224. Editorial Note
According to a letter of June 21, 1962, from Ball to McNamara, Lemnitzer, Taylor, McCone, Murrow, and Hamilton, Secretary of State Rusk on that day issued an Action directive establishing a Task Force on Southeast Asia. This group, chaired by Assistant Secretary Harriman, supplanted the Vietnam Task Force, which now became the Vietnam Working Group under C. Ben Wood as Executive Director. It was one of two components of the Southeast Asia Task Force. The other was a Cambodia-Thailand-Laos-Burma Working Group under H.L.T. Koren as Executive Director.
Besides Harriman, the Task Force included Sterling Cottrell as Deputy Chairman and representatives of the Department of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Agency for International Development, and the United States Information Agency. (Washington National Records Center, RG 306, USIA/I/S Files: FRC 68 A 4933, Field: Far East (IAF), 1962)
According to a memorandum of June 21 from Brubeck to Harriman, the functions of the Southeast Asia Task Force were:
- 1.
- To plan programs for the area and for individual countries within the area;
- 2.
- To coordinate execution of the programs;
- 3.
- To develop policy recommendations for the area;
- 4.
- To keep the Special Group (CI) informed of all activities related to its sphere of jurisdiction. (Department of State, S/S Policy Briefing Books: Lot 66 D 219, Box 219)