890.0146/12–1443
The Adviser on Liberated Areas for the Far East ( Moffat ) to the Director of the Civil Affairs Division, War Department ( Hilldring )
My Dear General Hilldring: I think it would be very helpful to the State Department and to the Civil Affairs Division if the Adviser on Liberated Areas for the Far East would participate, if only as an observer, in the planning of military government in Japan and other Far Eastern areas. The military were in North Africa and in Sicily before any particular machinery was devised by the State Department for coordinating State Department policies with the work of CAD. As a result the State Department failed to keep abreast of the problems on which its policy recommendations were desired by you. This serious lag arising from lack of coordination from the beginning could, I believe, be avoided in the case of the Far East by such cooperation as I have suggested. I would be very happy to meet with you or with any officers whom you care to designate to [Page 1188] discuss the matter further if, as I hope, this suggestion appeals to you.73
Sincerely yours,
- Capt. Wilbur L. Williams of the Civil Affairs Division was designated by Maj. Gen. Hilldring to maintain liaison with Mr. Moffat.↩