Fulbright and Symington Dispute Laird's Disclaimer of Escalation

Secretary of Defense Melvin R. Laird told a stormy session of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday that the United States has not escalated air strikes over North Vietnam.

Senator J. William Fulbright (D-Ark.), chairman of the committee, and Sen. Stuart Symington (D-Mo.), former secretary of the Air Force, sharply disagreed with Laird.

Laird also disputed charges that the public had been misled over reconnaissance flights in the North and the purpose of the raid on the Son Tay prison compound there. He was appearing before the committee to defend an administration request for $340 million in supplemental military aid this fiscal year to several nations including Cambodia.

Military Victory

Fulbright told Laird he thought that President Nixon's broadened bombing policy outlined Thursday night indicated that the Administration now seeks settlement of the war "through the application of superior force on North Vietnam."

Laird replied that the war policy continues to be "based upon our desire for success in the negotiations" with the alternative of ending U. S. involvement through the Vietnamization program. He also said that U. S. air activity over North Vietnam is "substantially reduced" from that of 1969 despite recent "protective reaction" raids and the President's warnings of further sorties.

'No Agreement'

Symington charged there was no basis for Administration claims that there had been an October 1968 agreement with North Vietnam to allow U. S. reconnaissance flights over that country.

Meanwhile, virtually no fighting was reported in South Vietnam. But Cambodian troops, facing a three-week deadline to reopen Highway 4, pushed north against North Vietnamese forces controlling that vital supply route to the sea.