News stories from Monday September 18, 1972

South Vietnamese marines and paratroopers are pushing out from Quang Tri city. The Quang Tri citadel was taken undramatically as the opposition faded away. Flag raisings were held for the benefit of the press; the citadel is in shambles. Rubble must be cleared if a headquarters is to be located here, but the South Vietnam flag flies and some are celebrating. The battle for Quang Tri city took nearly three months, and some units suffered 40% casualties just to retake this one area. South Vietnam now controls the area up to the Ben Hai river. But troops must now push across the river, an action which is predicted to be costly. [CBS]

McGovern had challenged Nixon to say how North Vietnam is a greater threat to America than drugs, and he questioned the cost of the Vietnam war as compared to the money spent to fight heroin. McGovern also charged that our allies in South Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia are involved in narcotics traffic but U.S. officials ignore it because of the need for Thai airbases, Laotian mercenaries and South Vietnamese soldiers for the war. [CBS]

Agriculture Department officials admitted making telephone calls to grain firms, but denied that the calls provided insider information that aided pricing. Charles Pence said that he made calls on August 24 to tell firms of a policy change -- that the government would no longer guarantee subsidy levels; Pence claims that this information was not beneficial to exporters. One Republican called the investigation a witch hunt, but Democrats are unconvinced. Clarence Palmby, an Agriculture Department official who was involved in the negotiations with the Soviets, later joined a grain firm. Palmby will appear before the committee tomorrow. [CBS]

The differences between Uganda and Tanzania are evident. The Tanzanian president is a friend of the man who was ousted by Amin. A major war between the two nations is doubtful, however. The so-called invasion on Sunday created little excitement locally; some armored vehicles were seen. White residents are the most nervous because the Ugandan government has accused the British of being involved and of having spies in the country; this puts all whites under suspicion. [CBS]