751G.00/7–1754: Telegram
The Ambassador at Saigon (Heath) to the Department of State
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226. Repeated information Paris 89, Geneva 49. Re Deptel sent Geneva Tosec 557, Saigon 210, July 16.1 I have deliberately not seen Diem since yesterday morning, but my present guess is that even if military agreement does not provide northern enclave, Diem will not pull out of Geneva, resign or undertake independent action in Vietnam, provided we use our influence to persuade him not to reject the agreement. By “using our influence” we would have to assure him that we cannot accept loss of northern areas as final but as provisional separation dictated by military necessity. We would have to assure him of our building up the Vietnam National Army as well as increased economic assistance, to handle refugee resettlement and other problems. I believe a clinching argument would be decision our part to send a training mission for the Vietnamese National Army as agreed between Generals Ely and O’Daniel. We may expect Diem to insist that the Hanoi and the southern Tonkin delta provinces be placed under the administration of the International Control Commissions, but he may recede from that stand if he can be assured that population of Hanoi and of those provinces will have unrestricted right to emigrate to remaining Vietnam.
- In the reference telegram, the Department of State requested the estimates of the Delegation at Geneva and the Embassy at Saigon regarding the intentions of the Vietnamese Government should the Conference settlement fail to provide for an enclave in North Vietnam. For text, see vol. xvi, p. 1397.↩