856E.00/8–447
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Under Secretary of State (Lovett)
Dr. van Kleffens called yesterday afternoon at his urgent request and talked about the Indonesian problem for an hour and a half. He read me his proposed reply to the Security Council which I considered excellent. Remarking that he hoped the phrase would be of assistance to us in the Greek problem, he pointed out that the Dutch [Page 1011] reply expresses the hope that the Security Council will be equally interested in bringing about a cessation of hostilities anywhere.
He referred to a Dutch proposal to invite representatives of other powers to send observers to see what actual conditions were in Indonesia. In view of the acceptance by his Government of American good offices he wished to know whether such an invitation would be embarrassing to the US. I said I would like to talk this over with others in the Department and that we would let him know today. He explained that his Government did not want a United Nations Commission, first, because of its legal position that the matter was outside the jurisdiction of the Security Council and, secondly, because the Dutch had information that the Russians would use such a Commission to infiltrate agents with a view to keeping conditions in a continuing state of unsettlement.
The Ambassador dwelt on the extreme difficulty of seeing any ceasefire orders were carried out on the Indonesian side and referred to the thousand or more Indonesian violations of the “truce” prior to the initiation of the recent Dutch police operations. He hoped that we would send a number of Army officers, say 20 or 25 who would be in a position to observe on the ground what conditions were and whether the peace is being kept. These observers should, of course, be attached to the official who is selected to carry out our offer of good offices.
Dr. Van Kleffens also talked at some length, as he had on Saturday, of the growing “danger” to the real purposes of the United Nations in the formation of a solid bloc consisting of the Soviet and their satellites, the groups of “colored” races, and some of the Latin Americans.