Eisenhower Library, Eisenhower papers, Whitman file
Memorandum of Discussion at the 188th Meeting of the National Security Council Held on Thursday, March 11, 19541
[Extracts]
Present at the 188th Meeting of the Council were: The President of the United States, presiding; the Vice President of the United States; the Acting Secretary of State; the Secretary of Defense; the Director, Foreign Operations Administration; and the Director, Office of Defense Mobilization. Also present were the Secretary of the Treasury; the Attorney General (for Items 2, 3 and 4); the Secretary of Commerce (for Items 5, 6 and 7); Mr. Morrison for the Director, Bureau of the Budget; the Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission (for Items 2, 3 and 4); the Federal Civil Defense Administrator (for Items 2, 3 and 4); the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; the Director of Central Intelligence; Sherman Adams, the Assistant to the President; Robert Cutler and C. D. Jackson, Special Assistants to the President; Gen. Persons, Deputy Assistant to the President; Walter S. Delany and Kenneth R. Hansen, Foreign Operations Administration; Marshall Smith, Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Internal Affairs; the Executive Secretary, NSC; and the Deputy Executive Secretary, NSC.
[Page 398]There follows a summary of the discussion at the meeting and the main points taken.
9. U.S. Psychological Strategy Based on Thailand (Progress Report,2 dated February 26, 1954, by the Operations Coordinating Board, on PSB D–23;3 NSC 5405; NSC Actions Nos. 9004 and 10195)
After Mr. Cutler had briefed the Council on this Progress Report, he asked Secretary Smith if he wished to comment at any length.
Secretary Smith said that he had several points he wished to make. The first referred to the splendid job which Ambassador Donovan was doing in Thailand. When he had been originally proposed as U.S. Ambassador, nearly everybody in the State Department opposed the nomination and feared the results. Actually, however, Ambassador Donovan had conducted himself perfectly, had done exactly what the State Department had asked him to do, and had made great progress in Thailand.
Beyond this, Secretary Smith pointed out that the Special Committee set up under NSC Action No. 1019 was in the process of developing a plan for defensive arrangements in Southeast Asia along the lines of the Turkish-Pakistani Pact. This plan involved Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and such parts of Vietnam as could be saved from Communist control. When this plan had been completed it would be referred to the National Security Council for consideration as part of the planning under NSC Action No. 1019–b.
Secretary Smith then commented to the Council on the very great difficulties that the United States was bound to encounter when the Indochina question came up for discussion at the forthcoming Geneva Conference. We would be subjected to every kind of pressure to agree to some kind of compromise. It was accordingly necessary to work out carefully the U.S. position with regard to Indochina at the Geneva Conference. This likewise was being done by the Special Committee, which anticipated assistance from Ambassador Donovan when he returned to this country at the end of March.
Mr. Cutler then called on the Director of Central Intelligence to comment on the secret Annex to the Progress Report, which had [Page 399] been given very limited circulation. Mr. Dulles commented briefly on covert activities in this area.
The National Security Council:6
- a.
- Noted the reference Progress Report on the subject by the Operations Coordinating Board.
- b.
- Noted a further oral report on the subject by the Director of Central Intelligence.
- c.
- Agreed, at the request of the Operations Coordinating Board, to rescind NSC Action No. 900 on the understanding that the OCB will coordinate implementation of PSB D–23 as an operational plan contributing to the implementation of NSC 5405.
- d.
- Noted an oral report by the Acting Secretary of State that the Special Committee created by NSC Action No. 1019 is developing, and will consult with Ambassador Donovan on, plans for a possible defense arrangement on Southeast Asia as a part of its planning under NSC Action No. 1019–b; and will transmit its recommendations under NSC Action No. 1019–b to the Council, through the NSC Planning Board.
Note: The action in c above subsequently transmitted to the Operations Coordinating Board for appropriate implementation. The action in d above subsequently transmitted to the Secretary of State.
- Gleason drafted this memorandum on Mar. 12.↩
- Not printed.↩
- Not printed here. (790.5/9–1453)↩
- Taken at the NSC meeting held on Sept. 9, 1953; memorandum of discussion not printed here. (Eisenhower Library, Eisenhower papers, Whitman file)↩
- See footnote 7, p. 385.↩
- The lettered subparagraphs constitute NSC Action No. 1066.↩