HEROINE: LES POUR VOYEURS (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-01601R000800200001-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 92
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 13, 2000
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: December 3, 1972
• Content Type: NSPR

PARIS, LE NOUVEL OBSERVATEUE
Approved For Release 2(W1T/Q4~ 81A-W'80-016
LE
tique. Le reste passe sur le marche entre
les mains des trafiquants qui approvision-
nent les fumeurs d'opium et les heroino-
manes.
Les trafiquants peuvent se fournir a deux
sources differentes :
0 1) Les pays dans,lesquels la culture du
pavot est legate et controlee par l'Etat,
mais ou une partie de la recolte echappe
aux autorites administratives.
0 2) Les pays dans lesquels la culture
du pavot est en principe interdite, mais
qui n'ont pas ies moyens materiels et poli-
tiques - ou le desir - de faire respecter
cette loi.
La Turquie, troisii me producteur mon-
dial, entrait dans la premiere categoric.
Jusqu'a ce que le gouvernemcnt d'Ankara
decide de proscrire ]a , culture du pavot
sur tout le territoire turc it partir de 1972,
25 % de la production d'opium etait de-
tournee vers le marche clandestin, alors
qu'elle aurait du, en principe, titre entiere-
ment achetec par 1'Etat. Cc pays n'est pas
le soul a connaitre pareil problCme. tine
enquete effectuee par le service strategi-
que des renseignements du Bureau des' Nar-
cotiques americain (B.N.D.D.) donnaij,
pour 1971, les chiffres suivants.
Michel R. Lamberti et Catherine Lam our ont fait le tour-du monde you
remonter tortes les filieres qui menent aux vrais patrons de la drogue
c Si sous ne venoms pas a bout de
e 11Z,, c'est lui qui viendra a
hour de nous >, s'exclamait. le
7 juin 1971, le president Nixon devant
es dizaines de millions de telespectateurs.
.es Etats-Unis ont, on effet. le triste pri-
ilege de compter le plus grand nombre
'heroinomanes du monde plus d'un
emi-million actuellement, dont trois cent
nille. pour ]a seule ville de New York.
'lus de 50 % des crimes perpetres dans
es grandes vilics sont directement lies a la
rogue : on tue pour se procurer ]'argent
iecessaire a l'achat d'une dose d'heroine.
Le phenomene nest pas seulement ameri-
:ain : tous les pays europeens voient croitre
une vitesse vertigineuse le nombre de
curs hero'inomanes. En France, ou la pe-
tetration de la drogue n'a etc sensible qu'a
oartir de 1968, on en compte deja vinet
nille. Et le ministere de la Santa estime
lue le pays pourrait compter cent mille
teroinomanes en 1976.
Couper gin source
La drogue n'est plus un simple pro-
)leme de police. Partant du principe Cvi-
lent, expose dernicrement a un journaliste
americain de c U.S. News and World
Zeport ~ par l'ancien directeur des Doua-
ics americaines, Myles J. Ambrose, et selon
equel c on ne petit pas devenir toxico-
none si l'on ne trouve pas de stupe-
rants *, Washington a decide de remon-
`er a ]a source. c'est-a-dire it la produc-
:ion' meme de l'opium, dont I'heroine est
in derive.
Couper la source d'approvisionnement
Jes trafiquants, c'est intervenir dans les
affaires des pays producteurs : de poli-
.iere, la lutte contre ]a toxicomanie est
devenue politique. Se posant une fois de
plus en c gendarmes du monde : mail,
cette fois, pour une cause dont personne
ne songe a discuter le bien-fonds, les Etats-
Unis se sont lances dans une croisade que
d'aucuns jugent d'avance vouee it 1'echec.
On produit, en effet, chaque annec. dans
le monde, assez d'opium pour approvision-
ner les cinq cent Mille heroinomanes ame-
ricains pendant cinquante ans : deux a
trots Mille tonnes. dont la moitie seule-
ment est destinee a l'industrie pharmaccu-
1 T IT STATI NTL
Production
(1) ecoulee
sur
le marche
Iicite
Production
ecoulee
sur
le marche
clandestin
Turquie . .... 150
35 a 50
Inde .......... 1 200
250.
Pakistan . ...... 6
175-200
Iran ........ 150
U.R.S.S. . ...... 115
7
Republique popu-
laire de Chine 100
Yougoslavie .... 0,83
1.7
Japon 5
T r i a n g I e d'.or
(Thailande - Sir-
mania - Laos)
750
Afghanistan ....
Mexique ......
(1) En tonnes.
JIHIIIVIL
STATINTL
100-150
5-15
Contrairement a ce que I'on pourrait
penser, les c fuitcs j. no sont pas propor-
tionnelles a l'importance de la production
licite ni a celle des superficies cultivees
en pavot. Elles dependent du plus ot:
moans grand sous-developpement adminis?
tratif du pays concernc et de la capacity
des autorites locales a exercer un controlc
effectif sur les paysans;.au moment de!
recoltes.
Pourtant, meme des controles rigou
reux ne suffisent pas a eviter les detour
nements, compte tenu do la difference de:
prix pratiques sur le marche officiel et sit
le marche clandestin. L'exemple de l'Indt
le prouve, ou, on depit d'un systeme tit
controlc gouvernemental cite en.' exempt,
par toutes les instances internationalcs, Ic
fuites s'elevent a l3 % de la productiot
totale. La Yougoslavie laisserait echa?pe
pros de 70 % de sa production. Le Pals
tan, enfin, qui produit ie_alement six ton
nes d'opium, contribuerait pour pres d.
deux cents tonnes a I'approvisionnentcn
des trafiquants.
Le pavot partout
Dans une deuxieme categoric de pay!
Ia production de ('opium est illCgale. I
n'existe evidemment aucun organism
d'Etat charge do controler une productio
qui, en principe, n'existe pas. Clandestine
la recolte d'opium est entierement ecoule
sur le marche parallels. Salon le B.N.D.D
ces pays eontribueraient pour huit cent car
quante a Mille tonnes a l'approvisionnc
ment du trafic.
D'autres regions, sur lesquelles on n
possede absolument aucune information
prod.uisent de l'opium en quantite apprt
ciable : le Nepal et, probablement, la Syr:
et le Kurdistan irakien. On signale aus
('apparition de champs de pavots en Atrt
rique du Sud. Contrairement a cc que I'c
a souvent affirms, la culture du pavot r
requiert pas de conditions geographiqut
ou climatiques exceptionnelles. Elle reclarr
seulement une main-d'oeuvre abondante
bon marche car la recolte demande beat
coup de soins et de minutie.
Nombre de pays qui ne sont pas d,
producteurs traditionnels d'opium you
raient, s'ils le voulaient, se mettre a cuiti'
du pavot.. C'est le cas tout recent du J
pon. La production d'opium a, de cc f r
tendance a croitre en tonction de la
mande et pourrait encore augmenter con
derablement. Des indices nombreux ink)
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 STATINTL
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1 :1~. L i ~iwi l',tt,
2 6 OCT 1972
RTQ7
-; o Tf i
J 11- C/ JIUL
By ROBERT KAYLOIt
BANGKOK, Thailand --- (UPI)
- Narcotics traffickers have
stockpiled hundreds of pounds cf
pure heroin in North Burma and
are trying to establish a con-
nection to lucrative markets in
the United States.
In the meantime, U. S. and
Thai narcotics agents who have
tightened their -rip on routes far
heroin and opium traffic are
!watching from across the bor-
1der.
Informed sources here who
have watched the stockpiles
build up, say a wary standoff
has developed, in the "Golden
Triangle" the border area of
Thailans, Laos and Burma
vihcre the Southeast Asian nar-
cotics trade is centered.
INTELLIGENCE reports in-
dicate that narcotics traf-i
P i c k e r s-mostly overseas
Chinese-have considered killing
U. S. narcotics agents to clear'
the bottleneck.
I "Eventually they'll start to
move the stuff," said a local
source, "and things will start tol
happen. The question is when."
Sources who monitor the nar-
cotics traffic say producers inj
North Burma have on hand l
several hundred pounds of
neatly packaged, pure grade no.
4 white heroin, which looks like
soap powder.
Manufactured In refineries
that are in some cases almost in
sight of the Nam Ruak River l
forming the boundary between
Burma and Thailand more than l
400 miles north of Bangkok, the!
heroin was intended for thel
American GI market in South!
Vietnam, the producers were
caught unawares by the U. S.
Avithdrawal, the sources say.
TRAFPICI:EItS ARE now
looking for connections in other
markets, including the United
States, which now gets an
estimated 5 to 10 per cent of its
heroin from Southeast Asia.
"These boys haven't even
tapped the U. S. market yet,"
said one source here.
That they are interested was
dernonstratcd by the arrest of
two Chinese who sold a suitcase
full of hero' n to an undo ?c ?er
narcotics 34, PPKQVQa,'r1 1"
Chinatown this summer. The
heroin was traced to Southeast
Asia.
Narcotics authorities estimates
that about 700 tons of opium are j
produced each year in the!
iur:gied mountains of the Golden;
Triangle, mostly in Burma.
While Thailand and Laos
cooperate with the united States
in combating narcotics traffic,
Burma does not.
THE AUTHORITIES believe
half of the opium is used in the
area where it is grown and
another 200 to 250 tons used in
Hong Kong and other places in
Southeast Asia where there
ist
large addict population. Thaa
leaves 50 tons or more unac-
counted for-enough to produce,
at least five tons of high-grade.
heroin.
The major route for the
opium has been across the bor-
ders into Thailand, then by
highway to the Bangkok area
and from the Thai coast by
fishing trawler to Hong Kong,
and the rest of the world.
About a dozen U. S. narcotics
agents have moved i n t o
Thailand, sonic of them operat-
ing in the far northern Thai'
sector of the triangle.
The Thai police last April
formed a 30-man special nar-
cotics operation (SNO) to work
in North Thailand. While U. S.
and Thai agents cannot work
(across the Burmese border, they
!have for need their own network
of informants and also enlisted
the aid of the CIA, which has
been active in the area for the
1past 20 years.
SINCE S:O STARTED work
it has seized more than five tons
of opium, heroin and other drugs
,and broken up smuggling net-
works which used dummy
gasoline tack trucks and opium
the system works.
Heroin is still plentiful In
Bang kok and at the U. S.1
I military bases in Thailand, as'
1 was discovered by a more
effi-cient system of testing GI's
,vhich went into effect in July.
TESTS SO FAR indicate that
up to 1,575 of the approximately
43,000 GI's in Thailand use
heroin, compard with about 255
discovered earlier. A vial of
pure heroin that will sell for $500
in the U.S. can be bought for $5
in Thailand.
Authorities say big-time traf-
fic through Thailand has dried
sup temporarily, however. They
cite the crackdown and tem-
poraty loss of a big market as
the cause.
"What keeps a connection'
together is a combination of
faith and trust in the guy you're.
dealing with," said one source
here. "It takes time to build that.
up.
The sources added that heroine
is a product that does not
deteriorate sitting on the shelf,
and that the men who run the
Golden Triangle drug traffic can,.
Irunr.^_rs in Thai army officers':
1uniforms to get past check-j
(points.
Much of the SNO success has
been through cash awards nun-j
ning up to ~2,600 for large drug
seizures. The money is paid to
the Thai investigators who make
the haul, and they distribute it
among their informants.
Sources here say the reluc-
ltance of traffickers to move
/. Yb4,ti`c, IA-RD
more than,6,b^U pounds is proof i
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NEWS t
434,849
OCT 1 17 197a
okJ a
Second in a series
By Keyes Beech
Daily News Foreign Service
CHIENG.MA1. Northern
Thailand - Nor lon, ago a vis-
iting American congressman
asked a U.S. narcotics ai ent in
Bangkok if the hill tribesmen
of Southeast Lsi:, had any idea
of the havoc rieeir prodact, re-
`fined to heroin, was cre:ain; in
the streets of New York.
For a inomant the agent w .s
speechless at the question.
Then taking a deep breath, ire
replied: "Sir, theti never heard
of New York."
They never heard of Bang-
kok, either.
The question is indicative of
the wall of iactorance that sep-
arates most Americans from
the history ana realities of the
drug traffic is Southeast Asia.
FOR FOUR centuries, begin-
n i n g with the aggressive
prodding of :reedy European
colonialists, A.; ans have been
cultivating the poppy that
yields the t n;m that yields
the morphine that yields the
heroin that is now finding its
way into the United States.
Up thro,a,h World War If
and beyond, every Southeast
Asian government had its
opium monopoly. Everywhere
it was a major source of reve-
nue, like other government
monopolies including salt and
tobacco.
In the middy of the last cen-
tury the British fought a war
to win the rg,ht to sell opium
to the unv: it:ir" Chinese. Hong
Kong - had its own opium
"farm." Anil act until 194f3 did
.the British uuta?.v the drug
?traffic in Hon., Iran!.
FOR TI1 E ASIANS opium
was, and suil is, an escape
more ways one. An Amer-
ican woman nia\ s~:aliow a
pill to ease the pain of her
menstrual p riod. The hill
tribe wotrz~..n of Southeast
Asia's go':rb a u iangile - the
upper reach.?-, of Hurmat,. Thai-
land and tag, - will smoke a?
pipe. Or r,? to of opium.
Opium -i h:ippens to be
the only cgs.. crop of the hill
tribe peo,+z. their only means
of acquiring same of the minor
luxuries of ih' outside world.
Their econorr?' is as dependent
on opium :a.s the lowlanders
1 are on rice.
DURING r,ti those earlier
years, to -.",.'ericans opium
was an Asian affair. But two
years ago, w.- ii heroin addic-
tion hit enidamic proportions
among American Gis in South
Vietnam, t!,e :'scan narcotics
traffic sud:'.?_r.h? became Amer-
ica's busine.;.
;Now the Cl market almost
has vanished with the with-
drawal of American troops
from Vietn,ac'. But the drug
problem lin?tr-ri on - a legacy
of the Vietnam War as the her-
oin traffickers seek new out-
lets in the Urr;er. States to re-
place their kar GI market.
At the same time President
Nixon has declared global gar
on the interttaoonal drug traf-
fic. As a result, stopping drugs
has become aimnost as impor-
tant as stopninl. communism
a m o n g U.S. objectives in
Southeast Asia.
IN AT LEAST three coun-
tries - Thailand, Laos and
South Vietna nt - all the re-
sources of U.S. embassies
have been thrown into the
campaign to ci,eke off the flow
of heroin to the United States.
STATINTL
Embassy political officers.
accustomed to routine diplo-
macy, have b ,-en diverted to
full time narcotics assign-
ments. "One way or another,
j we spend at least 50 per cent
of our time o?t rarcotics," said
a senior embassy officer in
Bangkok.
"Hell," said a young foreign
service officer recently trans-
ferred to natcotic?s work. "I
love it. It's a !ot better than
shuffling pa yrs."
THE CIA, stung by charges
that it has contributed to the
drug traffic by collaborating
with opium-growing hill tribes-
men and corrupt Asian offi-
cials, has t!1) w.,m all its in-
tell igence-gaihecing resources
into the antidrug campaign.
On top of a'1 this, agents of
the U.S. Bu.,-c- o! of Narcotics
and I)an`-erous Drugs have
made their appearance in
Asian capitals horn Tokyo to
Hong Fong to ?i:angkok in in-
creasing nut ti' )Cm s.
For 10 years there was one
U.S. narcotics agent in Can;-
kok. Today there are 13 oper-
ating in all Thaiiand, "making
cases" in co-operation with
Thai police.
SINCE Thailand is the natu.
ral conduit. kit drugs coming
from the gold'u triangle, the
rn
biggest effort has been cen-
tered there.
". When the heat is on from
the White :iw se," said one
U.S. otiiciaul, .you jump. No
one questions the desirability
of cutting off t'-.e drug traffic.
although sonic. of us wonder if
there isn't an element of over-
kill in the curr_4m campaign."
If there is isn element of
"overkill" - and that is deba-
table - the trasons are under-
standable. Mr. Nixon is run-
ning for rc-eiccfion and the
"Asian drug connection" could
easily become an explosive
campaign issue.
Next: The doing traffic - ro-
mantic and deadly.
from the naaa.; of reality just
as alcohol is an escape for so
many Americans. Some Asians
become addtcrs - a crowing
number. in fact - just as
some Americans become alco-
holics.
Opium is a pain-killer in
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18 AUG 1972
tree (drug)' enterprise.
Perusal of news dispatches about the Federal "World'
-Opium Survey 1972" discloses -several deficiencies in the
report.
It does not deal with the role .of the Central Intelli-
gegce Agency in conspiring in the opium traffic in the
'.golden triangle" in Burma. Thailand. and Laos. That CIA
'role is dealt with in detail in Alfred W. McCoy's "The-Pol /
itics of Heroin in Southeast Asia." published yesterday by
Harper & Row. t,....
The.Survey is. thus. a.coverup for the CIA's drug oper.
ations.
The Survey does not deal with the drug'traffic in Sai-
gon where several of President Thieu's generals are major
operators. That traffic has been protected by the U.S. com-
mand. One consequence has been the massive drug addic-
tion among GIs. addiction which has returned to .the U.S.
with them.
The Survey reveals one useful-consequence of Ptesi-
dent Nixon's visit to Peking. For years the U.S. Narcotics
Bureau. and Harry'Anslinger. its chief. carried on a stand=
erous war, against -the Peoples Republic- of China as the
main source of the world's opium traffic. The present re-
port admits. 1n effect, that that was a lie. There is "no re-
liable evidence that China has either engaged in or sane-
tioned the illicit export of opium or its derivatives." it says.
The Survey concedes that. world-wide, government
"seizures... represent only a small fraction of the illicit.
flow."
The obvious conclusion is that the flow of opium
through the capitalist world is made possible by massive
corruption of government officials, police agents. etc.
The inspiration for the massive business in opium is,
the same one that inspires 'other business - profit. In this
.respect. it is a shining example of "free ente'rp'rise."
. ?rL'fJai'C I -
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Drug'Trafftc:
STATINTL
Furor
Over the
Asian
Pipeline
WASHINGTON-?A bill to cut off
$100-million in military and economic
aid to Thailand as a penalty for failing
to halt the flow of narcotics to the.
United States will come before the
House on Tuesday. It is unlikely that
the measure will ever become law-it
has already been defeated in the Senate
-but it does reflect a furor in Wash-
ington over official handling of the
Southeast Asian drug traffic problem.
Behind-the furor is the fear that a
new wave of opiates, especially heroin,
is on its way to the United States,
particularly' from Thailand, which in
turn gets the narcotics from Burma.
Until now, the bulk of the illicit
heroin supply entering the United
States was siphoned off from the 200
tons of opium produced in Turkey.
Turkey has promised to stop growing
opium poppies by the end of this year.
But a number of members of.Congress
are? troubled by the knowledge that
some of the 500 tons of opium pro-
duced each year by the hill tribes of
Burma and neighboring countries could
profitably be diverted to the United
States.
'Moreover, there Is suspicion that
certain corrupt Thais are pulling the
wool over the eyes of officials in the
Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous
Drugs, the State Department and the
Central Intelligence Agency who are
supposed to block the flow of opiates.
Or worse, that Americans have also
been corrupted.
But many of the legislators zvho
have-been digging out "secret docu-
ments" and hurling accusations are
ill-informed about the realities of the
situation.
For a century or more, opium has
been grown by'the hill tribes in South-
east Asia, It was bought up by the
Chinese traders and distributed to the
addicts of Asia. Hardly anyone in
America cared.
In -recent years this pattern has been
changed slightly as the main source of
the Burmese opium has fallen into the
hands of a Chinese named Lo Hsing-
han, whose militia of about 1,500 men
controls the mule train route to the
refineries at Tajilik in southern Burma
Government does not interfere with
to because he also helps them control
Communists and other insurgents in
the area. Nelson Gross, the State De-
partment's senior senior adviser on
narcotics, met Premier Ne' Win of
Burma last January and has had fol-
low-up conferences at lower levels, but
the Burmese have declined outside help
and have done little or nothing on
their own.
The shipments continue to reach
Thailand, which, according to some
American officials, faces a situation
comparable to that which would con-
front the United States if Canada made
no effort to control narcotics.
Nonetheless, Mr. Gross and William
T. Wanzeck, who headed the Southeast
Asia regional office of the Bureau of
Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs for
the past four years, feel that some-
thing can be done and is being done to
steal the flow.
Mr. Gross and his colleagues argue,
that their critics have relied headily on
testimony before the House Foreign
Affairs Committee by Alfred W. Mc-
Coy, a Yale graduate who in four years
in Southeast Asia made it his business
to find out about the narcotics traffic.
Mr. McCoy makes much of the fact
that the opium is carried out of Burma
by Chinese Nationalist paramilitary
units that at one time were in the pay
of the -C.I.A. The American officials
contend that this is no longer true: They
say the two. main Kuomintang units
operating in Thailand left the narcotics
trade last March when they were given
land in return for a pledge to give up
dope-running and for turning over o"
tons of opium, which was burned.
The Narcotics Bureau claims other
achievements:
s They have helped the Thai Nar-
cotics Office to set up special anti-
narcotics teams, one of which in the
northern area of the country has been
responsible for seizing $347-million
worth of morphine and heroin since
March.
? New technological aid is being
given the Thais to help curb the flow
-of narcotics on trawlers that carry the
drugs from Thailand to Malaysia, Bor-
neo, the. Philippines and Hong Koeg.
O The. Thai Government is the first
nation to enter into an agreement v.-ilh
the United Nations whereby farmers
who give up growing opium will be
recompensed. The Thais are contribu-
ting $5-million towards the program,
the United States $2-million.
As Mr. Gross said last week, "Easic- '
ally we are trying to anticipate what
the narcotics operators are going to do
to exploit Southeast Asian supplies.
We have agents out. We have some
chance of success."
-DANA ADAMS SCIMIDT
ovRertect CIA-RDP80-01601 R000800200001-4
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AI F ease 2i001/03/04
COURIER JOURNAL
M-239,` 9- 1
S - 350,303
r"~ ..
ES. ai
for the drug
traffickers.
AS PART OF the effort to combat drug
abuse-which, according to President Nixon
last summer, has "assumed the dimensions
of a national" emergency"-the administration
is committed to an all-out attack on the inter-
:national narcotics trade. This involves not just
the breaking up of the syndicates that pro-
icess and import the heroin to the United
;States, but persuading other governments,
particularly in Southeast Asia where most of
the world's heroin now originates, to come
down hard on the- growers and marketeers.
!But is the Nixon administration trying as hard
as it could to cut off this profitable trade at
its source?
Disturbing evidence is accumulating that
it may not be; -There is The Politics of Heruin
in Southeast Asiq, to be published this fall but
excerpted in the July issue of Harper's by a
young Ya;e graduate student specializing in
Southeast Asian history and politics. This
documents the involvement of high govern-
ment and r :ilitary officials in Laos and Thai-
land in '.1,e narcotics trade; it even charges
complicit; by the Central Intelligence Agency.
JThe CIA has challenged all the author's alle-
gations, asserting that most of them are with-
out foundation. -
`Lever' is hard to use _
But there is also the study made last winter
,by top-level officials of the CIA, the State De-
partment and the Pentagon, and just now dis-
closed. This report concludes that there is no
prospect of cutting off the smuggling of nar-
cotics from Southeast Asia because of. "the
corruption, collusion and indifference at some
places in some governments, particularly Thai-
land and South Vietnam." This conclusion,
too, is being discounted by administration of.
ficials, who argue that it is out of date and
that "substantial progress" has been made
in the past fopr months.
Yet it would be naive to assume that a situa-
tion that was so bad could have improved as
significantly anal as swiftly as all that. Certain-
::, 7Iir" ILIA I ' >,
yf ts~Rt9 D~~r ti~ + _n'A_
,~~3'1tw CDNGRe55~'`
Dowling In The Kansas City Star
"The place to start is the
other end."
of the opium poppy. In Turkey's case the
United States is to help in compensating the
thousands of peasant farmers for whom poppy-
growing has been an innocent livelihood for
centuries and who now must switch to other
cash crops. Whether the Turkish government
or anyone else is compensating the many mid-
dlemen who have grown fat off the opium
trade is not discussed publicly.
But the United States has another way of
persuading reluctant governments to join the
anti-drug campaign. Congress tacked on a pro-
vision to last year's foreign aid bill permitting
the President to suspend aid to any country
that doesn't take action against the drug traf-
fic. The only problem is that suspending aid
to the governments of Southeast. Asia would
virtually end the Vietnam war overnight.
It's a dilemma, to be. sure. But it's worth
recalling that last winer, when President
Nixon was vehemently reiterating this coun-
try's commitment to keeping President Thieu
in power in Saigon, even though this was the
main obstacle to serious negotiations in Paris,
the same regime was one of the major factors
being blamed by U.S. officials for the con-
tinuation of our own "'national emergency"
-in drugs. And that's why we ask: Is the ad-
~r ~il,r~lt~
h+dstnb!
able to persuade. the Turkish- government to
972
way below a certain view of a solution for
1-4 .
 STATINTL
Approved For F a snaDOt7W01 fl4A1C1 DS80OF QT 0800200001-4
AND SOCIAL SCIEI`ICE
.July 1972
? STATINTL
The Use of Force in Foreign Polley by the
People's Republic of China
By ALLEN' S. \\TIIITING
ABSTRACT: President Nixon's "journey for peace" to Peking
has implicitly modified. the image of a Chinese Communist ai;-
gressive threat delineated by all previous administrations.
However, it has not explicitly redefined the administration's
assumptions on the Chinese use of force. This has left. coiisid-
erable confusion and unease among Asian and American audi-
ences who accept the concept of masive Chinese military force
being?cleterred from aggression primarily by American security
tommitnieiits, bases, and force postures extending from Korea
and japan: to India. Tile nine instances Wherein the People's
Liberation Arn:y. (PLA) has crossed customary borders in hos-
tile array during the .past twenty-two years proyide-priilia facie
evidence for the conventional image of a potentially expansion-
ist regime contained by American commitments and force.
