277. Editorial Note
At the 420th meeting of the National Security Council on October 1, Allen Dulles reported on the Lao situation in the briefing, “Significant Developments Affecting U.S. Security.” Dulles’ report and a brief comment by Secretary of Commerce Frederick H. Mueller read as follows:
“In Laos, Mr. Dulles reported, the UN Subcommittee has not entirely deterred the Communists from small-scale activities in the areas which it has not visited. Bad feeling existed between Phoui and the French in Vientiane. Paris was attempting to cooperate with the Laotian government, but the French military attaché in Vientiane has asserted that there has been no real Communist intervention in Laos and that the UN activity is fulfilling the aims of a ‘certain large foreign power.’ The French are also exercised over a New York Times article on the end of the special position of France in Laos. The UN Subcommittee was experiencing a certain amount of difficulty, but was planning a trip to the front which might produce more information.
“Secretary Mueller said the Thai Minister of Finance had recently said it was impossible to tell the difference between Laotians and North Vietnamese except by their dialect.” (Memorandum of discussion by Boggs, October 2; Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, NSC Records)