Among other items, I reported on the Pathet Lao situation and
specifically that the USARMA had
reported that no Viet Minh units
had apparently participated in the recent incident and that the incident
had apparently been blown up by the press. When
Robertson’s turn came, he referred to the item
and, in a fashion which could hardly be termed friendly, said that “his
intelligence” disagreed with my report and that there were some thousand
Viet Minh involved. The Secretary
inquired what was “his intelligence” as distinct from mine.
Robertson said that Wisner, a principal officer in his brother’s
intelligence agency, had told him this. In the confused discussion on
the substance which followed, it did not come out as clearly as it
should have that my report dealt with participation of Viet Minh
units whereas Robertson’s
report probably referred to Viet Minh characters in the Pathet Lao provinces and involved
in the whole movement. The Secretary asked that we prepare before his
departure this afternoon a roundup on this situation coordinating with
CIA, Army and FE. This we did per the attached.
[Attachment]
Paper Prepared in the Office of the Secretary of State’s Special
Assistant for Intelligence2
Washington, July 13,
1955.
SITUATION IN NORTHERN LAOS
Summary Statement
The July 7 incident at Muong Peun has been exaggerated in reports
issued by the Lao Government and reported in the Press. These
reports represent a continuation of Laotian effort to persuade world
opinion of Pathet Lao violation of the Geneva Agreement by
preventing restoration of Royal authority in the two northern
provinces. If the action was initiated in [by?] the Pathet Lao, as seems probable, it represented a
continuation of probing pressure tactics to weaken the resistance of
the Lao Government to Communist political pressures for the
formation of a coalition government. There is no evidence of direct
participation in the incident by Viet Minh army units as claimed by the Laotians, although
the Viet Minh controls the
Pathet Lao movement and has advisers and political organizers within
its ranks.
The Action at Muong Peun
The July 7 incident at Muong Peun in Sam Neua province of northern
Laos was a continuation of the pressure maintained since Geneva by
the Pathet Lao against the Royal Government of Laos. There are no
indications that a major military campaign against Laos is imminent,
but it is probable that sporadic fighting will recur in the two
northern provinces of Phong Saly and Sam Neua.
Pathet Lao objectives appear to be to secure firm control of these
two provinces and to maintain sufficient pressure on the Lao
Government so that political and military talks between the two
sides will result in (a) expulsion of all Laotian military and civil
officials from the two provinces and (b) eventual participation in a
coalition cabinet.
The US Army Attaché reports, probably from official Lao sources, that
the Pathet Lao forces involved are estimated from 1500 to 1800.
…
[Page 668]
Pathet Lao-DRV Relations
The rebel Pathet Lao movement and its guerrilla forces represent
virtually a creation of the Viet Minh and are believed immediately responsive to its
direction. The DRV has provided
instructors and other specialists to the Pathet Lao, whose total
forces in the two provinces are estimated at 6290. A G–2 report estimates that there are
at least 250 cadres serving as organizers and advisers with the
Pathet Lao, and that there may be as many as 1000 Viet Minh scattered throughout Laos.
The Lao Government has claimed that 3 DRV battalions are supporting the attack on Muong Peun,
but US officials in Vientiane report on indications to support this
charge. …
International Response
Responsive to Canadian initiative, the ICC for Laos has reportedly called on both sides to
stop sending reinforcements, halt patrol activity and observe a
cease-fire, and provide facilities for an ICC investigation. Both sides are said, in press
reports, to have agreed. The military clash has interrupted the
intermittent military and political talks between the Lao Government
and the Pathet Lao, which had been resumed late in June in an effort
to demonstrate to the Indian Chairman of the ICC the intractability of the Pathet Lao.
DRV propaganda has given consistently
heavy play to Laos in recent weeks, charging Lao Government and US
efforts to sabotage the Geneva Agreements. Peiping has supported,
with equal vehemence, but in less volume, the DRV attacks, charging (as of July 12)
that the US is responsible for the “strained situation” by (1)
inclusion of Laos in the Manila Pact’s “area of protection,” (2)
intending to sign a military agreement with Laos similar to the
recent Cambodian MAAG agreement,
(3) airdropping “bandits” into Pathet Lao regrouping areas (a
probable reference to reinforcement by air of the Muong Peun
garrison which began on July 8), and (4) seeking “to drag the SEATO countries into the
fighting.”