However, closer examination of the use of military force by
the lloople's Republic reveals an entirely different situation
whereby.ti:e government in Peking, in most cases, deployed the
PLA in defensive reaction against a perceived threat. The
Chinese use of force primarily for defensive deterrence has re-.
mained remarkably' consiste;it over twenty-one years, and* con-
siderable continuity may be anticipated for at least the next
five years.
Allan.5. Whiting, Ph.D., Ann Arbor, Michigan, has bsen Professor of Political Science
at the University of aichigani since 1965. He previously taught at .llickigda State,
1955-57, and Northwestern, 1951-53. He was a s/a l ire,nher of the Rand Corporation
in Ike Social Science Division, 1957-61 Director, 0!0fice of Research and Analysis for
the Far East, U.S. Department of State, 1961-66; and Deputy Principal Ofrcer, Amcriian
Considale General, Hong Kong, 1966-6S. Educated at Cornell and Columbia universities
and the recipient of several fello,Lships, he is the author of Soviet .Policies in China
1917-24 and coauthor of Dynamics of International Relations; Sinkiang: fawn or
Pivot?; and China Crosses the.'i'alu.
t CCORDING to a Gallup poll, in
September 1971 more than half the
American public saw China as the great-
est threat to world ixcace in the next few
years.' Nothing has. eventuated from
President Nixon's self-styled ''journey
for peace" to Peking to change this per-
ception, nor has tlle.l(ll)lillislr,,Lio!l -given
any systematic assurances -to the coa-
trary. Instead the Pentagon continues
to demand new, complex, and costly
veapoils systems for the West Pacific,
ostensibly to deter potential Chinese
aggression. Admiral Thomas '11.
.poorer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
staff" wants we must prepare to fight
two nuclear wars at once, with the So-
viet Union and with China.' Oil-,. . fan
allies from Korea to Thailand, worry
aloud about the credibility of :\n mica's
deterrence in the aftermath of Stalemate
and withdrawal from Vieti:vn, against It
rising, weariness of military burdens in
Asia, manifested by congressional pre: -
aures for cuts in military assistance.
American and Asian anxiety over the
future use of force by the Peoples Re-
pablic is rooted in recent history. On
.nine occasions in the past t\renty-tv,o
year, the People's Liberation Army
(PLA) has projected-China's military
power across its- borders.3 Iu Korea
(1950) and India (1962) n:a for w.u? re-
sulted. In Laos (1964) and Vietnam
(1965) PLA deployments risked Sino-
An6erican coni'act. Two crises in the
Taiwan Strait (1954-55 and 195S) os-
tensibly fell within the category of civil
war, but nonetheless confronted . the
united States as protector of the Chiang
Kai-shek regime. In March 1969 bel-
C opt inu!-
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 ST WJI ed For Release 20tW : CIA-'RDP8O-01601 R000800200001-4
AUG 1972
STATINTL
0jr! e
c,
lectronic
A ~Wienaoir
quarters in Langley, Virginia, right off the
Baltimore-Washin
ton ex
ressw
l
ki
g
p
ay over
oo
ng
the flat Maryland countryside, stands a large
three story building known informally as the "cookie fac-
tory." It's officially known. as Ft. George G. Meade, head-
quarters of the National Security Agency.
Three fences ' surround the headquarters. The inner
and outer barriers are topped with barbed wire, the middle
one is a five-strand electrified wire. Four gatehouses span-
ning the complex at regular intervals house specially-
. trained marine guards. Those allowed access all wear irri-
descent I. D. badges - green for "top secret crypto," red
for "secret crypto." Even the janitors are cleared for secret
codeword material. Once inside, you enter the world's
longest "corridor"-980 feet long by 560 feet wide. And
all along the corridor are more marine guards, protecting
STATINTL
the doors of key NSA offices. At 1,400,000 square
feet, it is larger than CIA headquarters, 1,135,000
square feet. Only the State Department and the Pentagon
and the new headquarters planned for the FBI are more
spacious. But the DIRNSA. building (Director, National
Security Agency) can be further distinguished from the
headquarters buildings of these other giant bureaucracies
-it has no windows. Another palace of paranoia? No.
For DIRNSA is the command center for the lamest, most
sensitive and far-flung intelligence gathering apparatus in
the world's history. Here, and in the nine-story Opera-
tions Building Annex, upwards of 15,000 employees work
to break the military, diplomatic and commercial. codes
of every nation in the world, analyze the de-cryptcd mes-
sages, and send on the results to the rest of the U.S. in-
.tclligence community.
Far less widely known than the CIA, whose Director
-Approved For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP8.0-01601R000800200001-4
Qantinue4
 STATINTL
Approved For ReleaM/lf/Q4s'iCIA-RDP80
2 6 JUL 1972
Heroin. ,and tie War`,
Alfred McCoy, a Yale graduate student who inter- ness to curb the international narcotics trade. The
`viewed 250 people, charges that the Central Intelli- fact remains that the largest supplies of the filthiest
--gence Agency has known of Thai and South Viet- poison of them all apparently come from or through
-namese official involvement in heroin traffic, has Thailand and South Vietnam, if one is to take the.
covered up their involvement and has participated CIA's private word-as against its public word-
in aspects of the traffic itself. The CIA has publicly on the matter. Nor should it stretch any reasonable
man's credulity to understand that the United
denied these charges, in the process even per- States has had to accept certain limitations on its
suading Mr. McCoy's publisher, Harper & Row, to efforts to get those governments to stop drub deal
let it review his book manuscript before publication. ing because it has wanted to ensure their coopera-
But now there comes an internal government re- tion in the war against North Vietnam. In the final
-poit--done by the CIA and other agencies-on human analysis there. is simply no place in the pur-
the difficulties of controlling the narcotics trade suit of honor and a just peace in Southeast Asia for
in Southeast Asia. The report states: an 911-out lionest effort to control traffic in heroin.
"the most basic problem, and the one that This is the infinitely tragic fact flowing from con-
unfortunately appears least likely of any early tinued American involvement in the war.
Would heroin addiction among Americans have
salution,'is the corruption, collusion, and indif- swollen to its current diiriensions and would the
'- ? Terence at some places in some governments, amount of heroin reaching the United States from
particularly Thailand and South Vietnam, that South Vietnam and Thailand have reached its cur-
by more effective sccppressio7a of traffic rent levels if the war-and power politics-had not
pye?tee> governments on whose territory it takes gotten in the way of effective American pressure
upon the governments in Saigon and Bangkok? If
That is to say, a private report by agencies in- President Nixon needs any further reason to make
eluding the CIA confirms the thrust of charges good his pledge to end the war, this is almost
which the CIA publicly denies. The White House reason enough by itself for what it says about the
contends the report, completed in February, is "out character of regimes this country has gotten into
of date." the habit of supporting-lavishly and indiscrim-
Now, we are aware that the Nixon administration inafely-in the name of our "national security"
has worked with great vigor and much effective-. and "world peace."
Rear Guard
pproved_.Fo-r- Release 2001/03/04 :.CIA-RDP80-01601 R000800200001 -4
 WASHINGTON POST ?
Approved For Releasg 00/00f4 : CIA-RDP80-
U.S. Cites Progress
In Asian Drug Fight
By Tim O'Brien
Washington Post Staff Writer
The White House said yes-
terday that the governments)
of Southeast Asia are making
"substantial progress" in stem.
ming the flow of illicit narcot-
ics to the United States.
Presidential assistant Egil i
Krogh Jr. told reporters that a
cabinet-level report citing cor-
ruption and indifference ? in
narcotics enforcement by!
Thailand and South Vietnam'
STATINTL
In Vietnam, Krogh said the ; ' Myles J. Ambrose, director
United States has received-of the six-month-long Drug
substantial cooperation from Abuse Law Enforcement pro-
President Thieu on down." gram, said . that "three years
The State Department join-
ed the White House In seeking
to play down reports of South-
east Asian reluctance to crack
down on narcotics smuggling..
Spokesman Charles Bray said
progress has been made since
the cabinet-level report was
filed in February.
He called the report "more
retrospective than prospect-
live" in outlook, and was not
a State Department report
As not up to date.
He said the report, compiled
by officials with the Central
Intelligence Agency, State De-
partment and Defense Depart-
ment , was submitted last Feb-.' I
but "a report to the State
ruary; ? but in the last four De "
artment
p
.
months there has been sub- Meanwhile the Bureau of
stantial progress." I !Drugs and Dangerous
A few hours later, however, . Drugs (BNDD) announced that
Sen. Vance Hartke (D-Ind.) in-~ U.S. agents and Thai police
troduced a last-minute amend- . sized about $230 million worth
sistance
i
A
F
s
ore
gn
ment to the
Act to forbid further economic
and military aid to Thailand,
"because of its major role in
.the international narcotics traf-
-f ie.!'
The Senate defeated the
amendment last night on a I
vote of 67 to 22.
Hartke criticized Pres?dent!
Nixon for-failing to withdraw
of opium, morphine and her-
oin in two days of raids in
Northern Thailand.
According to BNDD director
John Ingersoll, the raids net-
ted nearly three tons of op-
ium, along with guns and other
equipment.
Yesterday morning, federal
drug law enforcers told Presi-
aid to Thailand, "despite a 1 dent Nixon, that the Bureau of
provis'an of the Foreign As- Customs and the BNDD had
sistan?-Le Act that allows the a hand in removing more than
President to suspend aid to 470,000 pounds of narcotics
na:inn that doesn't take ;"from world illicit traffic" in
any
action" to halt black market
narcotics exports.
The' President's inaction, he
Fiscal Year 1972. This, they
said in their year-end report,
more than doubled the confis-
ago- we were on our own ten-
yard line and the other team
had the ball. Now we're on the
fifty-yard line and we have
the ball."
He said that, since its Incep-
tion last.January,.his program
has - produced over 3,000 ar-
rests and identified about l
3.000 narcotics pushers.
said, is "in the face of hard ev- cated poundage over 1971.
:idence that Thailand serves as Marijuana constituted about
the conduit for the trans-ship-j94 per cent of the seized nar-
ment of opium produced in cotics. The administration said
Southeast Asia, the largest op-jarrests of drug dealers rose
ium?growing area in the from 12,497 last year.to more
world." ' - than 16,000 during Fiscal 1t72.
Recently published accounts It was reported that the num-
of the pessimistic multi-agency ber of addicts seeking metha-
study of Southeast Asian drug, done treatment has also in-
traffic said governments 'of creased dramatically, though
the region were unable and no numbers were cited.
sometimes unwilling to halt'i Assistant Treasury Secre-
the.flow of opium and other i!t ry o Rossides re-
narcotics: 1ported Eugene President isl
But Krogh argued that the pleased that we're on the of-'
tide. "can be stemmed in fensive now, whereas three .
Southeast Asia." He cited in- years ago .we were on the de-,
creased seizures of. heroin fensive."
"and other substances" in the
region and said the problem -
was being approached in, an
atmosphere of "mutual cooper-
ation." Approved For Release 2001/03/04?: CIA-eRDP80-01601 R00080026-0001-4
 STATINTL rAs;,,irmTo,Z; POST
Approved For Release 20011%3( :1 k-RDP80-01
"W Too
v Isit to- -.a,
By Peter Smith
Pacific News Service
PHITSANULOK, T h a I-
land-In a U-shaped bend
of a small river about 13
miles east of this northern
district capital lies asecret
U.S. military training base
known as Camp Saritsana.
Near the point where I
had been told to turn off
the road. to find the camp,
a Thai waitress in a small
restaurant said that there
were usually about 1,000
Thai soldiers at the site,
but that most had just left.
She also told me that 10 or
15 Americans were station-
ed there, and that pianos
landed on an average of
five times a? day.
As I walked ? along the
river away from the high-
way, the whine of diesel. on the base, he said, "Sure,
generators guided me until
I saw several concrete and
wooden buildings, a 100-foot-
high water tower, and a-
generator shed. Further up,
a steel suspension bridge
carried truck traffic across
the river. The scene re-
minded me of places where
.I' had served in Vietnam
and 'Thailand.
At Saritsana, U.S. Army
Special Forces train That
f soldiers for c o m b a t in
neighboring L a o s. Since
the early '60s, CIA-financed
Meo mercenary armies, led
by their most powerful
chieftain Vang Pao, have
been fighting in Laos, and
estimates of the number of
Meo men killed run as high
as 50 per cent. To replace
these losses, the United
States has been training
Thais for the last three
years. But the training and
the fact that Thailand has
been sending troops to Laos
have not- been acknowl-
edged by U,S. or Thai of-
ficials.
M Ha
Se in .1 hal.
supervises and pays for the tag, a frequent tip-off that,
training of these irregulars people are engaged In ac-
in Thailand and provides tivity which might , not
their salary, allowances (in-,square with formal pro-
eluding death benefits), and nouncements of U.S. policy.
operational costs in Laos." Scattered a m o n g the
These Northern Thai usual pin-ups and memor-
speak a dialect similar to abilia of home were other
lleo dialect, and they are One n said: "No war
easily integrated into Van, was
and on with odes-
Pao's forces.
At the c,,rn, I was stopped Another said: "Make war,
at the main gate by three not peace. War is the final
Thai guards, who called their answer."
commanding officer, a Thai' The men were polite, al-
special forces sergeant ma- most painfully so. They did
jor, on the phone. When I not mention their mission,
told him I had once served and when I expressed in-
with the U.S. Special Forces terest they changed the
In Thailand and just wanted subject.
come on." 0 n c of the
guards got on the back of
my motorcycle and we drove
to headquarters.
ferr'.d to escort Me to the
gate, - and I followed his
truck out and waved to the
Thai guards as I left.
The 50-acre site 7s divid-
ed roiihly in the middle by
an airstrip. heavy woods
surround the base. Ten bar-
racks for Thai soldiers were
on the left side of the en-
trance road. Elsewhere on.
the grounds were a Thai spe-
cial forces headquarters, a
jump tower and cable rig for
parachute training, a drying
loft for the parachutes, and
several maintenance build-
ings.
'Air America' Si =
After checking with the
Thai sergeant major, the
guard took me across the
runway to a building mark-
ed "Air America," the name
of the charter line which
flies secret missions for the
CIA throughout Asia. bly
Thai escort ushered me in-
to a U.S. Special Forces
team room, tivhere,five men
were having their morning
beer. All wore civilian
But a 'U.S. Senate sub- ? clothes or jungle fatigues
committee- on security agree- without insignia or . name
ments and commitments
abroad reported last year:
' "The Thai Irregular pro-
gram ... was designed by
the CIA specifically along
the lines of the irregular
program In Laos. The CIA
J
STATINTL
STATINTL
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 STATINTL
Approved For Reld i2001t0 : CIA-RDP80-01
2 9 JUUJ 1972
WASHINGTON CLOSE-UP
Homage to CIA Drug Fight Ironic
STATINTL
By JUDITH RANDAL
? The American Medical Asso-
ciation, which predictably of-
fers few surprises at its an-
nual meeting, achieved the un-
expected this year.
As one entered the conven-
tion's exhibition hall in San
Francisco's Civic C e n t e r,
one's nostrils were assailed by
an odor more appropriate to
that city's Haight-Ashbury dis-
trict - an aroma strongly
suggestive of the burning
]eaves and blossoms of the fe-
male Cannabis saliva plant.
The scent fired the curiosity
of all in the hall who had ever
sampled marijuana and drew
from the wife of one physician
attending the meeting the re-
'mnark that she had smelled
that odor many times in the
back of the school bus she
drives.
That was only the beginning
of the surprise. Following
one's nose, one soon came
upon a booth housing an exhib-
it on drug abuse v.luch fea-
tured a display about many
drugs, including pot, and a de-
vice that generated a synthetic
smoke that was close to, if not
identical with the real thing.
There was still more surpise
to come in this display, which
- it turned out-had won
the gold medal in the AM,iA's
coveted Billings Prize compe-
tition as one of the outstanding
scientific exhibits of the meet-
ing. The exhibitor was no
mere doctor or pharmaceuti-
cal firm, or even your aver-
age, run-of-the-mill science-
oriented government bureau.
It was that most unlikely of
contenders for an A:IIA
award: The Central Intelli-
genoe.Agency.
Dr. Donald Borcherding of
the CIA was on hand to ex-
plain the exhibit's origins,
Like most agencies, he said,
the CIA has. an occupational
health division whose job it is
to promote the well-being of
its personnel. When CIA offi-
cials at the agency's Langley,
Va., headquarters b e c a in e
worried about pot, LSD, speed,
heroin and the like, Borcherd-
ing and his colleagues assem-
bled the display.
According to the CIA medic,
it was an immediate hit, not
only at the Langley "Spook
Farm" but also among groups
in the community, such as
Knights of Columbus lodges
and parent-teacher associa-
tions. The CIA is thinking
about putting together "how-
to-do-it" instructions so that
other groups can build their
own replicas.
Granted, the crusade
against drug abuse needs all
the help it can get. But the
trouble with the CIA exhibit is
that it does not tell things
ttrictiy as they are. For exam-
ple, it implies that the use of
marijuana sets the stage for
later use of heroin. This issue
is by no means settled and, as.
a matter of fact, there is a
good deal of evidence to sug-
gest that alcohol, rather than
marijuana, is the first drug to
be abused by most people who
subsequently become . heroin
addicts.
In any case, many experts
believe that if there is any
connection whatever between
pot and heroin, it is their ille-
gal status and that if the for-
mer v.-ere "decriminalized,"
its link with the latter would
tend to disappear.
More important to this dis-
cussion than an argument
about the casual relationship
of the two drugs is the point
that the CIA does not come
into the campaign with com-
pletely clean hands. Reporters
have been hearing for more arm winning a medal for an
than a year that the agency exhibit on the horrors of drug
has been supporting the heroin abuse. To some it was a little
traffic in the Golden Triangle like the Mafia getting a top
region of Laos, Thailand and j award for a display of the
Burma, and that this opium evils of extortion, prostitution
byproduct has been one of the and gambling' - and a few of
more important cargoes car- the more socially aware physi-
ried by Air America, an air- cians present did not hesitate
line operating in Southeast to say so.
almost exclusively with th
gion, incidentally, is said t
illicit opium from which mor
CIA's complicity in the heroi
mess, one might consult a
article entitled "Flowers of
Evil" by historian Alfred W.
Harper's magazine. Part of
forthcoming book called "Th
Asia," the article spells out in
detail how Vag Pao, long the
leader of a CIA secret army in
?Laos, has become even more
deeply involved' in the drug
traffic and what role this traf-
fie has played in the importa-
tion of heorin into the United
States and its use by our
troops in South Vietnam.
Writes McCoy of the situa-
tion: "As a result of direct and
indirect American involve-
ment, opium production has
steadily increased, high-grade
heroin production is flourish-
ing and the Golden Triangle's
poppy fields have become
linked to markets in Europe
and the U.S."
The CIA went away from the
San Francisco meeting with a
gold medal and, no doubt, a
good many doctors who saw
the exhibit went away im-
pressed. Some of them proba-
bly learned for the first time
what pot smells like.
But for others there was a
bitter incongruity in the gov-
ernment's super-secret spy
Approved' For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80-01601 R000800200001-4
 STATINTL STATINTL
THE I AMI DAILY PLANET
Release 21)61 Q*TElA-RDP80
STATINTL
QUESTIO
CHI SMUGG.L
By FLORA LEWIS
NEW YORK - A weird series of
incidents is bringing into focus the
qu7stion. of the CIA's relation to the
.booming Indochina traffic in heroin and
the -opium from which it is made.
Ramparts makazine has published a
study of the drug trade in Indochina,
pulling together many details of the
.widely but only vaguely known story and
making a series of specific charges
against top South Vietnamese, Laotian
and Thai officials. Further, Ramparts
charged that-it is CIA operations and
subsidies in the area which have made
possible the big increase in the supply of
heroin from Indochina.
Sen. George McGovern (D.-N.D.)
wrote a letter to CIA Director Richard
Helms asking six questions about it. One
inquired whether the opium production
in Laos was conducted with the
knowledge of CIA officials, particularly
around the CIA's secret army base at
Long Cheng in Laos, and if the effect of
'CIA operations is to "protect the sup-
plies (of opium) and facilitate their
movement."
CIA legislative counsel Jack Maury
called on McGovern to give oral answers
to the questions. He referred to a sheaf of
legal-size papers for his information,
indicating that the CIA has made a new
-investigation, but he didn't give
McGovern the papers. He denied some of
the charges, but said the CIA has been
trying to convince the local people not,to
be in the drug traffic, which obviously
inplies that the CIA knows about it.
McGovern's query wasn't the first
challenge to Helms on the subject. On
March 4 Helms went with his wife to an
evening event at the Corcoran Gallery in
Washington. The star happened to be
Allen Ginsberg, the tousle-haired mystic
poet. They met at a reception before the
poetry reading, and Ginsberg took after
Helms for what he says is CIA support of
the dope trade.
The poet has been investigating drug
traffic for seven years, and he has on the
tip of his tongue a lot of precise names
and places and figures. For one thing, he
said, Long Cheng is a central collecting
market for the opium flowing from Zieng
Quang Province of Laos down into
Vietnam and Bangkok and out around
the world back to the United States.
Helms said it wasn't true, so Ginsberg
said, "I'll make you a wager." If he lost,
brass symbolizing the lightning-bolt
doctrine of sudden illumination." Helms
was to meditate one hour a day for the
rest of his life if he lost.
Some time later, Ginsberg sent Helms
a clipping from the Far East Economic
Review saying that - a number of
correspondents who sneaked into Long
Cheng over the years saw raw opium
piled up for sale in the market there, in
full view of CIA armed agents. He also
sent a note offering Helms suggestions
hil
b
t h
k
t
i
ht b
k
t
a
ou
ow
o
eep a s
ra
g
ac
w
e
meditating, the best sitting position and
proper breathing.
He has had no acknowledgement from
the CIA chief, but says, "I have been
tender-toward him. It is terribly im-
portant to get him into an improved
mind-consciousness. Anything that
might help save the world situation
would be sheer Hari. Krishna magic, the
hard-headed people have brought us to
such an apocalyptic mess." -
Helms says that he has received no
note from Ginsberg, and only vaguely
remembers the bet. He called the charges
"vicious," "silly," "ridiculous." He told
me, "There is no evidence over the years
that any of these people were involved in
any significant way. Almost all the opium
grown there is in Communist-controlled
areas, Pathet Lao areas."
I asked about Thailand, and he said,
"I don't control northern Thailand. I
don't control the Royal Laotian
government; it's an independent
country" (whose national budget and
army are subsidized by the United
States). "I don't know why you want to
lay all this on the poor old CIA."
We are not involved in the drug
traffic in Laos or anywhere else. There is
no evidence at all. To have evidence
you'd have to get somebody in my office
and have him say yes, I ran drugs with
your approval." -
At another point, he said, "Opium's
been in that part of the world for cen-
turies," and "most drugs in the United
States come from Turkey." He said he
didn't know anything about a U.N.
report that 7()%-80% of the world's
supply comes from Southeast Asia.
And at another point he said ? "that
part of the country (Laos) is loaded with
ver the azea
"
ll
i
It'
.
um.
s a
o
op
Maury, he said, had told McGovern
that "it's all rot. It's not true." Later,
g
y,
Maury told me that he couldn't say
anything about his talk with McGovern illicit enterprises. The CIA doesn't
A t- _ ..._:u _s..,....,.~,: w- h- support what they do on the side, but it
Ginsberg prom iseAppiovednf C* R
"vajra" (sic) which he describes as "a
Buddhist-Hindu ritual implement. of
aliu u~aa a Y1114 a4a, s , v? .. ....... uv u..o
l2A~ar toE:IAqR.~8 a 6'f4Rfi${302000014
available to you or anybody else for
.publication."
Meanwhile, the rate of heroin ad-
diction among GIs in Vietnam is soaring
dramatically, and drugs continue to pour
into the United States.
Certainly. Helms is right when he says
-that drug control is
responsibility. But
inescapable.
not the CIA's
two facts are
I.-Drugs are flowing into Vietnam
and out of Indochina into the world
underground network in dramatically
increasing quantity. Not only is there a
fearful growth, in the amount of opium,
from which heroin is refined, produced
and exported from. southeast Asia.
Alongside the traditional opium trade, .
heroin is being produced there. This is
new. The proof that it is true is the ready
availability of heroin to GIs in Vietnam.
Their powder doesn't come all the way
from Turkey or France.
2.-The CIA provides virtually all the
transportation, the arms, and much of
the money on which the people engaged.
in growing and moving drugs depend on
in order to keep going. The CIA isn't
there because of the drug traffic. As
Helms says, it does not officially condone
the traffic. But official CIA operations
have made it much easier for the trade to
prosper in security.
While the standard American
government position is that Turkey is the
main source of the heroin reaching the
U.S., there.is every reason to question
whether this remains true. The United
Nations Commission on Narcotic Durgs
has said that 80% of the world's opium
supply comes from southeast Asia. Dr.
Alexander Messing, a UN narcotics
expert, says that "if (the supply of opium
from) Turkey were shut down overnight,
there is still so much of the stuff around
that it would hardly make a difference."
Partly, this is because the main
producers of opium are the hill tribes in
Laos and northeast Thailand. Many are
the Moo people, on whom the CIA relies
for its "clandestine army" in Laos.
Opium is their one cash crop. The CIA
needs the goodwill of the Meos. It does
not go out of its way to offend them.
Partly, this is because the very nature
of CIA operations in southeast Asia
requires the cooperation of high local
officials, daredevils, adventurers. Often
those who are corrupt cooperate all the
since it facilitates their
more willin
l
 DflT.Y ~~
Approved For Release 2001 /01/04`:`aA-RDP80-01601 WO OJJ200001-4
3JUN1972
Charge CIA and Thiel,,
push heroin to U.S. GIs
Daily World Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON. June 2-Alfred W. McCoy. a Yale student.
working on his doctorate, told a Senate Appropriations subcom-
mittee today that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and Sai-
gon Dictator Nguyen Van Thieu are directly involved in the ship
ment of vast quantities of opium and heroin to the U.S.
McCoy, who has authored a book. "The Politics of Heroin in
Southeast Asia," debunked president Nixon's campaign against
heroin imported from-.Turkey."
He told the Foreign Operations subcommittee. headed by Sen.
