751G.00/5–854: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the United States Delegation1
priority
Tedul 42. For Smith from Secretary. Assume you have text my last night address.2 The reference to “proper conditions” under which US went into Korea was designed to suggest by analogy the conditions which US would want to settle before becoming belligerent in Indochina. We assume that French will have gotten the point and realize that we are ready to talk with them about internationalizing the war [Page 729] if they come to conclusion that this is preferable to the harsh terms which no doubt Communists will seek to extract. Also, FYI, it might not be indispensable that the UK participates at the outset.