Office of the Historian

314. Message From the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Robertson) to the Ambassador in Indonesia (Allison)1

Washington, December 7, 1957.

Following are general guidelines for discussion Gordon Mein with Amb Allison.

1.
… Dept has considered Amb Allison’s recommendations2 at high level and concurs that a policy along general lines of course two [Page 535] is desirable. Agree that a middle course is insufficient to halt the trend, and that course two is consistent with NSC’s Special Paper on Indonesia,3 copy of which pouched … Djak.
2.
The considered and firm U.S. … view is that we have reached the point of no return with Sukarno. If he should show signs of turning against Communists, this would probably be only because effective political action by his anti-Communist opponents forced him to do so in order to remain in office. He must at very least be relegated to less dominant position in political scene. Our best opportunities lie with the Masjumi leaders, the right-wing elements of Indo Nat Party, the opposition groups/and the anti-Communist elements in the military and minor parties.
3.
Our immediate objective is the formation of a government in Indonesia supported by the major political parties and the opposition group, which would be sufficiently strong to halt the present towards Communist domination and eventually reverse it. Our active support should be engaged in this endeavor.
4.

In view of the foregoing, we are not prepared to provide military equipment to the present government, nor are we prepared to consider greater economic aid. (However, the question of notification should be discussed in relation to consideration tactics discussed previous … messages this subject.) If a new regime satisfactory to us is formed, we would promptly negotiate these points.

. . . . . . .

  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 756D.00/12–757. Addressed also to Gordon Mein.↩
  2. See Document 300.↩
  3. Document 262.↩