William Proxmire (D-Wisc), that the U.S. underworld has totally
recouped the loss of the Turkish supply by turning to Southeast
Asia sources.
In South Vietnam. McCoy said, the opium and heroin traffic
is divided among. the nation's three dominant military factions:
Pres. Thieu's political apparatus, Prime Minister Kim's political
organization, and Gen: Ky's political apparatus.
"Throughout the mountainous Golden. Triangle region, the
CIA has provided substantial military support for mercenaries;
right-wing rebels, and tribal war lords who are actively engaged
in the. narcotics traffic and in Thailand the CIA has worked
closely with nationalist Chinese paramilitary units which control
80 to 90 percent of northern Burma's vast opium export and man-
ufacture high-grade heroin for export to the American market,"
McCoy testified.
"Some of President Thieu's closest supporters inside the
South Vietnamese army control the distribution and sale of he-
roin to Americans GI's fighting in Indochina."
"Finally U.S. agencies have been actually involved in. certain
aspects of the region's drug traffic. In Northern Laos, Air Ame-
rica aircraft and helicopters chartered by the CIA have been trans-
porting opium."
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 STATINTL
Approved For Release 2001#@4 w DP80-01601 RO
DATE UJNKNOW1)
ta?a-
S
Xu w .e
-
Want to ask t ramous person a 6.;ea:son? Son. the a.eCion on a postcard. to "Ask." FWnfly Wrrsi9Y. t-i1
Lexington Ave. Now York. N. Y 10422- Well pe! 35 I~r pub+islad q;,est ons. Sorry, we can't anrwL?t therL
10 U74_71931_~
FOR REP. CHARLES B. ?RA_ti GEL, N.Y.
You've aicnsed the CIA of aiding and ahefling
heroin sellers in Asia. V117hat grotrnds do you have
for such a serious charge?-R. D., New York, N.Y.
C De pite pubic disclaimers by the CIA, many of us in
Congress have serious reason to believe that the agency is
indeed complicit in the trafficking of deadly heroin to our
servicemen in Southeast Asia. Newslnen clandestinely
entering the secret CIA base at Lvng Cheng in Lans hate
reported raw opium openly oiled t.o For ~;..le in th- market
there. In addition, we kr.ou that the CIA regularly supplies
arms, transportation and funds to dries producing hill tribes
in Laos and Thailand in exchange for Their al egia nce, know-
ing full well that these tribesmen are cornerstones of the
drug trade. Most Congressmen have little idea how the' CIA
operates and how much money it spends. The CIA budget
is carefully disguised and hidden. In fa.,t, a recent Senate
Foreigu Relations Committee report, "Laos, April, 1971,"
reads like a jigsaw, puzzle, with pieces "deleted at the re-
quest of the Department of State, Department of Defense
and Central Intelligence Agency." Congress cannot prevent
CIA involvement as lone as we are delibcratcl, kept in the
dark al.utt that ageucvs trperatiors.
STATINTL
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 STATGNTL
Approved For Release 2
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IA-RDP80-01601 RO
LAOS .
A heavily censored report revealed May 7 in
he U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee
charged the U.S. spends $100 million a year to
support a Thai irregular army of 10,000 men in
Laos. The report 'revealed that for the first
time U.S. helicopter, gunships, under U.S. army
command but apparently with Thai pilots, are
northern Laos. The report was prepared by
committee members James Lowenstein and
Richard Moose after their trip to Thailand and
Laos in January. The report also noted the CIA
and Thai army headquarters in Udorn air force
base in Thailand provide contact with the Thai
irregular forces; the irregulars are trained in
Thailand by U.S. army special forces per-
sonnel; payments including bonuses are made
.by the CIA to the Thai unit at Udorn.
supporting medical evacuation missions in
 STA T NEW YORK. 3~i]~.Es
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The, S 6utheast Asian Connection
By HANS J.7SPIELMANN
BANGKOK, Thailand-The world's
attention in recent months has been
turned toward the Mideast-Turkey,
principally-as the source of illicit
supplies of heroin. But the fact is that
the fabled "Fertile Triangle" of South-
east Asia - Thailand, Burma and
Laos--continyes to produce two-thirds'
of the world's known supply of opium,
from which heroin is derived.
'The figures alone are eye-catching:
in - 1970 Thailand's hill tribes con-
tributed 185 metric tons of raw
opium to the world's supply, Burma
1,000 tons, Laos 100.
It is true that most of the opium, or
abo" 800 tons, is consumed by South-
east Asians from Rangoon. to Hong
Kong. Nonetheless, about 400 tons
continue to leave the area, bound for
addicts around the world. The buyers,
not all Americans by any means, range
from soldiers in Vietnam to junkies
along New, York's Eighth Avenue.
So- vast are these suppliesO (U.S.
addicts, for example, consume annual-
ly the heroin derived from "only" 120
metric tons of opium), so limitless the
profits, that governments, armies and
revolutionary fronts have played parts
in the production' and trade throw h
the years. They continue to do so, aid
even the United States Central Inte:-
Jigence Agency has had its days in the
poppy fields.
J
"They have been growing
poppies for 150 years."
The 'Vietnam war and the complex
and confusing movement of "foreign-
ers" back and forth through Southeast
Asia has created a boons in the illicit
production. of raw opium. Today, in
Thailand alone, it is estimated that
half of the 350,000 hill people in the
elevated areas of the north participate
in growing poppies.
Thirty per cent of these workers
are addicts themselves, but they turn
a tiny profit by the standards of the
million-or-billion-dollar de.ils we are
accustomed to associating, with nar-
cotics. The average worker earns
about $100 a year and has, incidental-
ly, no. real knowledge o. what he is
doing. That is to say, the hill people
do not even know that they are pro-
ducing an illicit product for a world
market, they have been growing the
poppies and using the opium in lieu
a
kill' d' f o 150
f
The production of opium only be-
came illegal in Thailand in 1958, as
did trafficking and smoking, and the
hill people really could not understand
that they were outlaws. Not to worry,
as things developed: production went
on unabated.
As it is now, there is a sort of Com-
mon Market in opium operative in
Southeast Asia. National boundaries
are crossed by an assortment of rogues
who, while moving tons of the stuff,
"lose" only 2 or 3 per cent as bribes
and tributes and so forth.
The operation begins with the fields
in the high country (over 3,000 feet
above sea level for the high-quality
poppy) of Thailand, Laos and Burma.
The hill people themselves have
neither the courage, contacts nor funds
to enter into the distribution, so they
await the sharp lowlanders., These
townsmen come around at harvest
time, looking down their noses at the
hill people whom they consider to be
inferior, and buy the opium at very
low prices.
The best buy is in Burma, where a
kilo of raw opium sells for $15; in
Laos it's $30, and in Thailand $40.
Opium is gathered in the villages
and then in ever-larger towns by
smugglers,. who may. be described in
the first dealings as petty, but who
become rather more than that as the
opium changes hands and the supplies
pile up.'Then highly disciplined para-
military types take over, with tough-
ness and sure-handedness.
Among these is an outfit known as
the Shan of Northern Burma-rela-
tives of the Thais-whose dream, at
least back in Burma, was the establish-
ment of an autonomous Shan State.
But its fighting wing, the Shan Libera-
tion Army, has generally abandoned
politics as it observed the fertile
fields of Shan asylum in northern
Thailand.
Units of, the front transport the
opium grown in Burma (and this is the
mother lode-700 metric tons for ex-
port) to bases in Thailand. Of course,
as units cross the Burmese-Thai bor-
der, bask and forth, back and forth,
the talk is all politics and the dream
of statehood, but it's camouflage for
the real action, which is the opium.
The Shan has somewhat complex,
but strict, working arrangements with
the notorious Kuomintang (whose par-
ent organization is Nationalist Chi-
nese) troops of the Fertile Triangle.
Sometimes the Shan and the Kuomin-
tang trade arms and ammunition, and
medicines-often purchased from U.S.
stocks in. Laos-for opium.
The Kuomintang troops also keep
up political appearances, when the
real idea is opium. They say that they
carry out pro-U.S. espionage in.
Burma, and even claim forays into
China for "anti-Communist" activities.
But these units are no longer used and
supplied by the United States or
Taiwan, as they once were, although
they maintain radio contact, with each
other.
The Kuomintang is said now to.tiave
10,000 men under. arms, chiefly in
Thailand, but in Burma and Laos as
well.
Frequently, Kuomintang caravans of
between 300 and 500 meh, -plus horses
and mules carrying contraband for
trade, can be seen working toward
the north of Thailand and Laos toward
Burma. They are supplied along the
way with food by villagers eager to
please such impressive forces, and
eager to make extra money or to ac- -
quire some unusual luxuries.
Once they make their- contacts-
either with Shan troops or with smug-
glers-the Kuomintang caravan can
pack up as much as fifteen tons of
opium for the return trip southward. It
is said that these troops and their
"allied contractors" transport between
450 and 500 tons of raw opium south-
ward each year. Their profit mark-up
is 200 per cent.
One. arrangement that the Kuomin-
tang and the Shan have is that each
Kuomintang convoy that goes into
certain poppy-growing territory actu-
ally controlled by Shan troops must.
pay tribute. This 'amounts to about
$1.50 a kilo, and entitles the caravan
to a transit letter and Shan escorts
back to territory controlled by the
Kuomintang. . (In other areas Shan
convoys must pay tribute to Kuomin-
tang soldiers-the reverse situation.)
As noted, there, are a great 'many
addicts in Southeast Asia, and the'
Kuomintang troops sell off a good deal
of the opium back in Thailand. They
get four to six times what they paid.
But most of it is headed for export-
for quick dashes across more borders,
to airports and train stations, to sea-
ports, to Bangkok, Singapore, Hong
Kong, Vientiane and Saigon. And on
In the last five years, the Kuomin
tang, discovering among other things
that some of the opium it was trans-
porting was bringing in 2,500 times
more profit to the ultimate dealer than
to its troops, began processing the
opium itself. Kuomintang thereby in-
creased its own profits, never incon-
siderable,'-at least threefold.
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pan- mg m tones or
o
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?ontinued
 THE LOND0.
Approved For Release 2001/93&#.j9 tP80-01601.
CIAbehhd
Thai
regal- ad's in
Laos
From Fred Emery
Washington, May 8
The Central Intelligerice Agency
is the paymaster for an expedi-
tionary force in Laos of some
18,000 Thai "volunteers," with
plans to increase it to sonic 14,000
men at a yearly cost of $100nt
((40m), it was disclosed today in a
staff report of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee.
The numbers and cost involved
in this operation have been pre-
viously kept secret, with the
Nixon Administration invoking
Thai Government sensitivities.
However, Senator Stuart
Symington, chairman of a Foreign
Relations sub-committee, says in a
preface to the. staff report that the
Congressional. ban on American
support for third country forces in
Laos "is apparently being vio-
dated in letter as well as in spirit."
The Administration's defence is
that the troops are " local " forces.
The report questions the Ad-
ministration's contention that the
'men are volunteers d-raven from
thb large community of ethnic
Lao living in Thailand- It asserts
the men are recruited "by the
Royal Thai army from all over
Thailand " with a specific cadre
of officers and ncos from the
regular army.
The report, written before the
current Communist offensive in
South Vietnam, states that "Laos
is closer to falling now than any
time in The past nine years. Cam-
bodia has last half its territory,
and is insecure in the remain-
der... The North Vietnamese
,will be able to continue to use the
-territory of Laos and Cambodia
to pursue the war in South Viet-
nam, no matter how successful
Viotnamization proves to be and
to keep South Vietnam in a
poamanent state of sei.ge ".
STATINTL
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 STATINTJ}pproved For Release 2001/": CIA-RDP80-01601
April 1972
CIA WORRIED ABOUT THAILAND: High on
the CIA priority list is Thailand. American in-
telligence predicts a communist takeover
within two years unless military aid is stepped
up. According to CIA sources, there has been
an enormous influx of highly sophisticated
Chinese weapons delivered to the Peoples Lib-
eration Armed Forces, the Maoist guerrillas
who have been harassing government forces
for the past few years. Washington supplies
Bangkok largely with surplus US weapons,
and the CIA says the guerrillas' weapons are
far superior to these.
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 SAUY Pw D
e 200t/b4PL2I - db
SR: BOOKS .
Book Review Editor: ROCHELLE GIRSON
. STATI NTL
IN THE MIDST OF WARS:
An American's Mission
to Southeast Asia
by Edward Geary Lansdale
Harper & Row, 386 pp., $1250
the CIA at a meeting of the President's
Special Committee on Indochina held
on January 29, 1954.
Why is this important? Because if
there is one word Lansdale uses re-
peatedly it is "help"-and he uses it
personally, simulating a Lone Ranger-
like urge to offer spontaneous assist-
ance. Thus, the first day he ever saw
Diem, ". . . the thought occurred to
me that perhaps he needed help.... I
voiced this to Ambassador Heath... .
Heath told me to go ahead." The in-
formal atmosphere continues when
Reviewed by Jonathan Mirsky
a With the exception of the Pentagon
Papers, Edward Geary Lansdale's
memoir could have been the most valu-
able eyewitness account of the inter-
nationalizing of the Indochinese war.
Lansdale, a "legendary figure" even in
his own book, furnished the model for
the Ugly American who, from 1950
through 1953, "helped" Magsaysay put
down the Huk revolution in the Philip-
pines. He then proceeded to Vietnam
where, between 1954 and 1956, he stuck
close to Ngo Dinh Diem during Diem's
first . shaky years when Washington
couldn't make up its mind whom to
tap as the American alternative to Iio
Chi Minh. Lansdale's support insured
Diem as the final choice for Our Man
Lansdale, upon actually meeting Diem,
immortalizes him as "the alert and
eldest of the seven dwarfs deciding
what to do about Snow White."
Further desires to serve inform Lans-
dale's concern for the "masses of
people living in North Vietnam who
would want to ... move out before the
October [1954] including items abou
property, money reform, and a thre
day holiday of workers upon takeover.
The day following the distribution of
these leaflets, refugee registration
tripled."
r-Phe refugees-Catholics, many o
whom had collaborated with the
French-were settled in the South, in
communities that, according to Lans-
dale, were designed to "sandwich"
Northerners and Southerners "in a
cultural melting pot that hopefully
would give each equal opportunity."
Robert Scigliano, who at this time
was advising the CIA-infiltrated Michi-
gan State University team on how to
"help" Diem, saw more than a melting
pot:
communists took over." These unfortu. Northerners, practically all of whom are
nates, too, required "help." Splitting refugees, [have] preempted many of the
his "small team" of Americans in two, choice posts in the Diem government....
[The] Diem regime has assumed the as-
Lansdale saw to it that "One half, pect of a carpet bag government in its
under Major Conein, engaged In disproportion of Northerners and Cen-
refugee work in the North." tralists ... and in its Catholicism.... The
"Major" Lucien Conein, who was to Southern people do not seem to share the
play the major role the CIA had in the anticommunist vehemence of their North.
murder of Diem in 1963, is identified in ern and Central compatriots, by whom
the secret CIA report included by the they are sometimes referred to as un.
Times and Beacon editions of the reliable in the communist struggle.. ,
Pentagon Papers (see SR, Jan. 1, 1972) [While] priests in the refugee villages hold
as an agent "assigned to MAAG [Mili- no formal government posts they are gen.
in Saigon. While the book's time span 'tart' Assistance Advisory Group] for crafty the real rulers of their villages and
is, therefore, relatively brief, the period serve as contacts with district and pro-
cover purposes." The secret report vincial officials.
it covers in the Philippines and Viet- refers to Conein's refugee "help" as
nam is genuinely important.
There is only one difficulty with In
the A4idst of Wars: from the cover to
the final page it is permeated with lies.
That Harper & Row finds it possible
to foist such a package of untruths on
the public-and for $12.501-several
months after the emergence of the
Pentagon Papers, and years after the
publication of other authoritative
studies, exhibits contempt for a public
trying to understand the realities of
our engagement in Vietnam.
The lie on the jacket describes Lans-
dale merely as an OSS veteran who
spent the years after World War II as a
"career officer in the U.S. Air Force."
In the text Lansdale never offers any
explicit evidence to the contrary. In-
deed, on page 378-the last of the text-
he states that at the very time Diem
was being murdered in Saigon, "I had
been retired from the Air Force."
For all I know Lansdale drew his pay
from the Air Force and, as the photo-
graphs in his book attest, he certainly
wore its uniform. This is irrelevant.
Lansdale was for years a senior opera-
tive of the Central Intelligence Agency;
on page 244 of the Department of De-
fense edition of the Pentagon Papers,
Lansdale, two other men, a
d Allen
n
Dulles are ideriJifpt provedrrOf[We t 41.9
AA a Vic
one of his "cover duties." His real job:
"responsibility for developing a para-
military organization in the North, to
be in position when the Vietminh took
over ... the group was to be trained
and supported by the U.S. as patriotic
Vietnamese." Conein's "helpful" teams
also attempted to sabotage Hanoi's
largest printing establishment and
wreck the local bus company. At the
beginning of 1955, still in Hanoi, the
CIA's Conein infiltrated more agents
into the North. They "became normal
citizens,' carrying out everyday civil
pursuits, on the surface." Aggression
front the North, anyone?
Lansdale expresses particular pleas-
ure with the refugee movement to
the South. These people "ought to be
provided with a way of making a fresh
start in the free South.... [Vietnam]
was going to need the vigorous par-
ticipation of every citizen to make a
success of the noncommunist part of
the new nation before the proposed
plebiscite was held in 1956." Lansdale
modestly claims that he "passed along"
ideas on how to wage psychological
warfare to "some nationalists." The
Pentagon Papers, however, reveal that
the CIA "engineered a black psywar
strike in Hanoi: leaflets signed by the
Graham Greene, a devout Catholic,
observed in 1955 after a visit to Viet?
nam, "It is Catholicism which has
helped to ruin the government of Mr.
Diem, for his genuine piety has been
exploited by his American advisers
until the Church is in danger of sharing
the unpopularity of the United States."
Wherever one turns in Lansdale the
accounts are likely to be lies. He re-
ports how Filipinos, old comrades
from the anti-Huk wars, decided to
"help" the struggling Free South. The
spontaneity of this pan-Asian gesture
warms the heart-until one learns from
Lansdale's own secret report to Presi-
dent Kennedy that here, too, the CIA
had stage-managed the whole business.
The Eastern Construction Company
turns out to be a CIA-controlled
"mechanism to permit the deployment
of Filipino personnel in other Asian
countries for unconventional opera-
tions.... Philippine Armed Forces and
other governmental personnel were
'sheep-dipped' and sent abroad."
Elsewhere Lansdale makes much of
Diem's success against the various
sects, Cao Dai, Hoa Hao, and Binh
Xuyen. (At every step Diem was ad-
vised by Lansdale who, at one pathetic
moment, even holds the weeping Chief
STATI N1L
F
t/
l~~6f6~ri1~c2ffab~ a4
 STATINTL
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2 2 tr ;I- 1972
ThaiInd Becoming .. Staging Area.
for--U5.-'Dircced-.GroLmd CombM
BY JACK FOISIE
Tunes Staff Writer
BANGKOK-Thailand is
gradually 'becoming the
s t a g i n g area for most
American-directed ground
operations in-Indochina as:
troop 'withdrawals con-
tinue, from Vietnam and
the war and political situa-
tions become. more tense
in Cambodia and Laos.
This. has resulted in in-
creased sensitivity by both
Thai and American offi-
cials concerning the
American 'air. bases in
Thailand and the camps
and bases involved in
cross-border operations.
== in--answer--to a'news-
tnan's request,. American
officials disclosed t.b a t
there are 245 U.S.-militarv
advisers in Thailand and
280 members of the U.S.
Special Forces. But other
than outlining their ac-
knowledged training and
advising roles, the officials
'disclinetly to' gb deeper into
Thai-b'as'ed' American
operations: pertaining to
the Indochina war.
.Many Secret Camps
Rebellious areas in Burma great deal of aplomb can*
also. are being penetrated stumble into an American
from Thai - A m e r i c a n clandestine camp and stay
camps in the western pro- awhile by pretending that'
vince of.Thailand. he, also, is on a mysterious'
'Volunteers' in Laos :assignment. -
.,..T he participation of It happened this yvav,
Thai army "volunteers" in without a lie being` told.
The
as -part of -a Western- lcn;ede r: ate g u "Who are a r dre c h a?"
backed royal Lao army i;' y ou?"
The inewsman assumed a
now an established fact. _ 1- -1- _ - ,
n o000 i
-
h
?
.gore a
a
fantry, artillerymen and
airmen are in action on
foreign soil. They are
.American - paid but'-the
;.Thai government. also has
its own reason for making
the."volunteers" available.
army and its Coinmunist
replied: "Don't ask me!"
For emphasis he pressed a
finger to his lips. "Oh," the-
guard said; impressed, "I
understand." He opened
the gate and directed the
\'-isitor.. to - the command
post. '
- Exotic code names also
figure into -the secrecy.
?Pathet Lao auxiliat are-_
'
closer to the banks of the
.Mekong River than in past
dry' seasons and. the. \le-
kong is Thailand's border.
-:,Despite contrary
evidence, both. Thai and
American - officials c?o n-
tinue the pretense that the
volunteers. sign up on
1
eppergrinaer is the name
of a big American-Thai lo-
gistical base, way point for
weapons and supplies des-
their own. They are, in Thailand have declined
fact, regular Thai units led ' from a high point of 369 in
by their own officers and
taking orders mostly from /p The reduction was
possi ossible , after the Thai
Officially, the role 6f-.ail ligence Agency. own training. The Ameri-
-American Green Berets is One of the assembly can advisory force also has
to "train the Thais to be areas for this trans-\le- been cut hack by 255o
trainers"' in counterinsur= from its high point.
kung migration is the Thai Other American military
gency a*arfare, "both e army camp of Saritsena, activities have offset the
their own troops and those
of ,third country" 'armies outside the north central reduction.
-that is Laotian and towel of Phitsanulok. Air For more than a year,
equip -the-- 125,000-man
Thai army under the cur-
rent $60 million military
aid program.
This is an all-time high
'for. annual American
spending on the Thai
army and apparently re-
flects its support of. Thai
forces in Laos.
A 10-man American ad-
visory team is presently
with a Thai army "sweep
and clear". operation
aimed at driving a 500-
man insurgent band out of
north central Thailand
and back into Laos. The
senior American is Army
Col. Charles G. Ray of
Browns 'Mill, N.J. who.
Js peaks Thai fluently.
Ray said neither he nor
any of - his subordinates
goes below Thai regimen-
tal level and are forbidden
to. fly or drive into 'any
area where they might be
shot at.
Confirming t h i s, an
..American- - Embassy - offi-
cial said, "\Ve've never
had an American combat
casualty in Thailand and
we intend to keep it that
way"
Cambodians. America transport planes the American'- military
Rut- these` same Ameri= fly the men from there &.7 strength in Thailand has
can officials :acknowledge rectly into Laos..- been announced as 32,200.
that there are numerous In the most recent ex- ' Twenty-six thousand are
scxxet cam s-they - call. planation of the Thai pre- airmen, as five big bases
them 'ad hoc training' senee in Laos, a U.S. State in Thailand continue to be
areas"-at which Ameri- Department spokesman the. major springboard for
last week described the American bombing of ene-
Thais are located. But they Thais as "local forces" eli- my.. targets in Vietnam,.
.will not discuss the Ameri-' gible for U.S. support. Laos and Cambodia and
can role in these camps. ' This definition is intended retaliatory strikes against
It is known, however, to avoid being in violation N o r t h Vietnam missile
that. some are b o r.d e r of the congressional ban and antiaircraft guns.
-camps fronting_`,o - Laos -on the recruiting and pay- All-Time High Cost
ment of mercenaries for The 6.000 other Ameri-
and -~amboclia. They are Laos'and.Cambodia. ' can military are mostly
manned by both Thai and Secrecy concerning mil A . ,? ? ,; ? ; +
American Gree'A-"
e&aE a&s W ? r ld.t}1 /Np G-01601 R000800200001-4
UPPO
V
tined for allied forces in
Laos.
Despite its various un-
publicized roles, the
American special forces in
 Approved For Release 2001/03/04: QW-RU 8WL01601 R000800200001-4
LOS ANGELES, CAL. STATINTL
JJERAL~17~11 SP TW72 .
SEMIWEEKLY - 35,000
cc~a~t~thp9
WASHINGTON, b.C.-If, and we hove every reason to believe it's true, the charges made
In the March, 1972 Issue of "Earth Magazine," that the CIA is now, and has been in the
past, dealing in the d-oe traffic, it's deplorable. Drugs and its danger was brought to the at-
tention of the American people of the National HERALD-DISPATCH newspapers in 1960. We
pointed out in our initial drive against dope, the fact that it destroys American youth.
Hence, if tl"e CIA as charged and documented by "Earth Magazine" is dealing in the
dope traffic, they are singularly destroying a whole generation of American youth. Dope des-
troys the brain cell, it renders the individual, regardless of race, creed, or national origin, use-
less and powerless to think clearly. Dcpe, as it was fed to American soldiers in Asia is despicable
and deplorable. In Asia America's finest voting manhood was destroyed before being sent into
battle in a senseless, useless, racist war.
In the article titled "The Selling of the CIA" text by Morton Kondrocke, offers documen-
tation, photographs of former CIA spies, The spy was quoted, and we have no reason to believe
that Earth is lying on the C?IA, that its history is a sordid one.
The HERALD-DISPATCH has been aware for a number of years that the CIA has had
stooges in the universities and colleges throughout the nation where they recruit brilliant young
students. These students were used as spies to overthrow the African and Asian countries, to
murder, assassinate, and destroy pecple.
