306. Editorial Note
At a meeting of the National Security Council on December 5, Allen Dulles commented on developments in Indonesia as follows:
“Thereafter, Mr. Allen Dulles described the development of the Indonesian campaign against the Dutch on the island of Java. He predicted that a break in diplomatic relations between the Netherlands and Indonesia was more than a possibility. The Communists had been very quick to exploit the tension, and had been taking over large Dutch enterprises without authority from the government. It was by no means certain that the government could hold the Communists in the trade unions within bounds.
“The President inquired whether this violent anti-Dutch campaign was being carried out only by the government at Djakarta, or whether the dissidents in the outer islands were also joining in the campaign. Mr. Dulles replied that the answer was not clear, but that in any event manifestations against the Dutch in the outer islands were not likely to be so violent as in Java, because the Communists were fewer in number on the outer islands.
“Mr. Dulles went on to state that the situation had been made much worse by the recent attempt to assassinate President Sukarno. We still do not know who was back of the assassination attempt. It could have been engineered either by the Communists or by fanatic Moslem extremists. Secretary Dulles stated that he had been told that the report that the assassination had been attempted by the Communists was highly reliable. Mr. Allen Dulles said that he did not believe we could reply as yet on the validity of this version of the assassination attempt.” (Memorandum of discussion by Gleason, December 6; Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, NSC Records)