Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–1963, Volume XXIII, Southeast Asia

104. Memorandum From the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Rice) to the Deputy Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (Johnson)⁰

Washington, April 10, 1963.

SUBJECT

• JCS Discussion of Viet Cong Support in Cambodia, April 12, 1963

Discussion:

The Joint Chiefs of Staff are scheduled to discuss on April 12, 1963¹ diplomatic actions that might be taken to reduce the effectiveness of support for the Viet Cong in Cambodia.

Numerous reports have been received since 1956 regarding the organization of Viet Cong cells and fronts in Phnom Penh, recruitment for operations in South Viet-Nam, the collection of contributions, the procurement of supplies, medical care for Viet Cong wounded, and the lax state of border controls. These reports do not appear to indicate any intensification of such Viet Cong activity in Cambodia, but the problem remains of devising ways to reduce its effectiveness.

The most interesting recent reports have come from a Lao source who has identified the alleged location of a guerrilla camp about four kilometers inside the Cambodian border and has reported coastal supply operations across the border. [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] angled aerial photographs of the area where the camp is supposed to be located are being considered, if they are feasible.

The present moment is not a good one for attempting to deal with the Cambodian Government directly through diplomatic channels on this problem. With the future of our MAAG at stake under the Cambodian neutrality proposals, we do not at present believe it advisable to undertake any approach to the Cambodians likely to irritate them. Such an approach would be related by the Cambodians to charges emanating from South Vietnamese intelligence sources in late 1961 that extensive Viet Cong bases existed in Cambodia with the knowledge and encouragement of the Cambodian Government, charges the falsity of which was conclusively proved by subsequent investigation and concerning which the Cambodian Government showed itself extraordinarily sensitive.² We would not wish to stir up the uneasy relations between Cambodia and South Viet-Nam when they are relatively quiet due largely to the absence of serious border incidents over the past five to six months, and when there is some encouragement from Cambodia’s recent sudden acceptance of the Vietnamese proposal of late November 1962 to exchange military attachés.

With proper documentation, the South Vietnamese military attaché may in time be able to discuss some of these problems, particularly those relating to border crossings, with his Cambodian counterparts. For the present, it is proposed that our Embassy at Phnom Penh be authorized to take advantage of Prince Sihanouk’s receptivity to intelligence reports to prepare the way for any diplomatic action that may eventually be possible. Phnom Penh has in the past done this successfully, although not on the Viet Cong support problem. In this case, Phnom Penh would prepare materials [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] and pass them to Prince Sihanouk for his personal attention. This is the only level at which such materials would be useful, and this effort could prove to be sufficient for our purpose. This proposal has been under discussion recently in informal correspondence with Phnom Penh.

Recommendation:³

It is recommended that you discourage any proposals from JCS for diplomatic action on the Viet Cong support problem at the present time, and that you inform JCS of our intention to authorize Phnom Penh to pass pertinent [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] materials to Prince Sihanouk as preparation for any eventual diplomatic action.

0. Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 CAMB. Secret. Drafted by Arzac on April 9 and cleared by Koren and Wood. Initialed by Rice.
1. No record of this discussion has been found.
2. The four-day intensive investigation of the Cambodian side of the border, on the ground and by low-altitude flights, with particular attention to sites of alleged bases pinpointed by the South Vietnamese, was conducted by Robert Trumbull of the New York Times. That paper published the results on November 22, 1961, namely that no such bases were discovered. In addition, the Chief of MAAG/Cambodia made a press statement on November 1, 1961, based on his own inspection of the areas, denying the existence of the alleged installations. [Footnote in the source text.]
3. Johnson approved this recommendation on April 12.