"Earth" cites facts, that the CIA is involved in the opium traffic with the "fertile tri-
angle" in the border areas of- Laos, Burma, Thailand and the Yunnan province of southern
China. They say, "about twenty-five percent of the heroin sold in America comes through this
Southeast Asian channel. Ironically, the American taxpayer foots a six billion dcllor o year bill
for running the dcpe-the CIA, an organization which answers to nobody, is intricately it
Approved For Frey,8``ttDFEdb*t~l9tks4u.s, tax mcne;
to tinIie
 Approved For Release 2001/03/04
~ 4iMtDP80-0160
APRIL 1972
BEYOND. WORDS
Writing for the President
by Harry McPherson
-but what is heroic death compared to eternal
watching
with a cold apple in one's hand on a narrow chair
with a view of the ant-hill and the clock's dial
Adieu prince I have tasks a sewer proiect
and a decree on prostitutes and beggars
I must also elaborate a better system of prisons
since as you justly said Denmark is a prison
I go to my affairs
-Zbigniew Herbert, "Elegy of Fortinbras"
In 1965 one could still feel John Kennedy's pres-
ence in the White House. I walked out of the
mansion one cold, starry night, headed for my
office in the West Wing,.and imagined I saw that
lithe figure standing in the Oval Office, his back to
the window; but it was only an aide.
I missed his wry humor, his detachment about
himself, his rejection of all that was mawkish and ba-
nal in politics. If he had not generated widespread
public sentiment for social change, he had helped the
nation to gain a perspective on its problems in which
'reason played a greater part than passion. One of the
many terrible ironies of the sixties was that the shock
of Kennedy's death was a more powerful stimulus to
congressional action than was his presidency.
Another irony lay in the response many of his par-
tisans made to Lyndon Johnson. To the most pas-
sionate of these, Johnson was simply a usurper. The
presidency had passed from Hyperion to a satyr. To
others Johnson was a parvenu, and always would be.
His. accent was the occasion for scorn among people
who had regarded Kennedy's way of saying "Cuber"
as picturesque.
A distinguished reporter told me, "I don't hate
Johnson. I just hate the fact that all the grace and wit
has gone from what the American President says." I
said that 1 found it difficult, reading his commentary,
to make the distinction. I did not say that I could un-
derstand how reporters might have enjoyed Ken-
nedy's deft banter more than three hours of self-justi-
fying stream of consciousness by, Johnson. It was
hard to be fair in a climate spoiled by hurt feelings.
STATINTL
policy as a people, then we shall effectively cripple
each generation to come."
Thus began the first presidential message on which
I worked. What followed were the nuts and bolts:
"special grants amounting to 80% of the non-Federal
cost of our grant-in-aid programs," "planning funds
for the coordinated treatment of the regional trans-
portation network," and so on. They were the sub-
stance of the program. The rhetoric would last only a
day or two; whether the cities would be helped de-
pended on how well the "Urban Problems Task
Force" had foreseen real-life problems and designed
a practical structure to meet them which the Presi-
dent could persuade Congress to adopt.
Since Kennedy had promised to get us moving
again, Democratic speech-writers had forced the
pace of everything the President for whom they
worked said. Nothing was too small to be termed
"urgent." The consequences of inaction were never
less than drastic; action would always bring redemp-
tion, prosperity, or civil peace. Sdmetimes the prob-
lem was described so severely that the program
seemed feeble by comparison.
I speculated that writers for conservative Presidents
did not have such problems. Their guiding principle
was good management, where ours was social change..
Good management was an end in itself. Social change,
on the other hand, was a process-involving the recog-
nition of legitimate needs, the arousal of expectations
that they should and could be met, the creation of laws
and bureaucracies, and a payoff-money, health care,
the right to vote and get a job, better schools. The pro-
cess could fail at any point-most often at the payoff. It
could not even be started unless the needs were recog-
nized and the expectations aroused. To do that, a
leader had to raise his voice. He could not engage in an
academic debate; he could not take .a. long view of his-
tory, in which crowded cities and poverty seemed in
retrospect the benevolent engines of progress; he could
not say, "Perhaps it would be wise"; he had to say, "We
must."
In pressing hard for change Johnson took great
risks, both for himself and for the country. He had to
convey. not only a poignant sense of the misery to be
relieved but also confidence that money and organi-
-zation and skill could relieve. it. Otherwise men
"If we stand passively by, while the center of each would do nothing.
city becomes a hive of deprivation, crime and hope- If he proposed a law prohibiting certain malign
lessness ... if we become two people, the suburbanpractices-such as excluding blacks from restaurants
and votin booths-he was relatively sure that he
affluent and theA OW&Fh A6F S'~t~{9'0l1 /O~d~4d: r l -RDE1$iOgO116(~St~8OO86?x@00 1-4
and feat for the of er ... if this is our estre and passed. If his goal was to provide medical care for the
 STATINTL TU SOUND
Approved For Release 296h4W ? E3P80-01 1972
STATINTL
Earth magazine's March issue accuses the
CIA of controlling Air America - and
charges that the airline operation is
responsible for at least 25 percent of all
heroin which reaches the United States.
Earth's editor and publisher James Goode
charged that the CIA-supported Air America
airline is being used to ship opium from CIA
bases in Laos and Thailand. Goode cite d an
article written by University of California
professor Peter Dale Scott who said that
opium is grown by CIA mercenaries,
including the Meo tribesmen, in Southeast
Asia. According to Scott, the opium is then
shipped from the remote jungle areas aboard
Air America planes.
A spokesman for Air America in
Washington, D.C. also declined to comment
on the story. He would say only that Air
Arnerica is a "non-domestic airline owned by
Americans which operates in Asia." He said
he was unaware of any connections between
the airline and the CIA.
Approved For Release 2b01 /03/04: CIA-RDP80-01601 R000800200001-4
 STATINTL
Approved For Release
ash, & CIA-RDP80-016
R6f
eat e, aahington
March 1972
Earth magazine charged that the Central
the smuggling of millions of dollars worth of
Said Goode: "I find it inconceivable that
the hierarchy of the CIA and other agencies
within our government have not cracked
down on this source of smack."
Goode'was asked about a suggestion voiced
earlier this week by Senator Hubert
Humphrey that the CIA be assigned the task
of investigating and stopping the flow of
illegal heroin.
F "Tl?.tt's like appointing the SS to investigate
atrocities at Dachau or Auschwitz," Goode said.
A 28-year-old Seattle resident who worked
as a "civilian aide" to Continental Air
Services in Thailand and Laos testified in
San Franciscothat he witnessed opium being
loaded aboard CIA-sponsored aircraft.
Enrique B. del Rosario said he watched as
cargo, labeled as "miscellaneous," was put
aboard Air America planes at the Ban Houie
Sai base in Laos, and at two other bases in
Thailand. Del Rosario said he had served as a
"civilian understudy" at the bases in
Southeast Asia between 1966 and 1970.
When asked if he was aciually employed at
the time by the CIA, del Rosario declined to
answer, insisting that he was not "permitted
to." He added that his wife'and two children'
are currently ,in Thailand - and said that he
did not want to say anything "which might
jeopardize their safety."
The magazine's editor James Goode
announced at a press conference in San
Francisco that the March issue of Ifarth
documents a web of alliances which co nect
opium-growing Southeast Asian farmers to
the CIA-sponsored Air America Airlines and
big money interests in the eastern United
States. Goode said, that heroin-smuggling
entanglements are carefully spelled out in an
article written by University of California
English professor Peter' Dale Scott; Scott's
eight-page article traces the connection
between opium growers, CIA operatives,
flights of CIA-controlled airlines and the
eventual delivery of heroin to the U.S.
Goode further charged that the
CIA-supported Meo tribemen and other
opium growers located in Southeast Asia's
"fertile triangle" are responsible for
anywhere "from 25 percent to 80 percent of
all heroin traffic reaching the United
The magazine editor stated tht Scott's article
was "clearly the most, dramatic
documentation of CIA complicity in heroin
trafficking yet published;" but he added that
the.CIA's involvement in smack smuggling
has been suspected and reported about for
years, adding: "Yet nothing has been
done."
However, del Rosario admitted that he had
worked very closely with the Meo tribesmen
and other CIA-supported tribes, and that he
had seen literally "hundreds of acres of
cultivated opium fields planted by the
tribesmen." Del Rosario said that the opium
was later harvested, and that he watched as
Ait American planes landed at Thai and Laos
bases and loaded the "miscellaneous" cargo
aboard.
Goode announced that he was making all of
his evidence immediately available to United STATINTL
States Senators - and that he is calling for a
Senate investigation of the CIA's role in the
underground heroin market.
Studies on the smack problem in the United
States have indicated that up to $5 billion
dollars is spent annually on heroin by
500,000 American addicts. More than half
of the money spent each year on the
purchase of heroin - or 52:5 billion - is'
obtained through theft by addicts. Medical
authorities report that heroin presently
caused more deaths to people between the
a s of 18 and 35 than do wars or cancer or '
uS +,, $ ci. 1 i a
Del Rosario, a former marine who served in`
Vietnam in 1964 and 1965, said that the
opium growing was permitted by the Laos
and Thailand governments as long as there
was no outside pressure exerted. lie
explained that, occasionally, a complaint I
would be * lodged about the amount of
growing and smuggling, and that then the
government would move in and demand a
temporary halt. to the opium cultivation.
C 4 D CA9U$
The Central Intelligence Agency has refused
to comment on charges voiced by Earth
magazine that the CIA "is deeply involved in
the smuggling of heroin into. the United
States."
A spokesman for the CIA, assistant director
Angus Thuermer, insisted .to Earth News
that the intelligence agency "never
comments on any charges or complaints
made against the CIA." Thuermer added,
however, that CIA director Richard Helms
had specifically denied any CIA connection
to the trafficking of heroin during a speech
he made to newspaper editors in
Washington$ D.C. early last year. At that
time, Helms, in reply to charges that the CIA
was involved in moving opium from
Southeast Asia to the United States,
said: "We know we are not. contributing to
that problem.".
(Ed Note: Further information on CIA
involvement in the opium trade is contained
in an article by Enrique B. del Rosario in
ear accidents Approved For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80-01601 R000800206001-4
 STATINTL ~t TPOST
Approved For Releae,2 9jy 4 : CIA-RDP80-016
' A The repeated assertions of I
Laos to het { government leaders here have
been that any Thai nationals
serving in Laos have simply l
More Thai ai chosen on their own to work'
Mercenaries
(for the Laotians. Sometimes it
is added that by battling the
these pa-'
Communists in Laos
,
i Itriots are, helping meet the
Washington Post Foreign Service
BANGKOK, Jan. 21-The
number of CIA supported
Thai soldiers serving in Laos
d i n 'he com-
e
se
b
Geneva Accords
By disassociating them-
, selves from the troops, Aineri-
cans here explain, the Thais
damaged. One day in Kem-
bern in scattered fighting 35
Thai security forces were
killed.
Analysts think any connec-
tion between external and in-
ternal events should not be ex-
aggerated, . but do note that
North Vietnamese propaganda
against the Thai regime has
been harsher and more per-
sistent lately.
U.S. Bombers
The vitriol has been primar-
ily directed at the presence of
American bombers in Thai-
land. The broadcasts threaten
"punishment" to the Thais fort
allowing "American use of l
Thailand as a springboard."
a
e incr
Will
[:cannot be accused of violatin
ing -months to contend with 1 the provisions of the 1962 Ge-
to y situa- senior neva accords which prohibited
tion the there,. worsening according military
.
U.S. sources here. 'Introduction of foreign forces
into Laos.
The sources declined to say I "From start to finish, the
how many additional Thais whole business is diplomatic
would be sent, but unofficial 'and military sleight of hand,;,! "Putting it all together,"
estimates are that the present said a long-time American ex-'said one American diplomatic
total, fixed variously at from pert in Thai affairs. (For their source, "I guess you could say
4,800 to 6,000, may be as much part, the North Vietnamese there is a kind of offensive
as doubled. - also will not admit to having under way here, but, of
The Thai battalions h a v e many thousands of troops in course, it doesn't begin to
been taking very heavy casual- Laos.) compare with what is happen.
ties in the Communist dry-sea- On the whole, Thais have log in Laos."
son offensive that began in greeted the issue of the troops So ? far the government has
mid-December, so the first job lackadasically. Certainly the dispatched more gunboats to
is to reorganize existing units families of casualties know I the Mekong River with Laos
and bring them up to strength. ! who they are and one Thai-, and has placed troops in criti-I
Like those Thais already ' owned English-language paper J cal areas on alert, but neither]
there, the reinforcements will. printed a news agency account step is regarded as especially
be "volunteers," ostensibly re- of 200 Thais being killed in meaningful.
cruited from outside the regu-done battle at Paksong. "Why they've been having
lar Thai Army and trained by But no local opposition to red scares for so long, no ones
the CIA to serve as mercenar- the Thais being in Laos has; knows what they mean any-
ies attached ? to the Laotian been recorded. Indeed, Thai , more," said one young Thai
government forces. ? civil servant, "How can we tell
Placing them officially inrvsts and intellectuals
interviewed in the past few, the difference between what is
under Laotian command (al- 'days agreed that the presence 1 always serious and what. is
though each unit has Thai offi- of troops there would proba- very serious?".
cers) is a technicality designed bly be applauded if Thai pub-I Thai Concern
s o meet the
restrictions on Ameri- lie opinion could be accurately There are indications, how.
can financing of third-country tested. ever, that the Thai leadership
forces in Cambodia and Laos. Nagging Insurgency is very concerned about the 'in-
The United States role in With war raging just beyond plications of the worsening sit.
mounting the Thai contingent Thai borders and nagging in- uation in Laos.
has beefs bitterly criticized by, surgency within them, popular .It is our first line of de-
members of the Senate For- sentiment appears to favor fense," commented one Thail
eign Relations Committee. A whatever steps are necessary official," If it falls, we must be
aid the CIA su- to preserve the country's )prepared."
rt
ff
t
repo
s
s
a
peace and relative prosperity.
pervises and pays for the , In the past month or so
training of the Thais and "pro- while the situation in Laos has
vides their salary, allowances, deteriorated, there. has been
. and operational costs in an upturn in the number of in-
Laos." cidents attributed to- guerrillas
in Thailand's northern and
Committee sources said last southern regions.
'summer that the United Some of the incidents have
'States may have spent as been serious. Yesterday, for
much as $35 million to finance example, 16 policemen were
the Thais In Laos-roughly killed in an attack on a "spe-
cial per man a year. cial operations base" in a re-
mote northern district. Police
Until very recently, Thai-
land maintained about 10,000
regular troops In South ? Viet-
nam, but the Thais have scrup.
ulously avoided any official
trn
(connection w
"~.
Laos.
Earlier this month, Prime
Minister Thanom Kiitaka-
chorn met with Gen. Creigh-
ton Abrams, commander of
U.S. forces in South Vietnam,
to discuss what was officially
described as "the war situa-
tion in Laos."
.In the very heavy fighting
on the Plain of Jars last
month, sources in Vientiane i
reported, the Thai casualties
outnumbered those of the Lao-
tian irregulars by about two-
to-one. The same was gener-
ally true in the south.
Some observers speculated
that the Communists might be
bearing down particularly
hard on the Thais in an effort
to discourage ethers from
coming. Another theory has it
that the Thias were merely
poorer, less disciplined fight.
ers than their Laotian and
Meo allies.
Details of the session were
never made public, but in.
formed Thai sources said var-
ious "contingency plans" were
discussed, along with the ques-
tion tion of sending the Laotians
said about 200 Communist- more "volunteers."
hill-tribesmen were in- The Thai ai battalions
- been lo-
volved, armed with B-40 rock- serving in Laos s have e
n lo-
ets. 1 cated at firebases in the north-
Then too, there was a demo- east on the Plain of Jars and
lition team attack earlier this around the erib:it 1 C
F~be9'f~@01~103 ~taft~laA-0 ~`> i0t'k000800200001-4
in which a B-52 was sligh y south, they operated on the
Bolovens Plateau.
 STATINTL
Approved For Release=01/03/04: CIA-RDP8
Jan 1972
U.S. operations in Southeast Asia have often involved shadowy
figures, perhaps none more shadowy than the elusive, Jekyll-
'Hyde figure of Anthony A. Poshepny
HE'S A ROUND-FACED, cheery man
with a cherubic smile and a charming
family arid, it is said, a penchant for
preserving the heads of his victims in
fordialdehyde. He's a classic Jekyll-
and-Hyde who has been waging the
most secret phase of America's secret
war in Southeast Asia for the past ten
years.
To the boys at Napoleon Cafe and
/ the Derby King on Bangkok's Patpong
Road, a watering ground for Air
America pilots, CIA types, journalist's
and. other assorted old Indochina
hands, he's just plain Tony Poe, but his
real name is Anthony A. Poshepny.
'He's a refugee from llun ary, an ex-
Marine who fought on Iwo Jima and
a dedicated patriot of his adopted land,
Poe is airplane pilot. He works for
Continental Air Services." An assist-
ant manager, also Japanese, showed me
the -registration card Tony had signed
only a few days before my arrival.at
the Amarin last June, in the middle of
my search for him. Tony, I learned,
generally stayed at the Amarin, only
a few blocks from the modernesque
American embassy. He was a familiar,
beloved character ?to the staff at the
hotel-the opposite of his public image
as a sinister, secret killer and trainer
s
ll
nist-armea guerrirtas, -most of then
members of mountain tribes, and ill
trained Thai army soldiers and police
men..Tony, it seemed, had vanishe
the jungle is so thick and the slopes s
steep as to discouragethe toughes
American advisers) on a mysteriou
training venture not known even t
most American officials with top-secre
security clearances, much less to th
girls behind the desk of the Amarin.
"Oh, he's such a nice man," one o
the girls in the hotel assured me' whe
I asked how she liked Tony-who, I'
been warned by. other journalists
might shoot on sight any reporter' dis
covered snooping too closely into hi
life. "He has very. nice wife and thre
lovely children," the girl burbled on,
pausing to giggle slightly between
phrases. "He comes here on vacation
from up-country." The impression Poe
has made on the girls at the Amarin is
a tribute both. to his personality and
his stealth. As I discovered while trac-
ing him from the south of Thailand to
northern -Laos, he already . had an
STATINTL
.
of anti-Communist guerrr a warrior
"Anthony A. Poshepny," read the' opulent home in Udorn for his wife, a
top line. "Air Ops Officer-Continental /Tribal princess whom he had married a
Air Services." So Tony, with a record' year or so ago. Mrs. Posliepny, a tiny,
.-)f more combat jumps than any other quick-smiling girl whom Tony had
American civilian in Indochina, had met while training members of the
l
the United States of America, for used Continental as his "cover" while
which he has risked his life on literally training mountain tribesmen to fight
hundreds of occasions while ranging against regular Communist troops
through the undulating velvet-green from both China and North Vietnam.
crags and valleys of Red China, Laos -Tony's cover surprised me; I had as-
and Thailand. sumed he would declare himself as
f t"ffIll
S
U
missions into.
Yao tube for specia
China, liked to cone to Bangkok to
shop while Tony conferred with his
CIA associates on the guarded "CIA 1/
floor," of the American embassy.
It was ironic that I should have
learned that Tony stayed at the Amarin.
.
He-also shuns -publicity and hates some sort o
governmen .. o r while in Bangkok, for it was only by
reporters, as I discovered in a long -perhaps an adviser to border-patrol.. chance that I had checked In there at
search for him, beginning in the Thai police units, the traditional cover un /the beginning of my search-and only
capital of Bangkok and extending to der which CIA operatives masquerade during small talk with the desk clerks
'the giant American airbases in north- in both Thailand and Laos. Still, Con -
eastern found one of Tony's desk clerks
eastern Thailand and to the mountains tinental was a logical choice. Like Air that
. caadI
of northern Laos. The search for Tony America, Continental regularly ferries The day after I arrived in Bangkok,
Poe ended where it had begun, in the men and supplies to. distant outposts local journalists gave me my first ink-
lobby of the Amarin Hotel on Ban; throughout Indochina. Financed at lin of some of the rumors surround-
kok's Ploenchit Road, a crowded, six- least in part by the CIA, Continental/ing Tony Poe. One of the journalists;
lane-wide avenue that runs through a could hardly balk at providing cover. Lance Woodruff, formerly a reporter
residential and shopping district sup- for full-time CIA professionals. on one of Bangkok's two English-tan
ported largely by rich American The next two lines on Poe's registra gtiage newspapers and now with the
"farangs," the somewhat demeaning tion form were even more intriguing Asian Institute of Technology in Bans
Thai term for "foreigners." There, be- than his link with Continental, at least
fore leaving Bangkok for the last time, g kok, said Poe not only hated reporters
in terms of what he was doing at the
After to," Tony bad but had been known to "do away with
I picked up a note, signed simply present. "going y he doesn't like." W"Tony," stating that he had to "de- written, "Udorn," the name of the base people li tee from Woodruff
r
Ter
Poe to a fist
'cline" my request for an interview. "I town in northeastern Thailand from ccomompatared red Poe an a fgu from the Terry
beelieve [sic] that you can appreciate which the United States not only flies of how Poe lined one wall of a house in
my reason for not seeking.public com- bombing missions over all of Laos but northern Laos, near the Chinese bor-
mentary,"-wrote Tony in the formal also coordinates the guerrilla war on der, with heads of persons he had
"statement style" better befitting a pub- the ground. And where was Tony killed. None of the contacts I met in
lic official and probably suggested, if coming from," according to the form? Bangkok had the slightest, clue as to
not dictated, by a superior in the His origin was Phitsanulok, a densely Tony's whereabouts-except that he
Central Intelligence Agency. jungles mountain province famed for was somewhere "tip-countryt training
"C-I-A?" asked the cute little Japa- incessant fighting between Commu-
tribesmen to fight the Communists,
nose girl at the front desk of the ~jossibl iin China itself.
Amarin, enuncf raartesf IEneneRel ona rr firs a e a'ro r 7 e a $"-011 ~' Q ? ~ QM440
,tors, smiling slightly with glittering East for years, is now based in Tokyo Arnarin, I drove to a town named
white teeth, raising her eyebrows fiir- as a Chicaeo Tribune correspondent., Ubon, some 325 miles northeast of
MEN AT WAR/ BY DONALD KIRK
J
 NEW YORK DAILY iE WS
STATINTL Approved For Release 2(1Q1,( /9 1 CIA-RDP80-
S; iaon, Dec. i (Special)--'Tic
allies are secretly training Thai
irregulars in South Viehlam to';
operate helicopter u it s h i p s
against the Cmnnluili3t3 in Laos,
reU ble sources said tonight:
Tliek said that the Thais had
been Yccruite1 by the U.S. Cen-
tral: Intelligence Agency and
that the U.S. would provide heli-
copters for their missions.
-Joseph Fried
Approved For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80-0160.1R000800200001-4
 STATINTL
Approved For Relea!/ZCIA-RDP80-01
28 Nall 1971
washington Post Foreign Service
BANGKOK, Nov. 25-
Thailand's Communist insur-
gents, one American official
here likes to say, are like
mice "operating between the
hooves of the government
elephant." - ?
It's not a bad simile. The
Thai government is very
.concerned about the -mice,
who began to appear nearly
seven years ago and have
t bl
a
l
Thai- pockets of trouble in back American officials here
ki
lly
e
ng,
spea
ra
Gen
land has not one but several, country areas of the south are sensitive to the incur-,
d I f f e r e n t Insurgencies.: and west. gency, and tend to be an
Those of most concern to Also, in the far south,'. noyed by the not uncommon
the government are in the about 800-. Chinese and; suggestion that the Bangkok'
north and northeast. Malay guerillas are known government overstates the .
The northeast is a dry,. to base along the border nature of the emergency to`
squeeze more, military aid
flat, poor area, dotted here with Malaysia-but they are out of Washington.
and there with the large said to be members of the .
American built a! r b a s e s; Malaysian Communist Party They note that U.S. mili-
from which- bombing mis and more concerned with tary aid to Thailand has
sions throughout Southeast 'probing across the border to been decreasing annually
from a high of $58.3 million
y rou
become nerea..inb
Asia are flown, and it is
throe, and it Is squashing that Communist politi.
them as fast as can. But n. going cal organization has been
Away. show no signs of .going most successful.
.
-By. the standards of Viet- . The insurgent Thai Peo-
nam, the guerrilla threat to ples Liberation Armed
Thailand is minimal. Ac- Forces that operate in this
cording to the government's area and base in the Phu
best estimates, there are Phan mountain area near
only about 5,000 armed in- the Nakron Phanom airhase
surgents in the country- have begun to establish a
though for each maa with a true village infrastructure,
rifle there may be as many government sources say.
- as 10 unarmed but active The guerrillas have an esti-
supporters of the movement. mated armed strength of
This number has not 1,500.
grown appreciably since the In far . north, the moun-
clandestine. Communist tainous jungled arm of Thai-
the south than with Tha-
land. an 1966 to about half that in
1970.
Thai sources in the five- They also say that Thais
year-old Communist Sup- have responded well to the
pression ? Operations Com- .threat of the insurgents.
mand, a combined police-eiv- 'Both the insurgency and
ii-military o r g a n i z a tion
headed by the respected the government's perform'
ante are on risin~b curves;'
Gen. Siyud Kerdphol, be- one source said, "and the
keyed that the various in "
surgencies are directed from governments keeping up.
Peking-not from Hanoi.' Whether it can gain on
The Americans, who have the insurgency, however, is
another question. It starts
a special counterinsurgency with certain basic disad-
section manned jointly by vantages.
representatives of the em- Thailand is a country only
bassy, CIA and the military, Slightly smaller than France,
tend to agree. with a hard-to-administer,
Party of Thailand decided in. land that reaches toward "It's. part of a long-term
1964 to switch from simple China between Laos and plan aimed at the ultimate
political activity to armed. Burma, the situation is dif- control of Thai society," one
struggle- -but the guerrillas ferent. source said. "It's not a spin-
are now much better armed, About 2 000 Meo tribes off from the Vietnam war."
trained and organized. then-ethnically the same as C a p t u r -e d Communist
According to the official the tough CIA-trained guer- cadre told Thai officials of
Thai reports, the combined rillas used in Laos to fight-' training in China. More re?
number of terrorist incidents the Communist Pathet Lao cently, there have been re-.
and assassinations has risen -led by Thai cadre have 'ports of Meo and Thai guer-
steadily from 300 in 1966 to staked out highland "liber- rillas being trained by
1,100 last year. In the first ated areas" in the north Chinese instructors along
seven months of 1971 there where the government sel- the road the Chinese have
were 900 such incidents. dom seeks to go. - been building, for the last
.Village-level organization These units launch hit- several years, down through
b 41. 'll 1 T MW nrd Thailand.
d aos
l
largely rural population of
about 35 million and-thou-
sands of miles of border.
