Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, East Asian Security; Cambodia; Laos, Volume XXI

70. Memorandum From the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Radford) to the Secretary of State¹

Washington, September 21, 1955.

I passed to Admiral Stump a copy of Lt. Gen. Cabell’s letter of 12 September² containing the observations of an unidentified Philippine … man concerning the Asian reaction to SEATO. Attached is a copy of Admiral Stump’s comments on this letter.³ I concur in Admiral Stump’s comments and recommend that they be studied with the same care accorded the original letter.

I would like to point out that the observations of this particular Philippine…man are not at all surprising, and that similar observations could probably be obtained from other Asian representatives in SEATO. As Admiral Stump has explained in his comments, the Asian members generally, and understandably, desire a NATO type organization in the Pacific. Since U.S. policy does not contemplate such an organization, disappointment and irritability on the part of Asian members, particularly on the working level, is to be expected and should not be the cause of undue concern.

Arthur Radford

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 790.5/9–2155. Top Secret. Also sent to Gordon Gray, Douglas MacArthur II, and Deputy Secretary of Defense Reuben B. Robertson, Jr. The source text bears the following marginal notation by O’Connor: “Sec saw—no answer RO’C”.
2. Document 67.
3. Message TS 109927 from Admiral Stump (at Honolulu) to Radford, dated September 17, not printed. Stump stated in part: “In spite of gross exaggerations, false impressions and obvious ‘personal ax to grind’ observations are considered to be a generally valid appraisal of U.S. role and probable intent within SEACDT at least in minds of segment of Philippine … Consider this measurably less true on part Pakistan and Thailand.”