136. Editorial Note
At a National Security Council meeting on January 26, Director of Central Intelligence Dulles commented as follows on developments in Indonesia:
“Mr. Dulles then turned to developments in Indonesia. He pointed out that the Harahap government was threatened with imminent overthrow. President Sukarno wanted to get rid of this regime before the newly-elected Indonesian parliament convened, since if the government had fallen in the interval, Sukarno would be in a position to appoint twenty delegates himself, which might secure the balance of power to forces supported by Sukarno. To make matters worse, a split was occurring in the Masjumi Party. If the present government fell, Mr. Dulles pointed out, the successor government was not likely to be as friendly to the United States and to the West. This likewise, concluded Mr. Dulles, was a situation deserving of our most careful attention, though for the moment it was difficult to see what more the United States could do than it was presently doing.” (Memorandum of discussion by Gleason, January 27; Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, NSC Records)