Of the four countries with
which it shares borders; two
(Laos and ,Cambodia) are at
'war with Communist forces
and the other two (Malaysia
and Burma) have . low-level
guerrilla problems of their
own. -
O.n the other hand. it is the
only country in Southeast
Asia without a history of
colonial rule.
At the moment, the guer-
an
y e guerii as continues, and-run raids on out
despite new government: settlements around Chiang The road, which has now rillas are still more of an
programs to stop it. In one' Mai, and then fade back into ? reached 'to within 30 miles annoyance than a real
area of northeast Thailand the hills where the royal of the Thai border, has had threat. But there is no doubt
the long run the
alone, -an estimated 209 vii- Thai army follows only at Bangkok officials worried Thais that over are worried
'lager are estimated to be its own risk. If pressed. too for some time and. has .
thusi-
ti
eff
l
ec
ve
y under Commu- hard, they can slip across tended .to dampen en
nist control. the borders into Laos or asm for diplomatic over
When there Is violence- Burma. Lures toward Peking.
ambushes, assassination of , "What have you achieved Indeed, last week's"'coup
government officials, at- when you have chased 40 against parliament," in
tacks on -isolated police out-. Meo from one ridgeline to which the military leader
posts,-it is often carried-out another?" asked one official ship of the, country dis-
:with speed and precision. in Bangkok. "Nothing and it banded the National As-
"That was a real pro job," takes a hell of a lot of ef- sembly, abrogated the con-
an American counterinsur- fort." stitution and imposed niar-
enc s c ialist said not tial law, was said to be di-
g y p In addition to the north: rected in part at checking
long ago of an ambush in ern and northeastern insui-- public sentiment in favor of
northeast Thailand that cost. gencies, Thailand has little.,
the lives of several govern= a rapprochement with China.
Approved For Release 2001/03/04 :.CIA-RDP80-01601 R000800200001-4
 STATINTL
Approved For Releaseef4 r1A-RDP80-01601
2 5140'V 1971
BY Michael Morrow
DI.Dztch Net& service
UBON, 'Thailand-Toni'
Boyd Is a building man, a "They don't post pictures realizes it or not is some
tall Lincolnesque American Of GI's who- get V.D. And thing other than the benevo-
S'ho has spent 20 years in what if somebody were to lent roadbuilder.
half a dozen developing slip a-picture of the gover? With the roads has come the
countries, mostly as an nor's daughter up there: border patrol police and, just
agent of U.S. foreign aid. where would we all be as important, if not more so,
Boyd Is a symbol of much of then?' 'the spooks.' American intelli.
what is noble about Ameri- _ But the tragedy of Tom gence authorities have set up
can assistance to poor coun- Boyd's life is that more a" guarded, off-limits communi-
tries. But also of much of often than not he loses. cations center near the south-
what Is tragic. From 1960-67, at the peak of ernmost town of NTamyin..
Boyd is 60, a native of : his career, he served in Viet- ?
northeastern Texas, who nam. He supervised, the Indication of where Ameri-
was bossing construction modernization of Tanson- can priorities in the area lie
gangs in Arkansas by the nhut Airport, when It. was for the future is not hard to
time he was 20. Due to re- Intended for commerical come by. Boyd is the only
tire next July, .he already use. "straight" AID employee on
'has his bags packed, hoping The only American offs- the four-man roster. One other
-that--the hassle over foreign cial at Tansonnhut in the is an adviser to the border pa-
aid appropriations will evict early Sixties, Boyd became trol police, principally a light
him early. from his cruet- Ambassador Frederick mobile counterguerrilla force.
bling. yellow-stucco office in Nolting's representative in Another is a liaison officer for
this American air base cum one of the early intramural CIA operation in Laos. The
market town of northeastern wars in Vietnam. "They (the fourth runs the cornmunica-
Thailand. Tom Boyd is tired. Air. Force) used to lend tions center at Namyin, When
Boyd is one of the four their jets. I'd go out and tell Boyd goes home, moreover, he
employees of U.S. Agency for them how glad we were to won't be replaced.
'International Development see them and that they had Boyd does not believe in a
In Ubon. His job is to advise one hour to refuel, eat lunch Communist threat in north-
.local officials on - building and be on their way," he re- eastern Thailand. "I've always
country roads. "It's kind of members. said that I could put all the
like the county highway de- During the 1963 coup Communists in this area in
partment back home," he d'etat, Boyd overheard the' the back of a pickup truck.
says., And every week he last conversation between That doesn't mean you can't
treks .over the two provinces Ambassador Henry Cabot find people to shoot at you if
to which he is assigned, Lodge and President Ngo you go stirring things up. But
writing poetry in large legi- Dinh Diem. "And It wasn't
;,on can find them in Louis-
ble hand on long tablets of all in the Pentagon Papers, iana or Arkansas- too. There
-yellow paper to absorb the either," Boyd recalls. ? are plenty of bandits, moon-
endless hours in his jeep. That conversation made, shiners and people cutting it
Boyd's poetry Is sour. It Boyd an even stauncher legal timber. You go messing
often mocks the anti-Con- dove. He tried to thwart mil-
munist crusade and slams itary subordination of AID's with them and they'll shoot
the military. Boyd builds local assistance programs. you. That's all."
-'better bridges than poems. Westmoreland's command You knows' Torn Boyd said,,
But both are stolid and hang won. Tom Boyd was exiled stroking his silver Hemingway
together. Poetry keeps him to the outback of Thailand. beard and looking over the
sane, Boyd says. His -career has idled here pool of scrapers and bulldoz
"They say I've got it out ever dace. ers at ' the provIneial work.
for the military," he apolo- However, Boyd, like AID 'shop. "The Thais are some of
gizes. "That just isn't so. I In Thailand, is far from free the cleverest people I've ever
Just don't like bullshit .. , to, Ignore the military and worked with. If we pulled out
And ? blowing things up just their priorities. In fact, the tomorrow, they'd make out all
to be .blowing them, up is Accelerated Rural Develop- right. Their economy would
anathema to me." ..meat. Program of which have some setbacks, but they
Little vletortes Boyd Is a part Is 'basically need that. I don't agree with a
counter insurgency, as much lot of Americans that the Thai
? Boyd sometimes wins lit- a part of the American re- , has just got his hand out. He's
tle victories. Recently he gionwide effort to defeat got his hand out because
was able to. persuade the Air communism as Ubon Air" we've got ' our ' pocketbook
Force not to post pictures of Base from where Air Force open.
Thai girls reported'to have. e ream oa} y Bt ter
tire
R
letin 000800200001-4
letin gal der' 1i ~~ta la~ioeiaLO$kll7?'r ~p~wrl~~'
boar rd t e ase naan. Boyd, whether he fully. Tom Boyd is going home.
Inntf
 STATINTL
Approved For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80-01601 R000800200001-4
CHICAGO, ILL.
SUN-TIMES
M - 536,108
S - 709,123
1871
Klong song
The "coup within a coup" in Thai-
land is about as confusing as trying
to find one's way around Bangkok's
' ,network of klongs, or canals, without a
guide or a map. But it does seem that
all the Pentagon's money and all the
CIA's men couldn't put democracy to-
gel ier again in that beautiful country.
This is the third political setback for
the United States in Southeast Asia in
the past six weeks. First, 43,000 Amer-
ican dead and untold treasure resulted
in the re-election of South Vietnamese
President Nguyen Van Thieu on Oct.
3. Then, after turning Cambodia into a
battlefield, the national assembly was
suspended on Oct. 20. And now Thai-
land,' where the military has ex-
tinguished parliamentary democracy.
When will we learn that the only
way to ensure self-determination for a
people is to keep our hands off their,
apolitical processes?
J
Approved For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80-01601 R000800200001-4
 STATINTL DAILY wor-I
Approved For Releatej94jp3/04 : CIA-RDP80-01
CIA rnuscii g in on T h i ousi aessinen -
BANGKOK - The manager of Thai Airways has complained to
the U.S. Embassy here that Air America, the Central Intelligence
Agency's owned and operated air line, has been picking up passengers
inside Thailand and thereby competing with the Thai airline.
Prasong Suchiva, 'manager of Thai Airways, said his line had the
sole ri ht' to pie's up domestic passengers in Thailand. Air America is
used mainly for transport of war materiel and personnel for the U.S.
war.of aggression in Indochina.
Approved For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80-01601 R000800200001-4
 STATII roved For Release~ f1 /WCIA-RDP80-
_27SEP1971
$y D.E. Ronl, l-. 'dined in the Moose-Lowenstein proval forTbotiibing is known,.
i Special to The ws shtn-ton Post 1report released by the Sy but reliable estimates- place it
at perhaps less than 20 'per
VIENTIANB, Sept. 26 mington Senate subcommittee ,
country s area.
V.S. bombing in most of Laos' on U.S. Security Agreements cent of the
ip no longer subject to prior 1and Commitments Abroad on "After-action" reports are
approval by the U.S. embassy; Aug? 3. That report, widely re- now reviewed daily and map-
iii . Vientiane, according to' garded as authoritative, out. plotted by the bombing offi-
Anierican government sources. 1lined earlier` changes. in.U.S., cer, according to the govern-
operations n Laos, lneludiiig' 1went sources. He sets aside
Instead, final say In the bombing; those he finds "suspicious," re
choice of most targets has viewing the questionable tar-
Force's shifted tactical' hthe ea headua quartersAir~ though According there to the were report, al- prevali- vets weekly and requesting ae-
graphs of those still
q .
at Udorti Thailand, these dated targets in Laos, or rial 1)hotoL
sources say. The prinipal ex- "free-fire zones," most targets 1believed fiuestionable.
ceptions are major. populated 1required prior approval from Photographs are. routinely
rareas of Laos and targets zctja the U.S. embassy here after 1provided, the sources say, a.l-
being proposed by a commit though there is no means of
the sources. China, according to
the r tee meeting at Udorn Airbasc, {checking thier authenticity.
.In most-other cases, the cm- Thailand. 11 The 'sources also say' fihat
bassy reviews the targets only Under the old method, the every U Si overflight of Lao
list of. targets was previewed tian territory. is reported to
after bombing, .they say, by by a junior foreign service of- the embassy in Vientiane, in-
checking "after-action" reports' ficer and P. U.S. Air Force ser- 'eluding those over the do Chi
from Udoru. geant in Vietiane under ad. 11linlt "trail. Eml,a~sy1- spokes-
The sources say that this ap- visement of a member of the men have ceneastentty denied
pears to be a major bombing-? embassy's air attache office, in the past that such informa-
policyshift in Laos, although usually the same office who tion is available to them, di-
embassy spokesmen 'in Vienti
ane deny knowledge of such a
shift in targeting methods or
policy. There has been no pub-
lic announcement of any shift
in policy in recent weeks.
Reports that there has been
a major change In -bombing
policy in Laos follow contin-
ued reports of bitter disputes
at higher echelons over tar-
get-selection methods and de-
lays in decisions affecting 'op-
era(tions in this country.
J
i attended the committee meet reefing newsmen's questions
sings at Udorn. to Saigon. -
The "bombing officer," as IntrQductjon of forward air
he came to b-_ known, could guides ; as an '."important ele-?
delete targets proposed for ment in b o m b-targeting -
bombing or, in special cases, 1 guides lead airplanes to tar
,pass the decision upward ink gets from the ground - is'
the embassy for higher ap'; seen here as an adjunct to any
~nrava_l. ` I justification for the reported
The._-Udorn targeting com-!. new system.
mittee Is composed of repre- Having a man on the ground
sentatives from the ambassa- directly ousel ;-ing a target and
dor's office in Vientiane, mil- evaluating its military ~,ignifi-
itary attaches from Vientiane, canoe theoretically makes the
the Central Intelligence/ (rules of engagement more'
Agency- and U.S. Air ForLd {foolproof.
Tactical and operation quar-
ter's- of the -American com-'
mand, Including the U.S. Air
Force and the Central Intelli-
,gene Agency, have long con-
tended that they need greater
decision-making authority for
quick ?and decisive response to
targets of opportunity which,
they say, under the previous
system often managed to slip
away.
Previous _ practice was, out-
headquarters in Saigon and l
Udorn?
As reported by. Moose-Low-
enstein, however; the majority
Sources say that the Udorn of forward air' guides are of
targeting committee remains Thai origin with the remain-
functional, but that .it is no' der professional Lao soldiers.
longer required to submit all Both groups; according to
.argets to Vientiane for prey- Westerners who have talked
alidation since. it now has au- with them, seem unclear in
thority to bomb in most cases, their attitudes toward the dis-
No 'area-size limitation. of tinctions between military and
Laos requiring specific. ap-, civilian targets.
Approved'For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80-01601 R0008002000'01-4
 STATINTL tYs'r ,r;:
Approved For Release 2 1,
-r.7it". w t r,
1 `' G i ~ P80-01
UG 1971
By George W. AshwoAh
Staff correspande-itt of
The Christian Science I7onitor
army troops of Thailand, asked to accept
special assignment in Laos, which they can
refuse. They are in all-Thai battalions with
Thai officers.
Washington
The Nixon administration is taking heavy
gambles in its handling of the war in Laos.
On the domestic scene, the administra-
tion is risking deepening troubles with Con-
gress and supplying ammunition to critics
as it directs the war in Laos with debatable
regard for congressional dictates.
And, in Laos itself, the administration has
decided to take unprecedented steps in pros-
ecuting the war that may have devastating
impact on the future of Southeast Asia.
At specific issue is the use of so-called
"irregulars" from Thailand to fight with the
Royal Lao Army and other irregular forces.
The State Department, which just weeks
ago refused to talk about the matter at all,
either with the press or the Congress, now
has sent representatives to Capitol Hill to.
tell more and is steadfastly maintaining
that the Thai forces are volunteers.
Options t'Pducetl?
Whether the forces are indeed volunteers
or not is important because, through amend-
ments, Congress has been steadily whittling
away at presidential latitude in the war
zone. Sen. J. V.I. Fulbright (D) of Arkansas
got approval last year for an amendment
forbidding the use of U.S. funds to pay for
troops of other nations fighting in Laos.
'Loopholes might allow such activities if the
-payment of such troops were tied into the
Vietnamization process.
However, the State Department--has as-
sured Congress that the fighting along the
Ho Chi Minh Trail, which might help Viet-
namization, is not related to the fighting
in the north of Laos, which involves the'
Thais.
Tints, the administration is arguing that
the Thais are volunteer irregulars, not fall-
ing under congressional strictures. The
problem 'is that nobody really believes this
argument. It is well known in the White
House, State Department, Defense Depart-
pent, and the Central Intelligence Agency
that the Thai Government has agreed to
provide the troops, and the U.S. is picking
up the tab.
h` st lgnmeait op tioital
There is even a Thai general (a lieutenant
general, according to other sources here in
Washington) directing their activities. The'
Thai troops are supervised and trained in
Thailand and paid for fully in Laos by the
Central Intelligence Agency.
One source in Washington said, "They are
regular Thai troops, and we are breaking
the law. Congress may now try to limit
funds. Even if they did, however, I doubt
that would stop us."
.Jlit'ilt13'. v es13?.uated
Sen. Stuart Symington (D) of Missouri
has offered an. amendment to the military-
procurernentbill that would limit direct and
indirect military and economic assistance
to Laos to $200 million a year. This would
not include funds spent to bomb the Ho Chi
Minh Trail and other nearby areas. The
administration clearly does not approve of
the proposal, because, it is fairly clear,
much more is now being spent. Senator
Symington estimates military and economic
aid and support spen-.ling for Laos and Cam-
bodia together at more than $1 billion an-
nually. A Senate Fcreign Relations Commit-
tee staff report estimates the partial costs
in Laos during the last fiscal year at '284.2
minion, including military and economic
aid, plus CIA e:cpenditures.
? This infighting between elements of Con-
gress and the administration doesn't appear
likely to let up soon, what with the admin-
istration desire to play the war by its own,
not congressional, rules, plus the advent
.of the, political season, plus the continua-
tion of antagonisms already at play.. Adding
to the difficulties for the administration is
evidence that old-line stalwarts on the hill
are becoming more and more unwilling to
back the administration completely, lest
they develop their own credibility problems.
The administration has come to the con-
clusion:that the only way to safeguard Laos
is to get the Thais involved in the rescue
attempt. - While this approach may help
save the day militarily, it may have long-
range political implications with the Thais
now more deeply involved in the quest for
any eventual settlement.
To help clear the air, D. E. Ronk, who /
writes for the Washington Post, went to ask
some Thai soldi
truth of tldilte 4$',?001/03/04: CIA=RDP80-016018000800200001-4
Ronk, he reports, that they are regular
 pHILRDEI.FHTA, PA.
BULLETIN Approved For Release 2
634,371
S _ 701,743
AU G 11 % ill
Peril -to Nixo i Trip See n
11110TJ614L CIA-RDP80-.
0u.M O
``~ s # c5,7if~y~V Y id f~i'~:WF 3
lLro
. By ItAY I OSEL'EY
Bulletin Washington Bureau
Washington - A fon-ner
State Department official sa;d
today the Government is con-
cealing the full extent of U.S.
'?military and intelligence oper-
ations on Taiwan (Formosa)
from Congress and the Ameri-
can public.
Such operations, directed
against mainland China, must
cease if President Nixon's
forthcoming "journey for
peace". to Peking is to suc-
ceed;- said Allen S. Whiting,
chief China specialist in the
State Department from 1962
to 1966. ?
Whiting, now a professor at
the University of Michigan,
testified at a hearing on China
policy conducted by- the con-
gresional Joint Economic
Conjmittee. ,
Quotes From Documents
f -.---
ffi
ial documents
o
c
I
ts
, , .......
ano news ,epo
-- settlement of the
outlined a variety of alleged a peaceful
U.s. intelligence activities in Taiwan problem by the Na-
support. of Chinese Nationalist tionalists and Com-nunists
forces. on- Taiwan;-.that .have and lead to continued military
Allen S. Whiting
in Taiwan, and some Nation
escalation on both sides. alist forces " have served se.-
"Only a convincing and' cretly in South Vietnam.
credible reversal of our mili- -Nationalist China has re-
tary-intelligence- use of Tai ceived "a steady stream of
wan can lay the basis for con- cut-rate weapons out of the +
kpil "
e
fidence necessary to make mammoth Vietnam stoc
President Nixon's 'journey for and sane deliveries have
peace' a successful reality," been "unauthorized, uncon-
he said trolled and often unknown to
The Nixon Administration ` the Congress."
was reported recently to have -
ordered a halt to clandestine
activities, including U.S. spy
plane flights-over China, to
avoid upsetting plans for Mr.
Nixon's trip. -
In his testimony, Whiting
cited these examples of covert
activities allegedly supported
by the U.S. against China:
STATINTL
Approved For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80-01601 R000800200001-4
come to light over the last 20
years, and said:
"In sum, there is a credible
case that overt and. covert
U.S.-Chinese Nationalist activ-
ities have aroused Chinese
Conirnunist security concerns,
resulting in heightened mili-
tary deployments toward .and
across China's borders. This
activity, in turn, .has been
used to justify increased
American and allied military
investment throughout Asia to
guard against the _so-called
Chinese Communist aggres-
sive threat."
Whiting said a complete as-
sessmant of U.S. involvement
with tile .Nationalists has been
seriously hampered by secre-
cy and censorship.
"Certainly Peking has
known more of what has been
going on than has Washing-
ton, or at least the legislative
branch of -our government,'.'
he said.
May Block Settlement
Whiting said U.S. covert ac-
- 'The Nationalist' airline
Civil Air Transport (CAT),
gon Papers as owned by. the
Central Intelligence Agency,
operated from bases in Thai-
land in the 1950s ;to ferry sup-
plies to guerillas in northern
Burma, Laos, Tibet , and
China's Yunan Province.
China Air Lines (CAL),
another :apparent cJ oper-
ation, provided planes- and -.
pilots to Vietnam and Laos
and admitted involvement in
"clandestine intelligence oper-
ations."
= A C1A ine called Ai f/
Asia is headquartered in Tai- .
U.S. Rangers have
 STATINTL
Approved For Release 2 4 1 b 51`A-RDP80-
aeL 31,14 Val 1_11 Thai@ Laos.
f
The Thai soldiers agree with
By D: E. Ronk ` . - ~ o. Cheng. At Long Cheng, the
press reports that these IS at unit was engaged in defense
l
i
L
.
n
aos, of that headquarters. The
VIENTIANE, Laos, Aug. 8 least one Thai genera
-Than soldiers -serving with) using the code flame hat Caw. %1'hais fought in one "heavy"
is is the equivalent of John
-,the CI~i supported irregular ` ThDoe. The Thai troops say he is battle in a sector call "Sky-
?forces in Laos say they are ' line" by U.S. personnel.
;regular . army troops of Thai 3 1C nt general.
eland, asked to accept special Code ode names are frequently Shortly before the fall of
g and for Thai troops in the Bolovens Plateau in south-
used by
,assinment in all Thai battal-
ions. Laos. reliable sources in Thai- ren Laos to North Vietnairiese
Their assertion contradicts a! Land say that until recently all, forces last May the Thai bate
Senate Foreign RelationsI wounded Thais treated ill flee talion was flown to Ubon Air
~bonirnittee staff report made U.S. hospi`al at Udorn Airbase.i Base in Thailand then to
Paksc, where twere air- _
:public last week. The report, were listed as John Doe One,l lifted to the they vicinity of r-Ba'
prepared by. Committee Two, T ianr1 Thai irreg lays
an
e
a
e
t
s
he Al
fi
f th
r
o
e
t eoate V:;ti:ud VIV5ed.1 doors Issort time, tuc k
regions of Laos, plus Thai tir to a,;,:?a:+r in the Congresiib.lal report produces official figures''
Wars ocrating main') in the' Record tcll:orrow. to document th4 steeply rising
strategic Plain of Jars in North
costs of the Laos war since 1993.
Laos. Most Exact Figures For the fiscal year 1972 which
The t'xact number of the Tahi
forces is deleted from the report 1' or the I%nihic record, the began July , 1, the overt military
by c 1 23-page report toda ' 111ana es to assistance' program alone is to
} adminitration censors: But ` b` } cost $252.1 n11111on.
Sen. J. William Fulbright, chair- give the most enact figures to
man of the Foreign Relations date on the cost of the secret C1linzse Double
Committee, after reading the uu operation, but overall totals still
censored report, on June 8 put are obtained only byputting-to- The report also finds that
the number of Thais at 4,800. gether bits and pieces of what Chinese participation in Laos,
the administration has. allowed along the road from the Chinese
Long Negotiations through censorship. border into north central Laos,
.. They ersion made public today
follows five weeks of intensive
-negoitations between the authors
of the report, James G. Lowen-
stein and Richare M. Moose, and
three representatives of the ex-
ecutive branch--one each from
the State Department, Defense
Department, and Central Intelli-
gence Agency.
t is. the first time that CIA
activities in Laos have been con-
firmed and given some. detail
publicly.
The report states that the Lao
p
g
irregulars-called BG units after. representatives - that makes, lean money and Lao and Thai
tth
F
I/
.1r
rench nae, bataillons
guerriers-"are part of the ir-
re g u I a r forces which are
trained, equipped, supported,
advised, and, to a great extent,
In addition, Secretary of State
William P. Rogers said June 15
that the total U.S. expenditures
-in Laos in fiscal 1971 - exclu-
sive of bombing - was $350 mil-
lion, not $284.2 million.
That makes an additional $65.8'
million spent. -
Committee sources say part of
that $95.8 million went for addi-
ional and unexpected expendi-
i tures after the staff was iiii
manpower, "most observers in
Laos say that from the military
organized by the CIA."
These forces, the report con-
tinues, have become the "cutg
ing edge" of -the Lao military
forces, far more active and effi-
cent than the 60,000-man Royal
Lao Amry.
`Encouraging Sign
Sen. Stuart Symington, chair.
man of the security subcommit-
tee which sent Lowenstein and
Moose to Laos for 12 days, April
22 to May 4, said it was "an
tive rhra e46Fo ' rr..
that much of what the -United
For instance, a key passage has more than doubled in two
a lists a total- of $204.2 million as year's. Up from 6,000 men; the
the total U.S. expenditure in Chinese force is now estimated
Laos in the fiscal year ending ?by U.S. intelligence at between,
June 30 -exclusive of bombing 1;4,000 and 20,000 men. '
costs. That $284.2 million, the Since November 1970, the re=
report says, is made up of "an port says, the Chinese, besides
estimated $162.2 million in mill--. improving previous road con-
tary assistance, $52 million in struction, have installed eight
the AID program (economic) small-arms firing ranges usu-
and $(deleted) spent by CIA ex- ally associated with ground gar-
elusive of the Thai irregular risons, plus antiaircraft guns,
costs." , raising the total to 395. ?
By school-boy mathematics The report says that, despite.
uncontested by administration : the hu
e ex
enditures of Amer-
point of view the situation there
is growing steadily worse and
the initiative seems clearly to
be in the hands of the enemy."
Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80-01601 R000800200001-4
 Approved For Release 2001/03/04. CIA-RDP80-01601 R000800200001-4
STATINTL
'CHICAGO, ILL.
SUN-TIMES
b4 - 536,108
- 709,123
-jut311911
NGTON - Sen. Ad!ai
E. Stevenson III (D-Ili.) said
Friday that the State Depart-.
Ym e n t has advised China
against admitting any senators
or congressmen Prior to Presi-
dent Nixan's visit, He felt
"sure" Peking would comply.
Stevenson indicated support
for the State Department pol-
icy and saici he had passed the
word to Pc?i;i;ig tat lie did not
think it would be "appro-.
priate" for him to visit China
il.after Mr. Nixon's trip.
i-The senator applied for a
visa a few hours before the
l resident made his surprise
)u1y 15 announcement that he
plans to go to China before
next May.
To tall:to t A-'
Stevenson called ti prc _s con-
ference to make a formal an-
nouncement of his plans to
take a.25-day trip to Asia and
t h e Soviet Union starting
Wednesday.
