174. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassies in France and Vietnam 1
265246/Todel 1445. For Harriman and Vance from the Secretary. For Bunker from the Secretary. The President wants to be sure that all of us understand that we must now give highest priority to close and friendly working relationships with the South Vietnamese. They are our allies, they have been subjected to a brutal invasion, and they and we have shared great sacrifices in men and treasure. If there is to be peace in Southeast Asia, the full rights of South Viet-Nam and Laos must be respected. The South Vietnamese have some problems in maintaining reasonable unity after so much violence, several coups, and religious, regional and other differences. We must help them just as much as we can as staunch allies and not let unnecessary gaps open up between us.
With the cessation of the bombing we are now in a position to insist upon the most simple and fundamental demands we have to make upon the North Vietnamese. They must stop their aggression. We can no longer accept any sensitivities on their side about such [Page 512] words as “reciprocity,” “conditions” and other such nonsense. They must liquidate their aggression in South Viet-Nam and Laos. The fact that they have sent men with guns in hand into South Viet-Nam gives them no basis on which to make demands about the internal political structure of South Viet-Nam any more than we would support South Vietnamese demands for changes in the political structure of North Viet-Nam. The time has come for us to be tough with Hanoi and deal with our friends in Saigon with the utmost consideration and understanding.
- Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, A/IM Files: Lot 93 D 82, HARVAN-(Outgoing)-November 1968. Secret; Immediate; Priority; Nodis/HARVAN Double Plus. Drafted and approved by Rusk and cleared by Read.↩