LAOS: ANATOMY OF AN AMERICAN INVOLVEMENT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP73B00296R000300060024-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2001
• Sequence Number: 24
• Publication Date: April 19, 1971
• Content Type: REPORT

FOREIGN fil-MIRS
Approved For Release'00-T/OS/309CA-RDP73BO0296RO00300060024-7
O F AN
~_/ii~ i~ ~_.~ :!'! VOLVLMENT
By Roland zi. Paul
! t. \ reti dent r:ennedy came to of sec in 1961, he was star tlee to
heart that alma t 7co f1:11CfnCaa soldiers, more than half of Nlion'
the members of the Special Forces, were in Laos, wkile about Soo Soviec
troops were flier,'. providing logistics support to the local communist forces,
the P:htua Lao and their North Vietnamese allies.
Fcaringg the possible consequences of such a confrontation and considering
\nhrri.::h:h int res,s in Laos to be small, President Kennedy sought to dis-
eIig.L ,. Nc;;otiations ensued at Vienna, at Geneva, in Laos and elsewhere.
Inc iwas tllc :uabiglwus Co>u:pronlise set forth in rather unambiguous
in tile Declaration on the Neutrality of Laos and the Protocol to
d:at li: clararion, sib;ned by 13 c mnunlist and non-coma;theist countries in
July cornrnonly known as t!,c Geneva Accords of
Under the mantle of this agreement, the Laotians themselves established
a tritiartite government composed of right-wing royalist elements under
General Phoumi Nosavan, neutralist elements under Prince Souvanna
l'liou:n:l and communist elements whose nominal leader was Prince Sou-
phanuu~ong (Souvanna Phounia's half brother). The balance of power in
tI e ;,)ve-nrne:;c was given to the neutralists, and their leader Souvanna
Ph mL ullia became Prime Minister, a post lie holds today.
Tie Geneva Accords themselves required Laos to disassociate herself
tromn :;11 niilirarv alliances, including SEATO, prohibited the introduction of
i;,r, Iniiicar ihcrsonnel and civilians performing quasi-military functions
CZ,?c;,~ f,n' ., ... d! i'rcnch training mission), precluded the establishment
f :,h orei~n ;t. ::y instal:arious in Laos and forbade the use of Laotian
crrit tr ;r. ere with the Internal affairs of another cuentrv. Pursuant
t,i?. inerlcarLS and Soviets withdrew their military per-
z; lziul '!'",c ,,,-0l V,. amuse, however, -failed to withdraw most of their
r,, 0 mall fOOtCC ik- t ?-. then in Laos.
Ncve r ,eless, a rJiate e peace settled over this somnolent "Land of the
Illioa lepila , s'' for ai,r,ut one year, to be shattered in 1963 by an ex-
ctla: of ass:,,.sinations. The non-communist officer Colonel Ketsana was
(.:murdered an_," shortiy thereafter the pro-Chinese Foreign Minister Quinin-h
Pholsema killed. Those sparked a renewal of the fighting in Laos,
which has raged ever since.
To understand the nature of the hostilities in Laos, one must bear three
sir is in mind. First is the fact that the Laotians are a very peaceful, in
cases indolent, people. Accordingly, they generally make poor soldiers.
This is true waether they march, or walk, under the red flag of communism
or the w hite elephant and parasol emblem of the neutralist govt cement.
They -:re no match for the well-trained soldiers of North Vietnam. Until
.ece_:: i., as evidenced all too frequently by the flight of government
-hat they were facing an opposing force composed of
L here is one exception to this behavior, however. The 2sc-3oo,ooo Mco
trib'esrnen (no one knows precisely how many there are) and the other
small, r Montagnard tribes come from different stock and have been hardened
by centuries of nomadic life, slash-and-burn farming, principally opium
poppies? and oppression at the hands of their neighbors, historically the
Chinese. Sustained and supported by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency,
Approved For Release 2001/08/30 : CIA-RDP73B00296R000300060024-7
 Approved For Release 2001/08/30 : CIA-RDP73B00296R000300060024-7
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