His Asian stops will be Kong
Kong, Thailand, South Viet-
nam and Japan.
Stevenson said he intends to
concentrate on political and
economic, rather than mili-
tary, problems. However, he
said he will discuss the war in
Laos with officials of the Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency at the
CIA Headquarters at Udorn in
.northern Thailand.
In Saigon, he. said he hopes
to see President Nguyen Van
Thieu, Vice President Nguyen
Cao Icy and Gen. Duong Van
(Big) Mirg, who, with Ky, is
threatening to challenge Thieu
in next October's presidential
election.
'A special interest'
Stevenson said he has
"special interest" in the politi-
cal scene in South Vietnam
since he fears, after an in-
vestment of W,OG.O American
lives and $200 billion, the U.S.
invo!vetrtent will end in what is
"perceived to be a croced
election (with) a U.S.-dictated
outcome."
Stevenson said he intends to
enter the Soviet Union from
thv east, stopping in Siberia at
Khabarvsk and Irkutsk before
going on to Moscow and Lenin-
grad. He expressed the hype of
arranging a meeting with
Prime Minister Alexei N. Kos-
ygin and other high Soviet offi-
cials.
He is scheduled to return
directly from Russia to Chi-
cago or Aug. 20. He will be ac-
companied by Thomas Wag-
ner, his administrative assis-
tant, and John Lewis, director
of the Center for East Asian
Studies at Stanford Univer-.
sity.
'f ''1{ r 1' 431r~~ t
((
1.0 7
0
Approved For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80-01601 R000800200001-4
 STATINTL
Approved For Release llV O4~. CIA-RDP80-01
STATINTL 29 JUL 1971
Thai in L~o@
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sen. Clifford P. Case (R- was between the use of the
N.J.) charged yesterday that regular overseas Military and
there is "glaring Inconsisten- sistance drawn from the De-
?y" In the Nixon administra funds f e n s e Department budget,
tion's explanations of U.S. called "Military Assistance,
financing of Thai troops in
Laos.
Case said he believes that
the administration is violating
legislation which "forbids the
use of Department of Defense
money for funding foreign
mercenaries in Laos"
The Stele a n d Defense de-
h
partments disagreed. T
eyiiwhich, as you know, is funded
said the 1970 legislationtcited
llthrough the Department of
-
Lalrf's: coniment5 "a tha
point in the lengthy hearings,
not MASF." It is "norma
V--- --
tinned, for the Committee and'
the Department each to make
their own corrections iii "the
unofficial draft transcript ..
for accuracy and clarity." Con-
gress "is, of course, fully aware:
of the MASF program," said
the spokesman, and Laird's re-
marks were "reviewed" to as-
sure that they were ",under-
stood" in the proper context.
A .State Department spokes-
man .,said that Congress, in
966, set up the MASF pro
1966,"
gram for use of Defense De-
partment.iunds for Laos, Thai-
land and Vietnam.
Case said yesterday that
"the fundamental issue re-
mains of the public's and the
Congress' right to know what
Is happening In the 'secret
war' in Laos."
Case produced a letter yes-
terday from David M. Abshlre,
Assistant Secretary of State
for Congressional Relations,;
dated July 15. It said:.
"Support for these [Thai]
Irregulars is supplied under
the Lao military aid program
by Case would bar the ran
,Defense budget at 'military
fer by Thailand of U.S: sup-, ~rlssistance, Service Funded'
plied military assistance to an- ?
other country. But in the case i (MASF).
of Laos, the departments Case contended that this
claimed, the legislation per- statement conflicts witl)
mitted the use of Defense De- Laird's responses to his ques-
partment funds for "Thai vol- tions on June K. Ile asked
unteers who are operating in Laird then if the "Military
ld b
"
Irregular guerrilla units in
Laos under the command of
the Royal Lao Armed Forces.
Case recalled yesterday that;
be stated on May 20 that he
bad learned "from Govern.
ment sources that there are
four to six thousand Thai
J troops in Laos and the U.S.
Government - through the
CIA is paying for them."
"I stand by that statement,"
Case said yesterday, and "I am
glad we now have, a better
idea, of where the money is
coming, from:'
Case claimed that new in-
formation supplied to him "di-
rectly contradicts testimony
given by Secretary of Defense
[Melvin R.) Laird on June 1.4
before the Senate Foreign Re.
iationiE Committee."
? State and Defense coun-
tered yesterday that there is
"no 'inconsistency."
This was the latest In a se-
4! n. utes during the
e
wou
Assistance Program
used "for regular or irregular
Thai troops in Laos," or if
that financing "comes from
somewhere else." Laird re-
plied; "That is correct. The
;Military Assistance Program
will not fund that program."
Laird later 'repeated the dis-
claimer.
Senate sources yesterday
said that in another exchange,
Case asked: "Would the fund-
ing for Thai troops in Laos
fall under the international
security program." Laird re-
sponded: "There Is no pro-
gram in our department which
finances such a. program." But
in the transcript as amended
by the Defense Department,
these sources said, Laird's,
answer was changed to state:
"There is no such program in
our Department's request for
international security -assist-
ance"
\''hen asked.for explanation
of that change, a Defense De-
partment spokesman yester-
day said that the subject of
Laird's public testimony was.
"the international security as-?
res o p
Indochina war in which con-
gressmen expressed the be-
lief that one avenue of funds
had been blocked off, only to
find that funds had been
drawn from' another category.
ar t 'SKW041: Nase ldbly 164: CIA-RDP80-01601 R000800200001-4
 M i.2 MIRA D STATINTL
Approved For Release 2Qg Qf) IA-RDP80-01601
.STATINTL
Cli
711 fit'l
By SAUL FRIEDr.fAN
Herald Y!eshin,ion bureau
WASHINGTON -- The
Central Intelligence Agency
has built clandestine armies
numbering 100,000 in Laos,
.Thailand, and Cambodia, an
expert on Southeast Asia
told a congressional panel
Tuesday.
"It's the CIA's foreign le-
gion," said Fred Eranfnian, a
former member of the Inter-
national Volunteer Services
and a free-lance reporter in
Laos.
The armies, controlled and
1 a i d for by the CIA;
iiralifian said,. include na-
tive' ?tribesmcn, Thais, Na-
tionalist Chinese -and other.
Asians. Their job is to ha-
rass the population and
troops in Communist-con-
troled areas of Indochina, ex-
cept North Vietnam.- Presum-
ably . they would continue
their fighting with American
supplies and money after
American forces are with-
drawn, he said.
BRANFi1;AN'S charges
were the closest thing to
hard news at the opening of
a three-day seminar on the
Pentagon papers, sponsored
by 17 members of Congress.
The generally repetitive dis-
cussion shoved that the leak
of the Pentagon papers them-
selves is-a difficult act to fol-
low.
Rep. John Dov, (D., N.Y),
chairman of the three-day
event, said that Daniel Ells-
berg would join the group
today. Ellsberg, -one. of the
authors of the . 47-volume
study, has ' acknowledged
passing portions of the docu-
Rep. ow
. heads pr:neZ
lnent to the press, for which
he has been indicted by a
federal grand jury.
Only one author of the
Pentagon Papers, N'T42 I'll 11
Gurtov of Santa Monica, ap-
peared at the conferenc9
Tuesday. But he added little
to what is already kno ri _n.
GURTOV, WHO last
month was forced to resign
as a researcher at the Rand
Corp. because of his anti-war
sentiment and his association
with Elisberg, .told the panel
that almost no-one is govern-
ment had read the Paatagon
papers, including, the man
who commissioned t h c nr;
former Secretary of Defense
Robert S. McNamara, until
they were published in the
press.
He noted, in response to a
question,. that Cie Pentagon
e
study shows the intclligcnce /V tnamese people, by
analysts of the CIA, but not Y which he meant the Commu-
the field operatives, "ia a
nis*s and the Saigon re; ire.
good light "
The CIA analysts, he said, Tran Van -Dinh, former
South Vietnamese ambassa-
dor to the United States,
tracedAincrican involvement
In his country from May
1854, when Marines landed
there to free an iinprisQned
French missionary.
"I DON'T plead for Arriri-
cans to understand the Viet-
namese," he said. "Ameri-
cans ? s li o u 1 d understand
America first. In 1945, when
we thought we won our rode.
pendence by defeating the
Japanese, we believed in this
country and that it would
help us. 110 Chi Minh had
faith in America. But we
didn't understand about your
Indian wars, and the suppre.-
sion of the revolts in the
Philippines.
In the past years we have
been trying to find out what
America is all about, and so
far we don't how;"
Others at the conference
included Anthony Russo, a
fora-,& Rind employe now
facing contempt charges for
refusing to testify about the
leak of the Pentagon papers;
Noarn Chornsky, ? a linguist
whose books on American
policies heiped convert Ells-
berg, and David Truong,
whose father ran second in
the South Vietnamese presi-
dential elections in 1867 and
subsequently was impris-
oned.
Approved For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80-01601 R000800200001-4
questioned basic assump-
tions, like the theory that if
Vietnam fell to the Comrna-
nists the rest of Southeast
Asia would fall like doini-
noes. They also criticized the
effectiveness of American
bombing, Gurtov said.
"But when their reports,
like ethers, challenged basic
assumptions," Gurtov said,
"they were ignored."
Branfman, talking about
the CIA's role in Southeast
Asia, said it "exercises func-
tio.ial control of military op-
erations in Laos" and other
Southeast Asian countries
outside of Vietnarn. In Laos
it is conducting a campaign
of "terrorism" in Communist
held areas.
NGO VfNHI Lon;, a South
Vietrlarncse now studying at
Harvard, said the Pentagon.
papers disclose that Ameri-
can war planners had no un-
eerstanciii:g of the Vietnam-
ese pople, their aspirations,
problems, and -nationalism.
"For there the Vietnamese
didn't exist except as Com-
munists or ... anti-Commu-
nists," he said.
And he suggested that ad-
ministrative overtures to
mainland China in hopes it
would help impose a settle-
ment of the war on North
Vietnam indicates that the
United States still does" not
understand that any :.bide-
meat "must come with th
 STATINTL '
1i1~`I YORK, .I E
Approved For Release 20a11fl,V V CIA-RD
Loop-_r Acts to Force 'C.I.A. to epori 10 Con gi'cgs
By DAVID E. I:USENBAUM much better position to make documents dealing with opera-jaside resolutions seeiin in-'
5 .alts^ie\e~ YorY7::nes? judgments from a much rnorelltiuns of the United States mill- formation on bombing opera-I
WASHINGTON, July 7 informed and broader perspec- tary and the C.I.A. in Laosl Lions in northern Laos and on
"- tive than is now possible,' he from Igor to the present the Phoenix program, -which is
John Sherman Cooper of Ken-
said. The resolution, which was designed to neutralize the ef-
fluent one of the most in Senator Cooper, an aide said, sponsored by Representative fect of unx'.erground Vie',cong
fluential Senators on foreign
considering the le-is Paul N. 1vlcCloskey Jr.,.Repub- operations. The house also setI
policy matters, introdueed1had been r ,
legislation today that wouldllation for three years but dis- lican of California, was set' aside a resolution .see'ting en-
closures in the Pentagon papers aside by. a vote of 2G1 to 118.1 other set of the Perrtagoni
Agency to give detailed intelli-
gence information to Congress
regularly.
Mr. Cooper, a Republican,
said that Congress needed this
on United States involvemnnt Critics of the measure con- papers that the Administration;
in Vietram had now provided tended that the information was made available to Congress last
an impetus. too sensitive to be given to week.
The aide referred specified Congress. The supporters of the Iv to C.I.A. analyses during the Following this vote, the tion were, for the most part,
kind of evaluation and analysis ,ilohnson Administration that I-louse, without debate, ? set, Democrats opposed to. the war:
now available only to the ex-ffull-scale bombing of North -
ecutive branch, to partic..pateXietnarn would not be effective
policy.
Meanwhile, the House re-
jected a series of resolutions
demanding that the Nixon Ad-
in halting infiltration or break-
ing the will of Hanoi.
Senator Cooper's proposal
was supported on the floor by
Senator J. W. Fulbright, Decno-
rriinistration provide CongressTcrat of Arkansas, the chairman
with additional information on of the Foreign Relations Com-
United States operations in mittee, and Senator Stuart
Laos. Symington, Democrat of Nis-
. Two other Senators also of- souri, the only Senator belong-
fered proposals relating towing to both the Foreign Rela-
the C.I.A. 1 tions and Armed. Services Cont-
Senator George McGovern, mittees.
Democrat of Sou' ii Dakota; sum htr. Symington said that it
gested that exj,enditures andl`was ,,no secret that we on
appropriations for the intelli- various committees have not
single-line item in the budget.
Agency funds are now con-
cealed in other items in the
budget.
Senator Clifford P. Case, Re-
publican of New Jersey, said
he would offer measures that
would prohibit such C.I.A. activ-
ites as the funding of Thai
troops to fight in Laos.
Senator Cooper emphasized
in a Senate speech that his
proposal was not aimed at any
C.I.A. operations, sources or
methods, but was- "concerned
only with the end result - the
facts and analyses of facts."
"Congress. would be in a
have obtained.
"If the proper. committees
are not acquainted with what
we're doing," b,r. Symington
went on, "how we can func-
tion properly?"
Because Senator Cooper is
so influential, it seemed like)
that his proposal -would bathe
subject of hearings and, per-
haps, floor debate this year.
A measure of the respect
said his views came from Mike
Mansfield of Montana, the ma-
jority leader. "Anything John
Cooper says would be given,
the most serious consideration
by me," Mr. Mansfield said.
Regular Reports Asked
Senator Cooper's proposal
would require the C.LA.tomake
regular (reports to the Senate
Foreign Relations and Armed
Services Committees and to the
House Foreign Affairs and
Armed Services Committees.
The agency would also be re-
quired to make special reports
in response to inquires by these
committees.
Mr. Cooper said that the
agency would have to decide
for itself what information to'
present to hte committees, but
he specified that the data woul.
have to be "full and current."
There are now ? "oversight" .
committees in the House and
Senate, composed of senior
members of the Armed Services
and Appropriations Com-
mittes, that review the C.I.A.
budget and operations. But
'these committees are not con-1
STATINTL
me w- h the s
Approved ,04 : CIA-RDP80-01601 R000800200001-4
~ar~~te~a~e ~ ~i
gathers.
In the Mouse debate today, maior fieht came over a
 STATINTL
-Approved For Release 2001/03/6WAMMTFkDP80-01601
.?STATINTL
ll .t ITIIn 1ITA7/YE A/l.t/ YS/S OL' 6S/All AFFAIRS
Number 366
Pub'ishzci''ayr:"FH;S ASIA LETTER Co. Tokyo Hong Kong Washington Los Ange e
STAT1 NTL
Dear Sir:
THE C.X.A. IN ASIA (II) No intelligence operation in Asia is as wel.l-
of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A.).
led Has that
h
.
ee
The annual working budget of the C.I.A. runs over US$600 million.
That's justa starter.
ou count the cost r
if
l
i
y
one
a a
The age'rcY spends far more than that in As
Government agencies. For
S
::
: i w,-;,, othl r
ed
r
":
"
.
.
.
per:
ow
c
bc
of sore of the
instance:
n nuclear tests and
forei
it
g
or
-U.S. Air Force planes are used to mon
collect air samples. The agency,. while having its own cryptographers, draws
on the Army's corps of 100,000 code specialists and eavesdroppers to.tap
Asian communications. .
C.I.A. specialists often operate off U.S. Navy ships in the Pacific,
i t
n
ia
?? 1
usually involved in c i e o
---The agency also is privy to information from the Defense Intelligence
Agency (D.I.A.) which has a substantial operation of its own. in Asia.
The D.I.A. spends from its own budget more than US$1 billion a year
reconnaisance planes and keeping satellites aloft.
in
fl
g
y
Those "satellites allow C.I.A. analysts to know more---from photographs,
l
.
h
ves
emse
taken 130 miles up---about China's topography than do the Chinese t
State Department's intelligence section also fee.ds a considerable
U
S
-
-Th
..
.
e
-
amount of co lfidential data it collects through its embassies, consulates
athered
tion
f
g
orma
s:nd travelling diplomats to the,C.I.A.This includes in
by agents of-.the Federal Bureau of Investigotion (F.B.I.) the Justice Department
atic missions
l
di
t
om
p
ached to
and the U.S."freasury.(Secret Service) oaten at
v-v-The C.I:A. also works closely with"the'intelligence services and police
forces of the countries considered America's allies in Asia, exchanging
information with them.
where dbes all the C.I.A.-money go?
It funnels out in myriad directions: To..pay for the agency's overt
finance "dirty tricks" and other
intelligence gathering activities, to
.
to prop up ousted or failing politicians and to pay for
clandestine capers
,
chological warfare ploys. ..
s
d other
"
i
f
"
1
y
p
on
an
ormat
disin
Despite the C.I.A.'s oft-deserved sinister image, a good deal of its
funds are expended on open intelligence gathering operations.
These go for subscriptions to newspapers, periodicals and other publications
and salaries;"for those who must scan them for intelligence tidbits.
It is estimated that more than,.5070 of the C.I..A.'s world-wide intelligence
input comes from such overt sources. (An estimated 357. comes from electronic
nd-dagger operations.)
k-a
cl
.
oa
.spying and less than 157. from JAMES BOND-type,
An exception is Asia.
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D
PRO
U
WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION-I
F.;
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STATINTL 1 6 JUN 1971
By RiCl-lard E. Ward
Second of two articles
A rare secret session of the Senate was held at the request of'
Sen. Stuart Symington (D-Mo.) June 7 to hear a report on U.S.
clandestine- activities in Laos. Following the 'session, Senators
Symington and J.W. Fulbright (D-Ark.) openly charged that the
uSe of Thai mercenaries, just admitted that same day by the State
Department which calls them "volunteers," was violating congres-
sional restrictions on U.S. operations in Laos.
'Some -details of the nearly 31/2-hour closed door meeting were
given in the June 8 Washington Post in an article by Spencer Rich
viho reported:
-Symington, who revealed that the administration wants S374
million for military and economic programs in Laos for the 1972
fiscal year (a figure which does not include the S2 billion
estimated costs of bombing), said that he wanted the Senate to
know the details of "the secret war" before appropriating funds
for it.
-Of the request, S120 million is said to be ear ?:;. d for
funding CIA operations in Northern Laos, including t:.e use of
Mco mercenaries from Laos as well as at least 4800 That troops.
-A major issue in the secret debate centered upon whether the
use of Thai forces was in contravention of the 1970 Fulbright
amendment to the 1971 Defense Appropriations Act, signed into
,law by President Nixon Jan. I 1 this year. The amendment barred
use of Defense Department funds to support what the Pentagon
calls "free world forces" in actions "designed to provide military
support and assistance to the government of Cambodia or Laos."
-The massive bombing of Northern Laos, which has nothing
`to do with the movement of supplies from North Vietnam to the
South or Cambodia, was questioned by several senators, including
Fulbright and Clifford P. Case (R-N.J.).
;Nixon t h-. lawbreaker
After the Senate meeting, Rich reported' that Symington
stated:. "My personal opinion is...that the law has been
contravened. The amendment said you couldn't spend money to
train and put people of foreign.governments into Laos or into
Cambodia." That was also Fulbright's view. State Department'
sources later said, according to Rich, "that the Thais being used
aren't recruited on a government-to-government basis, but were
individuals recruited from the borderside Thai population."
The Post report obviously left out many details of the Senate
discussion, assuming the legislative body got a full account of
U.S. activities. Symington's disclosures were based on a report by
two staff members of his subcommittee of the Foreign Relations
committee, James Lowenstein and Richard Morse, who had
recently made an inquiry into Laos.
Reportedly the. Symington subcomittee now has a relatively
accurate account of U.S. activities in Laos that is more complete
than was provided by the administration at secret hearings in
As has been previously noted by the Symington suocomittee,
the lid of U.S. official secrecy conceals little that is not known by
informed journalists or "the other side." Certainly the Pathet Lao
knows what is happening in Laos. They are obviously fully aware
of the bombings by the'Air Force as well as the array of CIA
programs. Although no reliable figure had been released on U.S.
spending on its Laotian programs, the Pathet Lao accurately
estimated it last summer as greater than 5300 million (again apart
from bombing). - -
Number of T i%ai troops rrotvi:tg .
Concerning the use of Thai troops, the Pathet Lao stated last
year that they numbered about 1000 during the Johnson
administration (a figure that has recently been corroborated in
the press and by Sen. Fulbright)and that the increase in Thai
forces was undertaken by Nixon. However, according to the
Pathet Lao, the number of Thai troops now exceeds the 4800.
figure used hy.Fuibright. ?
In April of this year, Prince Souphanouvong, head of the Lao
Patriotic Front (Pathet Lao), charged that the number of Thai
troops was being augmented by the U.S. Shortly after this,
Ashworth reported in the April 17 Christian Science
George W.
Monitor: "Nixon administration officials have hammered out an
agreement with the government of Thailand for sharply increased
use of Thai forces in Laos." -
Thai troops were previously used in the ill-fated U.S.-backed
attempt to hold the Plain of Jars, which ended in an important
Pathet Lao victory in February 1970. Presumably the losses then
were an element leading to the more formalized agreement for
use of Thai troops. Bangkok may relinquish some of its
sovereignty to Washington, but not without a price.
Thai "volunteer" troops used in South Vietnam were given a
bonus by the U.S. considerably augmenting their regular pay
while Bangkok received military hardware and other considera-
tions from the Johnson administration to agree to use of Thais in
Vietnam. There is no reason to assume that Bangkok's price has
gone down, more likely it is up. Confirming this, a Senate source
has noted that the cost of the mercenaries was high. Symington
on June 7 referred to both regular and irregular Thai troops` being
used in Laos, so it is possible that part of the deal with Bangkok
involves freedom for the CIA to recruit directly in Thailand.
Taking all evidence into account, Thai troops in Laos may now
number 10,000 or higher.
Senators Symington and Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.)
attacked administration activities in Laos in statements issued a
day before the secret debate. Symington emphasized the adrninis-
tration furtiveness while Kennedy charged that U.S. military
activities in. Northern Laos lacked constitutional authority, which
seemed to be implicitly saying that the U.S. was conducting a war
against the Laotian people without a declaration of vtitar or
congressional authority.
October 1969, released after "security" deletions by the adminis-
tration in April 1970. What might be called the battle of Laos in We destruction
Washington, concerns the attempt by antiwar senators to get U.S. Among the facts to emerge from the recent congressional
activities in Laos itself into the public record. Initially and debate is the acceleration of U.S. bombing in Laos, or rather, of
perhaps still 'some senators' have been reacting against the the liberated zone since the autumn of last year, anil the
p's ' , increased use of B-52s, a plane whose bombing reaches th7 peak
administrations deception of themselves along, with the public. 2 . i
However, the issue of Laos is now being put forward to oppose of indiscriminate destructiveness. The step up in E 5_ stn ty in
administration policy in Indochina as a whole because it so Laos has largely coincided with the accelerated "protective
clearly reveals the White House aim of maintaining-if not reaction strikes" being carried out against North Vietnam, and it
expanding-the war. This point remains clouded during discus- is quite possible that one of the real purposes of these attacks is
.sions focusing on Vietnam because troop withdrawals are still' an effort to prevent the DRV from utilizing its potent aerial
aims of U.S. pol ccy vEdf6Fr 'etPe '9W'26'dlaf 6V04 : CIA-RD~P80ir01601 R000800200001-4 I
c,r,t;t,tzod -
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876
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -Extens;ois of Remarks '\-June 15, 1971
r world Is made up of Individuals, and. His humane spirit pervades all who know
nk that In the individual is where any him, tot me offer my warmest thanks for'
of a change or solution must start. It his devoted service and wish him con-
stop there, though, because It must tinued personal fulfillment in the future.
tually reach the top. For example, if a
as is happy he won't mind separating hi
tge for recycling, giving away some
Food or money, thinking of the oth
r before he demands more rights or
a-s a bomb. If he is happy he will have
icern for other ' people. If everyone did
ndividual part in helping to solve such
HON. JEROi E R. WALDIE
T problems, and took down just one OF CALIFORNIA
that wall would be gone in no time. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
fat is a lot of if's. How can a person be Tuesday, June 15, 1971
,y so he will want to do his part? As -
already said, happiness means different Mr. WALDIE. Mr. Speaker, I would
gs to different people, but a full stom- like to include In the RECORD a second
a roof over one's head, and a feeling article by Tammy Arbuckle on his recent
:ceptance and security among one's peers findings in Southeast Asia which ap-
Llly helps. For those of us who are lucky
Lgh to have these things already. happi- petered June 7th in t he Washington
should be helping others to find them, Evening Star.
Happiness Is contagious, and even If I believe it sheds further light on the
can't give a person what he needs most, military interests and activities of the
rile or a hello can sometimes mean just Thai Army in Laos and the correspond-
Luch. Then maybe he will pass that smile Ing role of the United States.
e another person. The article follows:
ometimes I have to stop to think, and
re myself that we, the people of this THAIS IN LAOS IDENTIFIED AS RE.GUI.ARS
Let, are not going backwards-or be- (By Tammy Arbuckle)
lug more violent, egotistical, and antag- VIENTIANE,- LAOS.-Despite official state-
tic. I always manage to convince my- ments that the Thai forces serving in Laos
that we aren't although sometimes it ap- are volunteers without official sanction from
?s that way because it's always the nega- the Bangkok government, informed sources
and not the positive things that we hear here say they are regular Thai army troops.
at. The number of people who truly care The sources said "the troops sent here keep
at other people is groving, and man is 'their That army rank and salary as well as
nning to spread his concern over a wider
le of humanity. We usually care about
family and friends and we want them to
sappy, but as the years go by there are
'e and more of us who care about the
Ile in our city, state, county, and world
Individuals. By caring. I mean wanting
i person to be happy and secure and,
Lting this bad enough to do something
at it. If each inhabitant of this earth
d about the rest of mankind as indi-
ials our brick wall would disappear, and
ape that we can destroy it before it crushes
the salary paid by the Americans.
