January to December 1968: The Fall of Phou Pha Thi; Reassessment of Policy; Laos and the Paris Peace Talks; Increased Bombing in Laos
386. Memorandum From the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Brown) to the Deputy Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (Bohlen)
[Source: Department of State, INR/IL Historical Files, 303 Committee, July–December 1968. Secret; Eyes Only. 4 pages of source text (including attachment) not declassified.]
387. Telegram From the Embassy in Laos to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, INT 2–2. Top Secret.
388. Letter From the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (Bundy) to the Ambassador in Laos (Sullivan)
Source: Department of State, Bundy Files: Lot 85 D 240, Ambassador’s Private Correspondence, 1967–68. Secret; Personal—Eyes Only.
389. Special National Intelligence Estimate
Source: Department of State, INR/EAP Files: Lot 90 D 165, SNIE 58–1–68. Secret; Sensitive; Limit Distribution; Controlled Dissem. Prepared by the Central Intelligence Agency and the intelligence organizations of the Departments of State and Defense, and the NSA. All members of the USIB concurred with its release except the representatives of the FBI and AEC who abstained because the subject was outside their jurisdiction.
390. Telegram From the Embassy in Laos to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 VIET S. Top Secret; Limdis. Repeated to Bangkok, Saigon, and CINCPAC.
391. Telegram From the Embassy in Laos to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 LAOS. Secret; Exdis. Repeated to Bangkok, Paris for HARVAN (Harriman and Vance, the U.S. negotiators in Paris), Saigon, and CINCPAC.
392. Letter From the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (Warnke) to the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (Bundy)
Source: Department of State,EA/Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia Files: Lot 75 D 394, TS. Top Secret.
393. Airgram From the Embassy in Laos to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 1 LAOS–US. Secret; Limdis. Repeated to Bangkok, Paris, Saigon, CINCPAC, DEPCHJUSMAGTHAI, DIA, London, Moscow, and Tokyo.
394. Memorandum From the Acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (McConnell) to Secretary of Defense Clifford
Source: Washington National Record Center, RG 330, OSD/Admin Files: FRC 73 A 1250, Laos 0385.1, 1968. Secret. A note on the source text indicates that Clifford saw it.
395. Telegram From the Embassy in Laos to the Department of State
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Laos, Vol. XVIII, Memos 1/68–1/69. Secret; Limdis. Marshall Wright sent this telegram to Rostow under cover of a memorandum of November 27. Responding to an earlier question to him and Robert Ginsburgh, Wright wrote Rostow, “it is not what we should do but what we can do. The answer, in Ginsburgh’s judgement is ‘nothing’.” In a postscript, Wright noted that Ginsburgh asked that he amend his view to read, “Nothing, unless we want to go to war with China.” (Ibid.)
396. Paper Prepared by the Department of State
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Vietnam, Laos EE (1), 10/67–12/68. Top Secret. No drafting information appears on the source text, but it was apparently prepared by EAP as a part of the interagency reassessment of policy toward Laos described in Documents 392 and 389.
397. Telegram From the Ambassador to Laos (Sullivan) to the Commander in Chief, Pacific (McCain)
Source: Center of Military History, Abrams Papers, Messages, No. 1944. Top Secret. Repeated to [less than 1 line of text not declassified], JCS, COMUSMACV, and CIA. This telegram was not sent over Department of State communications channels.
398. Telegram From the Commander in Chief, Pacific (McCain) to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Wheeler)
Source: Center of Military History, Abrams Papers, Messages, No. 1984. Top Secret; Limdis; Eyes Only. Repeated to Abrams and Sullivan.
399. Memorandum From the Secretary of the Air Force (Brown) to the Deputy Secretary of Defense (Nitze)
Source: Washington National Records Center, RG 330, OSD/Admin Files: FRC 73 A 1250, Laos 385.1, 1968. Secret. A note on the source text indicates Nitze saw it.
400. Telegram From the Commander in Chief, Pacific (McCain) to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Wheeler)
Source: Center of Military History, Abrams Papers, Messages, No. 2058. Top Secret; Eyes Only. Repeated to Abrams and Sullivan.
401. Telegram From the Embassy in Laos to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 LAOS. Top Secret; Exdis; No Distribution Outside Dept. “Nodis” was handwritten on the source text.