"Cambodia and Laos both probably have good short-run military reason," he continued, "but their only impact, alas, appears to be keeping us in longer."

Roger D. Fisher, professor of Law, expressed a similar opinion, calling the invasion a "tragedy" which "shows the difficulty of trying to withdraw and win at the same time." He noted that "those who seek victory are making withdrawal less likely."

Fisher stressed the legal and political action that could be taken, saying, "Congress should exercise its Constitutional responsibility to determine how long a sword the President should have and where he should use it."

'Hardly a Surprise'

Samuel P. Huntington, Thomson Professor of Government, said the news was "hardly a surprise," although the Kyodo News Service report from Japan, which said the invasion used paratroopers rather than ground troops, did surprise him.

"In some sense, this is part of our policy," Huntington said. "As we reduce our involvement in Vietnam, this is what goes with it."

Calling the incursion "a rather dubious type of operation," Huntington said, "If South Vietnam gets bogged down in the Laotian panhandle, this could put strong pressure on us to become involved in Laos, which I don't think would be good.

"Anything which would increase our involvement in Laos is something to be avoided," Huntington said.

Edwin O. Reischauer, University Professor, unwilling to make a judgment on the invasion, said that his, "deep interest is to see America get completely out of Southeast Asia military."

Since "this is essentially a South Vietnamese land operation," he said, he could not predict what effect it would have on American withdrawal.

"The North Vietnamese have been operating in Laos for a long time, so I'm not outraged," Reischauer continued. "The concept of outting the supply lines of the North Vietnamese has always been militarily understandable."

"It can't be an open-and-shut case that this is a good thing or a bad thing," he noted, adding, "this is basically uninhabited area. If you're going to fight people, you do less destruction here than anywhere else."