414. Editorial Note
On July 27, Prime Minister Souvanna Phouma and his party met with Secretary Rusk and Department of State officials at 9 a.m. in George Ball’s conference room. (Johnson Library, Rusk’s Appointment Book) [Page 878] Rusk and Souvanna discussed U.S. aid, the prospects for withdrawal of North Vietnamese troops from Laos, the need of the non-Communist parties to unite under Souvanna, and Laos’ relationship with Thailand and South Vietnam. Souvanna stated that Souphanouvong and the Neo Lao Hat Zat were too quickly “given a color.” He did not think Souphanouvong a Communist nor that the two Pathet Lao ministers and secretaries of state posed a threat to his government. Souvanna was quick to charge that Thailand “had it in for” Laos and raised a series of past Thai transgressions against Laos. (Department of State, Central Files, 751J.00/7–2762)
Souvanna and his party also met with Secretary of Defense McNamara and Deputy Assistant Secretary William Bundy on July 27. It was the first meeting between Souvanna and McNamara. The Secretary of Defense probed Souvanna on his plans for demobilization and integration of Laos three armed forces. McNamara stressed the need for a cessation of North Vietnamese infiltration into South Vietnam. Bundy then carried the conversation to the shape and role of the new army, which Souvanna thought would be about 20,000 strong and mostly made up of current existing forces, but he anticipated they would gradually be replaced with conscripts. (Memorandum of conversation, July 27; ibid.)
Also on July 27, Souvanna and his party met with Seymour J. Janow, the Assistant Administrator, Far East Bureau, Agency for International Development, and other relevant officials from the Agency. Souvanna suggested that Washington not repeat the mistake of deluging money on Laos as it had in the late 1950s since the result was a plague of corruption with very little impact on the Lao people. Janow and Souvanna discussed aid projects and currency problems. (Ibid., EA/Laos Files: Lot 66 D 457, Souvanna Phouma Visit to Washington, Laos 1962)
On July 28, Rusk met with Foreign Minister Quinim Pholsena and they discussed aid matters with both men agreeing that military aid would no longer be needed. (Ibid., Central Files, 751J.00/7–2862) On July 30, Souvanna had a conversation with Under Secretary of State McGhee and Counselor and Chairman of the Policy Planning Council Rostow, which, in keeping with Rostow’s interest in economic development, surveyed the prospects for economic growth and development in Laos. (Memorandum of conversation, July 30; ibid., 751J.00/6–3061)