. Some Thai units come here in a group, said
the sources, adding that Thailand's 940th
Battalion presently is garrisoned on Hill 1063
west of Ban Na on the southwest rim of
the Plain of Jars in northern Laos.
The Thais are sent to Laos on temporary
detachment for six months or a year, the
sources said. There are cases where units are
formed from Thais of. different units who
have volunteered for certain duties In Laos,
the sources said. However,. these units re-
main part of the That army on loan to the
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, the sources
just like to see everyone here really said.
spy and able to show it. Sometime-try The only voluntary aspect of their duty Is
ng HI to someone you don't know-take that Thai soldiers are anxious for assignment
the mask for awhile-really feel the to Laos because of the financial benefits.
le you are giving everyone-forget your Officials of the United States and Thailand
blems-make someone else happy-and'if governments insist the That troops in Laos,
can't do that at least you can be happy* numbering at least 3,200, are volunteers.
Jell, I know what I can do to make every- Thal officials, in particular, claim the troops
happy now---that is to end this speech have no official sanction from Bangkok.
;hat we can all get out of this wind. Have (Even the number of troops is in dispute.
appy day tomorrow! and make it happy As it result of U.S. Senate Inquiries into the
someone else too. The world is only what operation, the figure of 4,800 troops presently
make it-so let's make it happy! Is given in Washington as the number of
'NIVERSARY CONGRATULATIONS
TO FATHER WALSH
Thai troops on duty in Laos.)
The Lao military attributes the official That
position to corruption. They say only certain
members of the Thai government are pocket-
ing payments from the United States, so the
entire Thai cabinet may not be informed
of the entire U.S. arrangements for Thais to
HON. PETER W. RODINO, JR. light in Laos.
(which remained in the salve place for five
years while men were rotated) was overrun
when North Vietnamese tanks broke through
the neutralist Lao troops.
Following this. attack, In which at .least
90 Thais were killed, Bangkok insisted on
having That troops protect the That gull-
ners. Thai gunners also were sent to Long
Chong, further south, but this time several
hundred-some sources say 800-Thai Infan-
trymen were sent to protect the artillery.
Part of these units now are at Fire Base
Zebra northeast of Long Chong.
Recently That troops have served on the
Bolovens Plateau In southern Laos and on
operations against Route Seven, the main
Hanoi resupply route to Its troops in north-
ern Laos..
All troops under American control who
need 'ineciical help are sent to Thailand di-
rectly, American officials say, so Thais have
no worries If they are sick or wounded.
The Communist Lao radio claims over 300
Thais have been killed in action in Laos, but
American officials say it's less than 200.
The Thai role, according to U.S. officials is
to make up for heavy losses among, the Meo'
tribesmen of Gen. Vang Pao, who have been
fighting since 1960 against the North Viet-
namese, suffering in the last three years ever
8,000 killed In action.
The Lao army claims Its under strength
and tunable to substantially help Vang Pao
because it's spread the length of Laos, fac-
ing the enemy. This claim, however, is sus-
pect. Hundreds of unemployed young men
roam around Vientiane In motorbikes.
When Gen. Koupralsith Abhay. the Vientiane
military boss, tried to conscript them, he
found they are the sons of influential Lao-
tians who protested conscription and forced
Kouprasith to cease his activities.
Also, several thousand Lao troops are not
gainfully employed but act as bodyguards,
chauffeurs, office personnel or are building
new villas for Lao officers.
Despite all this, it may be said that Laos
still is woefully short of manpower as well
as good field officers and some military dis-
cipline. Therefore, Lao needs help from its
ethnic neighbors, the Thais. -
The Lao however, don't want their neigh-
bors in the western provinces.of Champas-
sac and Sayaboury, which the Thais covet
nor in Mekong River towns where the That
propensity for the spoils of war may match
that of Saigon troops in Cambodia. There-
fore, they are In the mountains of northern
Laos where the Thais can do the most fight-
Ing and the least mischief. -
HORTON PRAISES MRS. DONALD
LOETZER FOR- HER AFFIRMA-
TION OF AMERICA -
HON. FRANK HORTQN or NEW YORK
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Tuesday, June 15, 1971
OF NEW JERSEY Thai troops have been fighting in Laos Mr. HORTON. Mr. Speaker, during
since late 1964. The first That unit in Laos these times of protest by our Nation's
'
TATIVES
N THE HOUSE OF REPRESErT
was a battery of 155mm howitzers based near outh, the very philosophies upon which
Tuesday, June 15 , 1971 Ban IChaf village
}this country was established are being
and in men the thePlain of n en were re sent Jars,
sepa- /
Mr. RODINO. Mr. Speaker, congratu- rately offers rs an to guerilla units run by the CIA. V Cluestioned. At times, anti-American
ions are In order for Father Gerald On Feb. 1, 1967, a reporter met one of sentiments and acts seem to overshadow
. Walsh who celebrated the 25th an- these Thais at NAM Bac, Lao fortress 40 positive feelings for this country and our
eersary of his ordination to the Holy miles southwest at Dien Bien Phu. The Thai leader's goals.
iesthood on June 1, 1971. Father Walsh said he was a captain in the Thai army and There is little doubt that we must do
turned to St. Mary's Church in Nutley, - came from Bangkok. what we can to. foster respect for and
In coni-
J. where he had spent his early priest- an American cin was for r understanding of this country among "
god to perform a special mass with St. payment, mantlintng, he his unit saidand d w was ressp clothes p onsible e f people of all ages, especially among our
said.
There were at least 20 Thais with the cap- youth.
Feeley
Msgr
John J
any's pastor
.
,
.
.
Father Walsh Is an ardent contributor tarn at Nam Bac and Site 217. Concerned about the destiny of this
1 11
both his parish and his community. On June 25, 1969, the That Artillery unit country and about tine young peop e w o
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 STAT$Tr oved For Release 26? F`iO?JO : fA-R
10.JUN1971
V G U1'r 1 E R S, BA NGICO !NS!S i-S
811 US7 OR)
ri O-)j. ccll S,
By TAMMY.AHBUCKIE particular, claim the troops in the same. place for five
Special to The star have no official sanction from years while men were rotated)
VIENTIANE, Laos - De- Bangkok. was overrun when North Viet-
spite official statements that (Even the number of troops namese tanks broke through
the Thai forces. serving in is in dispute. As a result Of. the neutralist Lao troops.
Laos are volunteers without U.S. Senate' inquiries into the' ' ' Following this attack, in
official sanction from the operation, the figure of 4,000, which at ]cast 30 Thais were
B a n g k o k government, in- troops presently ? is given in ' killed, Bangkok insisted on
formed sources here say they Washington as the number of having Thai troops protect the
are regular Thai army troops. Thai troops on duty in Laos.) ..Thai gunners. Thai gunners'
The sources said the troops The Lao military attributes also were sent to Long Chong,'
sent here keep their Thai the official Thai position to further south, but this time
army rank and salary as well corruption. They say only cer- several hundred some
as the salary paid by the taro members of the Thai gov- sources say 800 - Thai infan-
Americans. - ernment: are pocketing pay- trynicn were sent to protect
? ' Some Thai units come here ments from the United States,- the artillery.
in a group, said the sources, so the entire Thai cahirct may Part of these units now are
adding that Thailand's 940th not be informed of the entire. at Fire Base Zebra northeast
? Battalion presently is garri- U.S. arrangement for Thais to of Long Chong.
soned on Hill 1663 west of Ban fight in Laos. Recently Thai troops have
Na on the southwest rim of the Thai troops have been fight- served, on the Bolovens Pla-
Plain of Jars in northern Laos. in-, in Laos since late 1961. The teau in southern Laos and on
The Thais are sent to Laos
on temporary detachment for
six months or a year, the
sources said. There are cases
where units are formed from Thai officers and men then
Thais of different units who were sent separately to guer-
have volunteered for certain rilla units run by the CIA.
dirties in Laos, the sources On Feb. 1, 1967, a reporter
1said. However, these units re- met one of those Thais at NAM
main part of the Thai army on Bac, Lao fortress 40 miles
loan to the U.S. Central Intelli- southwest at Dien Bien Phu.
gonce Agency, the sources The Thai said he was a cap-
said. taro in the Thai army and
The only voltuitary aspect of came from Bangkok... .
their duty is that Thai soldiers An American in civilian
are aasious for assignment to:. clothes was commanding his
All troops under American
control who need medical help
are sent to Thailand directly,
American- officials say, so
Thais have no worries if they
are sick or wounded.
The Communist Lao radio
claims over 300 Thais have
been killed in action in Laos,
but American officials say it's
less than 200.. ... .
Laos because of tike financial unit and was responsible for The Thai role, according to
benefits. ' payment, he said. U.S. officials is to make up for
Officials of the United States There were at least 20 Thais heavy losses among the Meo
and'1`lhailaud governments in- with the captain at Nam Bac tribesmen of Gen. Vang Pao,
gist the Thai troops in Laos,, and Site 217. who have been fighting since
numbering at least 3 100, are On June 25, 1V59, the Thai 1030 against the North Viet-
volunteers. Thai officials, in Artillery unit (which remained namese, suffering in the last
three years over 8,000 killed in
action. .
The Lao army claims. it's
under strength and unable to
substantially help Vang Pao
because it's spread the length
of Laos, , facing the enemy.
This claim, however, 1s ,sus-
Peet. Hundreds of'unernployed
yotutg men roam around
Vienttiare on motorbikes.
When Gen. Koupraisith Abhay;
the Vientiane military boss,
tried to conscript them, he
found they are the sons of in-
fluential Laotians who protest-
ed conscription and forced
Kouprasith to cease his activi-
ties.
Also, several thousand Lao
troops are not gainfully eni-
ployed but act as.bodyguards,
chauffeurs, office personnel or
are building new villas for Lao,
officers.
Despite all this, -it may be
said that Laos still is woefully
short of manpower as well as
good field officers and some
military discipline. Therefore,
Lao needs help from its ethnic
neighbors, the Thais..
The Lao however, don't
want their neighbors in the`
western provinces of Cham-
passac and Sayaboury, which
the Thais covet nor in Mekong
River towns where the Thai
propensity for -; the spoils of
war may, match that of Saigon
troops in,. Cambodia.. There-
fore, they' al-6 in the mountains
of northern Laos where the
Thais can do the most fighting
and the least nil,-chief.
first Thai unit in Lacs was a operations against Route Sev-
battery of 155mm howitzers en, the main Hanoi resupply
based near Ban Khay village route to its troops in northern
T1_:.. of i_.._
i
n the
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 Approved For Release 2001103/04: CIA-RDP80-01601 R000800200001-4
PHILADELPHIA, PA.
INQUIRER'
ld - 463,503
S - 867,810
QUU9 1971
STATINTLP
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 Approved For Re1eas9j, g%Y4,p3/Q4 : CIA-RDP80-0
~ JU'"1 iri
Says Financing Of Thai
Troops There Breaks
Congressional Edict
BY GENE ols; l
Washington Bureau of The Sean
Washington, June 7-Senator
Stuart Symington (D., Mo.) told
a secret session of the Senate
today that the administration
was violating cong ressional re-
strictions by financing Thai
mercenary troops to fight in
Laos.
After 'the three-hour closed !
session, Mr. Symington repeated
the charge to reporters, adding i
that he intended to introduce.
legislation to limit United States
expenditures in Laos to $204 mil-
lion a year.
That amount, be said, is what
the administration says publicly
it is spending in Laos for mili-
tary and economic assistance.
Comment Declined
Mr. Symington declined to say
whether the U.S. was actually
spending more, pleading that he
.was dealing with classified in-
formation.
But in a statement released
yesterday he said, "Our activi-
ties in Laos have been carried
out largely in secret, without
congressional sanction and out-
side the normal appropriations
process."
Meanvvlfilc, Senator ChiRrd
P. Case (R.,. N.J.), who had
previously disclosed that the
U.S. was financing 4,000 to 6,000
Thai. troops in Laos, said the
secret session revealed that the
U.S. was spending $100 million a
year. more in Laos than Con-
gress has specifically -
The 4,000 to 6,000 estimate has
spice Mr. Case's original disclo-
sure been refined to 4,09 by
SznatAJj jJ(' r&i
(t)., Ark.), ehairniau of the For-'
In I,, tions Committee. After-
today's session, Sen.tor. Case.
said there was no indication that
the number of U.S.-financed
Thai troops in Laos have been
increased beyond the 4,800 level.
It appeared that the adminis-
tration was relying mainly on
this second clause for legislative
justification for its operations in
I
Letter To Kennedy '
T
d M A{,e.l,i,.n assistant
avi
In another development today, / secretary for congressional reia-
a State Department spokesman V lions, said recently in a letter to
acknowledged that Thai "vollui_ Senator Edward '1?,f. Kennedy
teens" are fighting in Laos, add- (D., Mass.) that the operations
1 I
re linked to
i
c
o
ing that. they are sometimes
.called mercenaries.
He declined to say how. many
there were or how they are fi-
nanced. Asked whether the Thai
troops in Laos were supported
by the U.S. on the same basis as
in Vietnam, he replied: "There
are no comparable arrange-
ments."
Witten reminded that Thai
troops in Vietnam are paid by
the U.S. and provided equip-
ment and transportation as well,
the spokesman said, "No, ar-
rangements are quite different"
in Laos.
The State Department spokes-
man begat his briefing by stat-
ing that the U.S. operations in
Laos were begun during the
Kennedy administration and de-
veloped and continued by two
succeeding administrations.
The "volunteers" in Laos, he
-added, are there at the request
of prince Souvaima Phornla, theI
Laotian prime minister, and 'U.S. support of this program is
fully 'consistent with all perti-i
nent legislation."
s
ti
.in nor iein a
the Vietnam war.
"If the North Vietnamese
vmre to conquer all of Laos they
could divert thousands of their
forces now engaged in north
Laos to the war against South
Vietnam and greatly enhance
their position in those areas of
Laos bordering on South Viet-:
nam from which trey launch at-
tacks on U.S. and allied forces)"
be wrote.
Senator Jacob K. Javits (R.,
N. Y.) commented after the
closed session that the issue was
primarily a "legal question" as
to what constituted "free world;
forces" and whether there was a
separate war going on in Laos
or whether it had a bearing on
the security of U.S. troops in
Vietnam.
But the session, attended by;
about half the Senate, he said,
was "useful" in that it again
raised the question of what the
limits of an undeclared war are.
rite Answer To Me ..."
"The answer to me is to get
out of Indochina," he. said,
"then you wouldn't have these
questions raised."
Most senators emerging from
the session said little new inat>r
rial had been disclosed. ifils
was the seventh secret meeting:
held by the Senate in the last
five years on a variety of sub-
jects.
Senator Symington, chairman
of the foreign relations subcom-
mittee on U.S.' security agree-
ments and commitments
iabroad, requested the session so
that the contents of a special
istaff report on Laos could be
disclosed.
The report was believed to
,contain information pertaining
to the depletion of the Meo
tribesmen, wwho have carried the
brunt of the fighting against
Communist forces in Laos, and
;their replacement by Thai mer-
cenaries, financed through the
CIA.
The legislation at issue was,
attached by Congress last year,
to the 1971 Military Appropria-,
tions Act. The amendment, of-
fered by Senator Fulbright,
,banned "[lie use of any funds to'
:support Vietnamese or other;'
free world forces in actions de
signed to provide military sup-
port and assistance to the gov-
ernments of Cambodia and
Laos."
Thus amendment, however,
was modified further in a Sell-.
ate-(louse conference committee
to state that "nothing contained
;in this section shall be construed
to prohibit support or action i-e
quired to insure the safe and
.orderly withdrawal or -disen-
gagement of U.S. forces from
00001-4
2
edged-by the administration. -- -.:-- -.
release of American prisoners of to cThe report was also ontain details on B-52 ebomb-
ele99e' 2001 %03/04 CIA- RD08 0-k OIkF=0t8>i~
only recently been--ackno,.vl-
 Approved For Releagg,~(l~~i?Qq'W~OJ/,?t4-RDP80-0
- 41- li
2 JUTE 1971
N, -' f ~'~ t( O lj---
f:l~'(
P'A
~~- 1' 1 t~ f1 11 l{ 1 `~ t~
}
'l., 9
1' 11 ~~ fl I! t ti < 1~ it p ; ,l
By Charles Meyer
Pacific NetvsSeriliec
Lon Nol's recent abdication of power in
Phnom Penh has once again brought into
the spotlight the ina1r whom the CIA has
long sought to impose upon Cambodia.
Only three months after the coup of March
1970 which overthrew: Prince Norodom
'Sihanouk, most politicians in the. Cambo-
dian capital were predicting a short term
/ for Premier Lou Nol, and naming as his
probable successor Son Ngoc Thanh.
Son was born Dec. 7, 1908 ih Ky La,
South Vietnam, of a Cambodian father and
a Vietnamese mother. After attending a
French high school, he moved to Phnom
Penh in 1937, a functionary in the govern-
ment there. The same year he started a
nationalist nroup which published the first
native language journal, Nagaravatta (Land
of the Pagodas).
In 1941, French Indochina, still techni-
cally ruled by the Vichy government,
granted the use of military facilities to the
Japanese, in exchange for maintaining
French sovereignty over Vietnam, Cambo-
dia and Laos. Son immediately became an
active collaborator with the Japanese Black
Drag on Society, which aimed at overthrow-
ipg the French. On the verge of arrest by
French authorities in the summer of 19 2,
Sonfled to To'.kyo.
With defeat imminent, the Japanese
abolished the colonial administration in
March 1945 and imprisoned all French
citizens in Cambodia. A month later Son
appeared in Phnom Penh as a Japanese
captain, and became minister in charge of
relations with the Japanese command. On
Aug. 10 a palace revolt inspired by Son and
supported by the Kempctai (Japanese po-
lice) forced Sihanouk, then king, to confer
.upon Son the office of prime minister.
Following the collapse of Japanese pow-
erg Sihanouk on Oct. 8 secretly delegated a
cabinet minister to go to Saigon for the
avowed purpose of discussing "certain
questions" with the French command. A
week later French Gen. Leclerc arrived in
Phnom Penh and arrested Son. He was put
in the Saigon jail and then sentenced to
forced labor for collaborating with the
Japanese. Soon, he was sent to France and
pint under house arrest.
After several royal interventions, Son
was pardoned in October 19.51. lie re-
turned to Phnom Penh on the agreement
that he would abstain from all political
activities. lie refused the ministerial port-
folio Sihanouk offered to him, but within a
few weeks-encouraged by several promi-
nent Americans-he revealed clear political
intentions. Early in 1952 he began publish-
ing Khmer Kr auk (Cambodians Awake!),
violating his repatriation agreement with
the French. By March he fled the city to
rejoin an underground resistance band in
northwest Sicmreap province. Ile had,
there, only a few hundred men and a radio
transmitter. His broadcasts called upon the
population to rise up and overthrow colo-
nial rule touter the French.
Joina 1vi'tn Yh? CIA
In November 1953, Sihaiiouk's efforts
at influencing the French paid off and
Cambodia was granted formal indepen-
dence. Son tried to gain some control in
the new regime at I'hnom Penh. Unsuccess-
ful, he. returned to the armed band in the
northwest, where defections during his
absence had weakened the ranks severely.
His political constituency gone, in'the
wake of Frcr,4:'h maneuverings, Son was
forced to ally himself with the CIA. In
January 1956 the final blow was struck, as
government troops attacked his camp near
the Thai border killing 108 men and
destroying the radio station. Son and a few
But Cambodian public opinion remains
very unfavorable to Son. The urban youth
is violently hostile to him. He therefore
continues to live in Saigon, whore he has
the solid support of the South Vietnamese
puppets and the entourage of U.S. Ambas-
sador Bunker. More importantly, he enjoys
the loyalty of the Cambodian armies
trained by American Special Forces units,
who consider him a "spiritual father." Son
has also renewed his tics with the Japanese
groups which carried him to power in
1945. Representatives from Tokyo consult
him on their Indochinese political and
economic questions.
Son Ngoc Thanh wants to redeem the
defeats that impeded his political life, and
now anxiously awaits his hour. The CIA,
which has backed Son for fifteen years,
will be happy to make good his losses.
Charles fTeyer was editor.in-dzirf of the maga-
lzine Etudes Cambodgierpzes (Cambodian Studies)
and Nokor Khmer. From 1957 through 1970 he
was a.couQzsclor to the cabinct'ofSihanouk and
coatinuecl as such to Lon Nol until Junc 1970.
men escaped and entered the service of the
T,_--_I-_I-
elf A
in
Although his movenrcnt-now known as
the Khmer Scrai (Free Cambodia)--had
been crushed, the ?CIA revived it steadily
and built it into an army of 5000 ethnic
Cambodians. Most of these in en were
recruited from Cambodians living in Thai-
land and South Vietnam. The mercenary
army was based on Thai territory, from
which it launched-sabotage missions. Son
became a front for these operations and
plots, mounted jointly by the CIA and U.S.
Army Intelligence in Bangkok and Saigon,
against Sihanouk and Cambodian neutral-
Jty.
The Khmer Scrai, transformed into the
"National Liberation Front of Cambodia"
(sic), announced on May 15, 1970 its
support for the regime which grew out of
the. coup'uncler Gen. Lon Nol. Son, how-
ever, secretly entered the capital as his
supporters began to prepare for a return to
power. Lon Nol, who had the full backing
of the Pentagon, wasn't about to step
down for the CIA's min.' Son had to settle
for the post of principal advisor 'to the
premier.
Approved For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80-01601 R000800200001-4
 Approved For Release 20g 1/9+i9 -LCIA-RDP80-016
CHARLESTON, 41.VA.
GAZETTr1f
~... ~# 719
GAZETTE-MAIL ~. '
106,775
r. We Pair <
Sen. William Fulbright, asked by news-
men how many Thai. troops are being //
paid by the CIA to fight in Laos, replied:
"It's not vey secret. I think it's 4,-
800."
Among conclusions to be drawn from
this is that the 4,800 Thais are being paid
by America to do tho fighting against
Communists in Laos because America
can't get anyone else to fight, Not even
Laotians.
Why does America persist in the futile }
endeavor? If Asians aren't interested in,
preserving their systems against the
Communists, the vast treasury of Anmeri-
ca isn't big enough to pay them forever.
It must be frustrating, too, to the
needy of America to learn that $260
million has been paid from the American
treasury to Thai troops fighting in Viet--
pain, if fighting is the word.
No wonder Americans are turning to
isolationism. National leaders who first
encouraged America to assume a role in,
international affairs didn't envision that
role to be paymaster to reluctant allies.
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 STATINTL .
Approved. For Release 2001103/04: CIA-RDP80-01
f
SAN FRANCISCO, CAL.-
CHRONICLE
M - 480,233
tt AY ~., 4 M: , _-r_-._-. * . * *
e ous
rr---
ddn
RE OSTEROS
g
n
'?`???--"------ ?-L~, 1 toU aa .,...... ...-..
AP
(yC for the Americans, and bears no relation to their
TAI's Liul~ Army I
.
2 6000 Thai troops in Laos, and the United States iand
F11101,11 r'ai %,. paying'them through CI'1."
~
R0 [ JF1.{Sly]', General Washington hired a vies in Laos eNcept to help free POWs or facilitate
schoolteacher named Nathan Hale to spy on the American troop withdrawals. The committee is cur
,British in Manhattan. It was bad judgment. Hale had rently taking testimony .from two aides recently in
no -experience in espionage, as he soon proved by Indochina. The Senator said he wrote to Secretary of
immortal. . captured and hanged, to become an American State Rogers about it a month ago, and has received
In the Civil War the govern- h no reply.
. Then why not invite the Secretary to tell the
to ment set hired the Pinkerton outfit committee what he knows about it,`\vhich might not
lip an espionage system. It e i. i.N n be mirth, as there is no evidence [r. Rogers talks to
was never much good, but neither CIA, or vice versa.
was the Confederate. _ ~- But congressmen enjoy complaining, and don't
In World War II we set up a 1 enjoy doing. If they enjoyed doing they would adopt
after the wnr it was consolidated itures over the past few years. The howling would be
as Central Intelligence Agency. It yy;~1, t pitiful that this would uncover supersecret inve~y moved in,. The French _ colonial
caz~tiAU'a3
Approved For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80-01601 R000800200001-4
 Approved For Relgjerq,/03/04: CIA-RDP80-
U.S. Officials Concede CIA.
A A ~
BO;TO:4, "'ASS.
RL CORC-A;,; RICAN
M - 439,372
ADVERTISER
S - 432,963
Aides
Are Operating in Laos
By JOHN' 1'. WALLACiI they would release the names American personnel assigned
rRtcord American Washingrnn Bureau, of the two men in the next for three-to-six months tours .g ?1,/
MAR 4 197(1'
few days, . of duty, or CIA men who t
WASHINGTON - Ad- ' The acknowledgement of c pp m m u t e bark and forth
ministration officials private- the CIA role in Laos. an onen : -ft~om a border village in Thai- ;'ti
he C e n t r a l Intelligence The U. S.' has attempted to
evidence of'the difficulty that
et Lao. involvement. Laotian neutrality, prohibited . '
But the officials denied re In the apparent absence of., the introduction of foreign . ' '
as a thousand civilian agents live on what is public and The U. S. began to train the
"what is private, State Dept. \ -' -~ - -
regular army or anti-t=om-,,. arc gitina_M;yflla?' ;k c;or;a Los = - `??'Ana-Nat biid t provrcle t'ac
mint-:%n-t"-!best11NLiney.. ~of -what they assert is the 'tical air support for Laotian
,. s
said that at most_ there,4. situation. government troops when it be-.
a -
gents in the beleaguered U. S. had lust
guered 193 servicemen. since 1961. nam was training rebel Pathet
Asian kingdom. Monday a D e f e n s e Dept.;..,; Lao tribesmen to overthrow
This disclosure was, spokesman corrected the,,, the neutralist government.
prompted by a Pentagon ad-~r record to reflect that loss When the Communist train
mission Monday that twos" since 1964-a thr@e year mis- - ed Pathet Lao recently ste
civilians were among the take in sombody's figuring. regular U. S. military person- State pad up their attacks , the a-
net feared dead or missing In Dept. officials are so increased its m militailitary opa era.
