is Asia's biggest nation with a democratic tradition dating back to Gandhi and Nehru and, as such, occupies a special position in the U. S. portfolio of friendly nations. To choose between the two would be agonizing. One U.S. analyst of foreign affairs, drafting a scenario for U. S. actions should a subcontinent war break out, remarked: “Our first move obviously would be to try to play the peacemaker, much as Russia did at Tashkent in, 1966 during the last Indo-Pakistan war. If that failed, the U.S. might be able to sit it out, so long as Russia and China were involved only as suppliers of the two combatants. But if they got directly engaged, it would then be almost impossible for Washington to remain aloof. We would have to gamble on one side or the other, give them at least the logistical aid they needed and hope we had chosen the winner."
Rhetoric and contingency plans aside, none of the world's three great powers wants to embroil itself militarily in the Indian subcontinent. But that does not rule out the possibility that could become involved their will. In the meantime, the future of Pakistan and, possibly, the lives of millions of other Asian, depends on Yahya Khan. And at the moment the Pakistani President remains determined not to relent-ignoring the fact that he may be creating out of nationalist guerrillas the core of a potential Communist insurgency. “The tragedy of Pakistan really is that Yahya is oblivious to what he is doing, oblivious to the cost of the actions", a diplomat in Islamabad remarked somberly last week. “There is only one man alive who could save Pakistan now, and that is Mujib. Yahya vows that Mujib must die. But the day he hangs by the neck. Pakistan will hang with him."
The Politics Of Relief
If some American are still only vaguely aware of the plight of the Bengali refugees. Beatles George Harrison and Ringo Starr intend to pound the message home this week. In their first public appearance together since the famous rock group split up. George and