Laos. concerned about figures leak- tions, reportedly including the
A pentagon spokesman re- Ing out that the Laotian desk diversion of B-52 bombers .
fused to confirm whether theofficer refuses to confirm a:,., from attacks on the strategic
two civilians, later identified' figure used by a senior de- t . ? 14o Chi Minh trail to Comma-
as intelligence agents, were parfinent official in public . nist, strongholds. in northern
originally included in the 193' testimony before a congres- Laos.
airmen acknowledged last sional subcommittee. This has brought a barrage
f week as missing. According to the American, of criticism from Congress
But the spokesman ills- embnssy In Vientiane, there ,,, that the U. S. is falling Into
are 2330 Americans In Lao
closed that one of th
i
ili
th
e c
v
ans
s,;
e same kind of bottomless
was seen being captured and -833 U. S. government em- "Viet am pit" that will take.
presumably is still alive. - De-- - Iployees and' the rest depen,' years of fighting and count-
fen se Dept. sourCes t3afd that donta, This 'does 'not include leiltli eaaualtiea . to get' out of.
Agency~ (~C~IIn~1~ is involved in , cloak its activities in Laos be- '
military ` operations the U. S. government is hav-
perations in Laos cause the 1962 Geneva Bo-
irig keeping confidential they
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 STATINTL w~sulcvurota wrA t
Approved For Release 20%1/ /} j7dCIA-RDP80-016
CARL T. ROWAN
Like a recurring stomach trading an agreement from
ache that eventually starts you Nikita Khri'shchev during the
worrying about ulcers, a mis- 1961 summit meeting in Vien-
erahie crisis called Laos just na, that the United Stales and
l-nnnc nnniinn hack the Soviet Union would not
Thus Johnson waged almost would seem to have ruled out
full-scale war against the sending combat troops to
Communists in Laos while ev- Laos, although the President
cryone's attention was focused ?? might decide that this is overt
on the unsecret war in Viet- aggression from North Viet-
And it poses MC mOS[ SCr- rISK war uvu a.,"- a..- - ..
ous challenge yet to "the Nix- was consummated in Geneva Now that indigestible crisis he vaguely left the door open
on doctrine" of a "low profile" in 1962? Both sides agreed to called Laos is on Nixon's for a commitment of U.S.
for the United States in the pull out foreign troops, and the plate. And whatever else it forces.
Far East. United States complied by represents in terms of a Com- What makes it more trouble-
Laos again is in danger of - withdrawing 666 "military ad- munist threat to all Southeast some for Nixon is his certain
being overrun completely by visers" before the Oct. 7, 1962, Asia, it is a special challenge knowledge that the Lao: offen-
Communists, especially North deadline. But only 40 North : to this President. sive is Hanoi's lefthanded way
Vietnamese troops. President Vietnamese troops came out : First, it will force the Presi- of intensifying the Vietnam
Nixon is faced with showing past the International Control dent to -reveal some practical war in defiance of all of Nix-
that he can handle this crisis Commission checkpoints, lcav- , specifics about "the Nixon on's not-so-veiled warnings
better than his three predeces- in., Laos's neutralist premier, doctrine." and in violation of commit-
sors in the White House. Souvanna Phouma, to com- As the Communists take the meats made at the time the
Dwight D. Eisenhower agon- plain that thousands of North Plain of Jars and sweep on- United States stopped bombing
ized over Laos, beat down a Vietnamese troops were stay- ward, the military situation is North Vietnam.
Thailand proposal to put ing to try to overthrow his about the same as it was nine There is no greater fiction
troops in and clean out the government. years ago when Kennedy con- than to pretend that the war in
Communists, then bequeathed,1 Lyndon B. Johnson found a eluded he had to go to Geneva Laos is separate from the Ion-
a rising crisis to young John halfway point between the ex- or go to war. flirt in Vietnam. From the big
F. Kennedy. tremes of letting the Commu- But a Geneva conference is ? air bases at Sattahip, Korat,
Kennedy quickly saw that he nists take Laos and sending in out of tl a question for Nixon. and Udorn in Thailand, across
could either let the Commu U.S. combat forces. He com- He has made it clear that he Laos and onward to the far-
nists have this Idaho-sized mitted U.S. planes, bombs, finds the Paris peace confer- thest reaches of South Viet-
country or he could put in U.S. commando raiding units, and /once a bore, so he could hard- ram, it has been one war for
combat troops to stop them or CIA operatives to a secret wary ly opt for a conference on' years. Planes out of Thailand
he could try to work out a and encouraged the Thais to Laos, not that the Communists: have struck at Communist
peace agreement. do some things Eisenhower are likely to agree to one. units in Laos as often as a
Kennedy tried the latter. eY was reluctant to have them do. , Yet,,;: the .,Ilixou . doctriM target in North Vietnam. Air-
fields in Laos have been used
to strike at targets in North
and South Vietnam, as well as
to harass Communist units
moving down the Ho Chi Minh
Trail in Laos.
The first time I heard Nixon
warn that the United States
would take stern action if the
Communists increased the lev-
el of warfare, I knew that it
was inevitable that Hanoi
would test him. When he went
to Asia to talk about a lowered
profile for the United States in
that part of the world, I knew
that it was inevitable that the
Communists would soon start
probing to find out just how
low that profile might be.
Well, the moment of truth
seems to be near. With char-
acterist-c devilishness, the
Communists have challenged-
in a little landlocked piece of
real estate that might not be
worth a dollar an acre in the
normal context of things.
But in the context of world
politics and world power - not
to mention U.S. domestic poli-
tics - Lags.is worth a bundle.
We learned h lot about Ei-
senhower, Kennedy and John-
son from the %~,ay they handled
or did not handle - the
challenge of Laos. As Nixon
grapples with. it, we shall
learn a lot more about him
and his foreign policy than we
could divine from 13 months of
ress
Annroved For Release 2001103104 - CIA-RDP80-01601 R000amQ2M8Q1-4
 Approved For RipftA01/03/04 : CIA-RDP80-01601 R000800200001-4
DIPMIN;HAb1, ALA.
POST-HERALD
- 81,277
FE B 2 1970
ace c?r? is a s hudksj
BY JAMES FOSTER
Scripps-Howard Staff Writer
BANGKOK - Thailand
must surmount formidable
economic hurdles in the next,
two years if it is to contain
the threat of Communist in.
surgents.
in as launc
per cent of Thailand's foreign g h points for U. S. erg, jet-powered gunboats, A
exchange income, are at a air strikes against the ordnance, fuel, vehicles, and
15-year low. Last year's crop Communists in Laos and Viet- construction materials. Also,
was of poor quality. World nam. The workers are jobless there is considerable coin-..
'demand was off generally. and restless. munications and intelligence
me ouuook for teak and
rubber is not much better. Tin
and corn exports are little
above levels of four. years
ago.
At the same time, U. S.
Government spending in Thai.
ments this year is expected to the United States is pouring
show a deficit, first in a into Thailand as part of the
decade. During the peak of Nixon policy of letting Asians
construction of U. S. Air fight their own wars.
bases, more than 40,000 Thai The United States admits to
workers were employed at supplying "an array of mod-
b e t t e r-than-average wages..: ern weapons," including; M41
These airfield complexes are tanks, M16 rifles, HUl heli-
largely completed and operat 'copters, F5 supersenic' fight-
Thai officials face the pros. These weapons are not used
pect of record spending - up in the massive, clandestine U.
14 per cent this year on top of S. operation against Commu-
a 10 per cent increase' last 'Dist forces in Laos and Viet-
Year - to finance a double- nam. They are intended for
barreled attack against Thais to use on each other
land, grown to about $250 Communist insurgency in the
million per year, is expected north and northeast.
and another third in 1971 SOCIAL PROGRAMS area stirred up by Communist
because of cutbacks in the aimed at raising the standard agitators. ? .
50,000-man U. S. military'' of living, but military These financial demands i
force here. programs must keep the in. are saddling a country where It
r * surgency under control until per capita income is only $150;
AMERICAN SERVICEMEN the social programs have a per year and corruption is
on rest and recreational leave chance to take root. said to skim at least 15 per',
from Vietnam pour about $60 Rural police have been in-- cent of the cream of all taxi
million - one third of That-, creased from 34,000 to 47,000 revenues,
land's tourist dollars - into in the past three years. Spe-....rte..........-----~~~
quick circulation here. This cial counterinsurgency schoolsi
will shrink with U. S. troop have been established, staffed
withdrawals from Vietnam. , mainly ' by former Green
Thailand's balance of trade Berets now working for 'the
has shown a $500 million _fD. AIsol men must be
deficit for two consecutive rn d I to use the increased
,,yeers. Its balance ' of''`pW `amount`?of' military hardware
and on their neighbors from
bordering Laos and Cambodia
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 STATINTL il., . ,..,,.,
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17 JAN 1970
RICE RUNS - AND ARMS
rl r o
J':s M LJ Y
L ~~.~: is v 4V
By TA' IIIY AItBUCKLE'
?:Su.ci Ial to The Star
VIENTIANE - The United
States is almost totally respon-
sible for the logistics of Lao
'government forces in the cur-
rent war against North Viet-
namese and Communist Pa-
thet Lao forces in Laos, well-
informed sources here admit.
Top Lao officials no longer
bother to deny the fact. "We
could not do without American
logistic support. We need it to
survive against the Commu-
nists," says one Laotian.
This American logistics op-
eration is carried out entirely
by American civilians and by
U.S. military men in
civilian-cover roles. This is be-
.cause Washington shies away.
from admitting its military in-
volvement in Laos for political
reasons.
Both the men and aircraft
concerned in these operations,
therefore, are claimed by U.S.
officials to be - and often are
- part of the yearly $52 mil-
Lon aid program in Laos.
The operations include the
movement of troops, ammuni-
tion and food to battle areas in
the mountains, and evacuation
of government wounded. The
missions are often under fire
and are carried out by two
American companies - "Air
America" and "Continental
Airlines."
Questioned b y reporters
about these companies, U.S.
Embassy officials give the
stock reply that the firms are.
private companies under char-
ter to the American Agency
for International Develop-
ment. According to the embas-
sy officials, the two companies
are engaged in flying rice to
200,000 refugees made up
mostly of tribespeoplc fleeing
North Vietnamese and Pathet
Lao troops.
The beauty of this reply is
that Air America, besides its
military activities, does fly
many thousands of tons of rice
and other foodstuffs to the ref-
uge".
To bolster this image, corre-
American pilots, Continental
employs 73.
The two companies have ap-
proximately 70 aircraft and 20
helicopters which carry out
both AID and arms flights. Air
r America pilots receive base
Ire,, f e Ty :) ru~J j :. d rt)(~` pay of aro(1nd $20,000 per year
u Ca t1 L1 `.,~+ { ~' U~ j r e; for 70 flying hours, a month,
kok to Udorn. There they are ' at higher pay rates.
stored in concrete warehouses The pilots are worth every
-o? Udorn
THAILAND
encircled by a series of wire dollar. Laos t e r r a i n and
fences with manned sentry weather mean d a n g e r o u s,
towers and floodlights. Storage flying conditions. Craggy
J areas are spaced wide apart to' mountains are covered by lay-
prevent attacks by Thai Com- ers of thick fog, smoke from
munist terrorists. tribesmen burning off forest
At Udorn, ammunition is for opium fields, or are hidden
loaded aboard C123 transports. by monsoon rains.
These transports, colored sil- Aboard a green, unmarked
ver, have no identification Air America H34 "Sikorsky"
marks apart from a "Stars & helicopter with an American
Stripes" on the tail. crew, this correspondent sat
Informed sources say the on boxes of :~; ;6 hand gren- ;
planes are chartered to the 4dcs with two teen-aged Lao
Central Intelligence Agen troopers who clutched their.'
for these particular flights. carbines fearfully as we cir-
i:acn plane's load and des- tied looking vainly in a thick
tination is decided by Ameri- mountain fog for our landing
----I can "Requirements Office" zone north of the royal capital,
.s on cuts are allowed to go on personnel. The Requirements Luang Prabang.
these rice-drop flights. Office, though it is situated in Finally we skimmed be-
The aircraft, usually a C47 the American aid compound in tween two barely seen peaks
transport, is loaded with 5 tons Vientiane comes under CIA( to land on a site 100 yards
of rice by Filipino, Thai and and Pentagon auspices, Amer- square encircled by a shallow
Lao cargo handlers at Vienti- icans say. trench with bunkers. Govern-
ane's Wattay Airport. Any. Its location is the aid com- ment troopers unloaded the
where from 20 to 50 minutes pound is part of the cover sto- grenades, and within minutes,
after takeoff, the plane drops ry. the chopper was back in the.
into a mountain bowl or cir- There are presently 87 re- air. The crew was in a hurry
cles over a ridge partially hid- quirements officers in Laos. because Communist troops
den by clouds. They are ex-military Person_- were on surrounding ridges
While the craft circles, two warehouses bulg-, mortareattackgarrison
them control het co -
the
Americans in the cockpit scan
the drop zone for recognition ing with arms and other milr- ter,
t
i
t
upcoun
ry.
pmen
signals showing the area is in, tart' equ
f 11 h d Th bell The warehouses are marked
en a
s
u y an
.
as aid warehouses. Sitting later in' a Lao com-
buzz zzes, signalling the drop is
on. "Kickers" ? (cargo han- Dropping or landing zones mend post under Communist
dlers) - usually Thais - trun- for both AID and arms car- fire, this reporter heard a Lao-
dle the rice sacks stacked on goes are known by Air Ameri- tian major talking nervous.
plywood pallets down a roller ca pilots as "sites." These Americans onto their drop;
coaster of metal strips and frsites
are number run. What hell is up tosias nedhigh as 2005 down, theretheasked o ernervl
om 1
wheels the fuselage door. names are seldom used. Other ous pilot, seeing the bursting
Then the e sacks are sent sites have girl's names such rounds from a Communist
The down to the drop p one zone-- as "Mary," or names derived mortar.
under plane the mountain 7kntoin times round from code such as "Hotel In- "It's all right, come on in,"
und peaks, the Lao major radioed calmly.
a heads back to Vientiane
then
missed the
another load. , The sites are divided into Some C123s
Lim ima, sites where larger drop zone one the but the last aircraft
Base in Thailand aircraft can land, and STOL put its load of lots of 200 105
sites (short landing and take- mm. howitzer ammunition on
Correspondents, however, off) for Air America's single the center of the zone - and,
are not officially permitted on engined Hello Couriers and 'Lao troops whooped it up.
the arms flights. These flights Pilatus Porters.
originate from what pilots re- Other American crewmen
Some sites can only take a
for to as "Tango" -Ameri? helicopter. drawing more dangerous
.
ca's Udorn airbase in north- assignments.
east Thailand, 32 miles from Over 200 Pilots Used one helicopter pilot said he
the Lao. border. Cargoes are taken by trans- been landing Lao commandos. Ammunition and other sup- , its to Lima sites, then dis-i "right on top of Pathet Lao
plies are- trucked from Bang-tributed by light aircraft and command posts" under auto,
.. J ' matte gun fire.
STATINTL
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 STATINTL Guardta't
Approved For Releasq Q $ 4 IA-RDP80-
C.i
C
By Wilfred Burchett
Guardian stall nvrrecpondenr
the rich natural resources of the area and transform states border-
ing China into military bases for the "roll-back" policy initiated
in the early 1950s.
American military intervention started in the second half of
.1950 (economic penetration began much earlier), long before the
Geneva Agreements had divided Vietnam into a "North" and
"South" or the existence of "Ho Chi Minh trails" and other such
post-datum pretexts for intervention. In August 1950, an Ameri-
c;n, military mission headed by Gen. Graves B. Erskine arrived.in
Thailand to inspect airfield and port facilities, road and rail
coinn-unications and make an appraisal of Thailand's military
potential. The outcome was a treaty of "economic and technical
cooperation" signed on Sept. 19, 1950, followed by a "Mutual
Defense" treaty signed on Oct. 17, 1950 between Washington and
the Thai military. dictator, Marshal Pibul Songgram. (The latter
had overthrown a liberal constitutional government in a military
coup three years earlier and he headed the first' of a series of
Paris military dictatorships which have continued in one form or
appeared to end'further American intervention in Laos and Thai-
land, there was a public sigh of relief.
The resolution was the result of a Senate inquiry, stimulated
by public and Congressional alarm over U.S. activities in Laos and
the disclosure of a secret agreement to move into Thailand
whenever the Pentagon thought necessary. But when the text was
published, it became clear the measure would permit the Nixon
administration to continue and perhaps to intensify those acts of
intervention the Senate was supposedly concerned with stopping..
Thus it was not surprising President. Nixon could tell the
Senate the resolution was "definitely in line with administration.
policy" or that White House press secretary Ron Ziegler could say
it represented an "endorsement" rather than a "curbing!" of that
polity. The actual wording had been adopted at a secret Senate
session after reporters had been cleared from the press gallery.
l'hc phrase responsible for the initial "misunderstanding" was in a
rider to the defense appropriations bill stating "none of the funds
appropriated by this act shall be used to finance the introduction
of American ground troops into Laos or Thailand.... " ' '
Everything that had provoked the indignant outbursts that led
to Senate hearings and the resolution would go on as usual.
Thailand would continue to be used as a base for aggression
against her neighbors. American B-52s would continue to use the
giant air bases at Utapao and Khon Kacn for their murderous
raids against the villages of South Vietnam. U.S. "Green Berets"
would continue to run headquarters 333 at Udorn and use it as a
base for the American-officered Vang Pao mercenaries in their
attacks against Laotian patriots. American fighter-bombers would
continue to use the bases at Takhli, Korat, Udon and Ubon for
their attacks against South Vietnamese and Laotian peasants.
Thailand would continue to commit acts of war, at the Penta-
gon's bidding, against the peoples of South Vietnam, Laos and
Cambodia, just as it previously had permitted Thai bases to be
used for the U.S. bombing of North Vietnam.
Until recent years the Thais were proud to claim that their
country had never been colonized. In the days of the old rivalries
of British and French imperialism in Southeast Asia, both striving
for the richer prize of South China, there was a tacit agreement.
Thailand would not be colonized, but would be a sphere of
British influence. Now the Thais realize they have been colonized
by the U.S. through the "back door" with an officially-admitted
413,000 U.S. troops on their soil, U.S: "advisors" running' the
armed forces, U.S. helicopter pilots shooting down liberation
fighters in the Northern and Northeastern regions of the country
and Thai mercenary troops fighting in South Vietnam and Laos.
flow did this happen? The official U.S. reply is, as with Laos,
that it was all because of North Vietnamese "aggression" against
Laos and South Vietnam. The actual reason is Washington's
d I r ? tion to ?titablish he'c o 'r Southeast Asia, control
.
'
When SEATO was established under U.S. pressure in Septem-
ber 1954 to offset the Geneva Agreements and rob the Viet-
namese of the legitimate fruits of their victory, Songgram, the
recipient of lavish U.S. "aid," was one of the most enthusiastic
participants. Bangkok became the SEATO headquarters, Thailand
the trite of annual SEATO military maneuvers. When the U.S.
started pressuring Cambodia to abandon its neutrality and join
SEATO and Prince Sihanouk refused, Thailand provoked frontier
clashes-coordinated with those on. Cambodia,'s Eastern, border
staged by the Diem dictatorship in Saigon-and 'sent planes deep
into Cambodian territory.
Later a CIA-subsidized organization, the so-called "Khmer
Serei" (Free Khmer), chased from its bases in South Vietnam by
the NLF was transferred to Thailand, from where bands of armed
raiders were sent across the border to try and overthrow the
neutral regime of Prince' Sihanouk.
Gradually Thailand was pushed into more and more open
war-like activities against its neighbors. When the right-wing
Laotian dictator, Gen. Phoumi Nosavan was overthrown in
August 1960 and replaced by the neutralist Prince Souvanna
Phou-na in Laos, Thailand immediately clamped down a blockade
on all supplies to Vientiane, the Laotian capital, but permitted
U.S.-airlifted supplies to pour into Nosavan's base in Southern
Laos. ' When Nosavan was ready, his troops were transported
through Thai territory to attack Vientiane from the Thailand side
of the Mekong river, which forms the Thai-Laotian border at that
point. - ' .. . %
Nosavan's troops captured Vientiane at the end of 1960 but
the neutralist and Pathet Lao troops took "in exchange" the
strategic Plain of Jars. The American response to this was to
dispatch so-called "white star" teams of U.S. military "advisors"
to stiffen Nosavan's forces-one team to each battalion. When this
did not work and Nosavan suffered repeated defeats in his at-
tempts to retake the Plain of Jars, the U.S. rushed the 7th Fleet'
to the Gulf of Thailand and the first 500 Marines with helicopter
units to Northeast Thailand-the first step in the serious implanta-
tion of U.S. military forces there. This was in April 1961, over
eight months before similar helicopter units were sent to South
Vietnam.
In May 1962, after another catastrophic defeat of the Nosavan
forces at the battle of Nam Tha, the 7th Fleet brought a few
thousand more Marines into Thailand. ? ? .
By that time more base facilities were "needed" in Thailand to
support the U.S. effort in South Vietnam. Later, with the start of
the bombings in North Vietnam and the commitment of U.S.
combat troops iq the South, there was still further expansion of
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STATINTL
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U.S. base facilities an more troops to service and defend them. another way of saying the resistance movement is active through-
On March 21, 1967, the huge air base at Utapao was completed', out the whole region.
ana \Vashington extracted a treaty enabling its use for B-52 raids Although the resistance has started first in' rural regions,
against Vietnam, which started immediately. among those who are doubly. exploited for racial as well as class
For years, the fact that Thailand was an "attack-free sanctu- reasons, there is actually general discontent throughout the land.
ary" for the U.S. Air Force, with over 80%. of the raids on In the cities, especially in Bangkok, it takes the form of a demand
Vietnam staged from there, was kept secret from the American for an end to U.S. intervention, the departure of U.S. troops, the
people. Obviously it could not be kept secret from the people of. withdrawal of Thai troops from South Vietnam, the adoption of
Thailand, especially for those whose villages and means of liveli- a neutral policy in foreign affairs and recognition of People's
hood were destroyed. China.
Discontent gradually fanned into armed resistance in several Campaigning in favor of such policies, the opposition Demo-
parts of the country. Under the feudal military dictatorship of cratic party swept the polls in municipal' elections in Bangkok
Bangkok, the tribespeople and the Laotian and Muslim minorities Sept. 2, 1968, winning 22 out of 24 seats and 1 1 out of 24 in the
are treated as second-class citizens. The Laotians, almost all of twin city of Thonburi. In elections for the House of Representa-
whom have relatives on the other side of the frontier, have an tives on Feb. 10, 1969, the Democratic party won all 21 seats in
added grudge against the Bangkok regime and its American back- Bangkok-Thonburi. It was only in the capital that the ruling junta
ers, because they know what is happening to their kinsfolk in could not rig the elections in favor of the Unjted Thai Peoples
Laos and the U.S.-Thailand role in all this. Party of the prime minister, Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn.
Trouble in the North started when Bangkok decided to en- In the lace of pressure of U.S. and Thai opinion. Washington
force government control over an area where government had has stated that it will reduce its forces in Thailand by 6000 men
scarcely reached before. The first taste of government "presence" by July 1, 1970, according to a U.S. statement of Sept. 30. The
was in the form of troops and armed police. As in Laos and the fact that it is to take nine months to withdraw 6000 men is a
mountain villages on the other side of the frontier in China, the measure of the reluctance of the Pentagon to give up its military
tribeswomen wear their wealth in the form of silver ornaments, presence in Thailand. Further revealing U.S. intentions. Nixon has
heavy bracelets, necklaces and car-rings, passed down from just sent Vice President Agnew to Thailand to assure Mar-
generation to generation. The first troops and armed police to shal Kittikachorn that despite the U.S. Senate's resolution, "there
? ?__ ? . ??''
arrive in the Meo villages started arresting the women in the will be no change in American policy.".
market places on the flimsiest of pretexts to steal the ornaments.
At the same time, Bangkok radio started a propaganda cain-
paign in the tribal languages about the government being the
"mother and father" of the people and that any.problcros should
be brought it) the notice of the nearest. district headquarters. One
village headman, who went down to the district government.
office to report about the outrages against the women of his
village, was arrested and summarily executed as a "communist
agent." The news soon got back to the village and revenge was.
taken.
The U.S. and Bangkok reaction was two-fold: planes to bomb ?
the village and a team of American anthropologists to study what
there was in the psychological and physiological make-up of the -
local tribcspeople to turn them towards "communism." That was
? in the spring of 1967. Since then American-piloted helicopters
and planes with orders "to shoot only if fired on"-the classic
formula used at the start of operations in South Vietnam- have
been supporting 'Thai troops to put down what has developed
into a "chronic state of insurgency," in the language of the
Pentagon.
International attention was dramatically alerted to the situa-
tion in the North in November 1968 when a guerrilla force,
officially stated to number around 500 but which must have been
much greater, virtually took over the three Northern provinces of
Phitsanulok, Phetchabun and Loey. Tanks and aircraft and troops
brought in by U.S. planes were used to try and suppress the revolt
in a campaign that lasted over two months. Communiques issued
in the name of the Thai People's Liberation Army in mid-January
1969 claimed guerrillas shot down 25 aircraft and helicopters and
put out of action 300 troops and police.
The Thai People's Liberation Army was the name adopted Jan.
1, 1969, by the Peoples Armed Forces which were constituted
shortly after the formation of the Thailand Patriotic Front in
1965 and in whose name guerrilla activities had been waged until
that time.
In the Northeast regions resistance is also under way. Ain-
bushes on police and troops and attacks on police stations-both
aimed primarily at building up arms' stocks-have been frequent
occurrences.
The area of most action recently has been in the South and
Southwest where Chin Peng's guerrillas, battle-hardened from
fighting the Japanese in World War II and the British afterwards,
form the nucleus of a growing resistance movement. Repeated
combined sweeps by the Malaysian-Thai security forces, have
only reinforced the guerrilla ranks and swelled their stocks of
modern arms. Of ReKio y Tommu e - f~ 4 CIA-RDP80-016018000800200001-4
ng o o be cs ed y mmum i
considered by Ba s s, w i c