(Classified)NAMED TO OVERSEE RECONSTRUCTION IN VIETNAM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000200220023-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 24, 1998
• Sequence Number: 23
• Publication Date: March 23, 1966
• Content Type: NSPR

FOIAb3b
Approved For Release 1999/09/07 : CIA-RDP75-00
list.,', ii..%jRE 11D.
SU21
Q L-190,628
E-213,008
MAR 2 3 1966
"It. is China's own position.
komer Named To Oversee We are very anxious in Irv His own letters from soldiers ire
Io have more callac?t wills her Vietnam, the President said, were
and more exchanges with her,,one of his "greatest sources of
)Reconstruction In Vietnam but as has been explained by allIstrength" and he customarily
of these ueoole- slip hams nn thallcalled for a batch "so I can
sac , t rf
as ung on, arc u 22 - Presi-I "M"k, 141C I'lesnit'im
dent Johnson today named Robert
W. Komer, who has been on Mc-
George Bundy's staff in the white
House a $30,000-a-year special as-
sistant ten push reconstruction pro-
grams in Vietnam.
Announcing this today at an im
C
Pramptu news conference, the
President said Komer would fly
to Saigon next Tuesday with Cyrus
Vance, Deputy Secretary of De-
fense, and Bill D. Moyers, While
House press secretary, to meet
with Ambassador Henry Cabot
Lodge and Gen. William West-
moreland and nlher top officials
to expedite the flow of manpower
and supplies to get reconstruction
projects underway.
To work With Top Officials
Ile said Komer would be work-
ing closely with Dean Rusk, Secre-
tary of State; Robert S. Mc-
Namara, Secretary of Defense;
David F. Bell, administrator of
the Agency for International
Development and Leonard Marks,
director of the United Slates In-
formation Agency to coordinate
activilfc. i
th
fi
ld
n
e
e
with Admin- mainland, a renunciation of force
istration efft its here. in the Formosa Strait and on ex-
The President, responding to a chan
es of newsmen
h
sici
n
g
, p
y
a
s,
question on his attitude toward and scholars and of weather in-1
United Nations, said he shared At meetings with Peking rep-
the desire of those urging more resentatives in Warsaw, 129 of
contacts and exchanges with which have been held over the
Peking, but that Red China itself past decade, Rusk said, all such
had s
ow
i
t
n no
n
erest,
h
"She hangs up the telephone,
o Wo in Washington
stated the United States position ) Nplaining homer's new pose asf
with respect to Red China's ad- "are good," but added a caution-I
ary note. that of working in Washington toj
mission to the United Nations further the efforts in the field of
very thoroughly" in a tclevisiot "We must not be too optimistic)
interview lie gave last Sunday; and we must not exaggerate what) William Porter, Ambassador
Lodge's deputy, who will head the!
over the Columbia Broadcasting is taking place," he said. l ......
System.
Cites Two Chinas idea
't'roop Morale Praised ,..._.._ ... ....._.... _.
lies in Vietnam 1?I r. Johnson said
Introducing reserve Maj. Gen, the pair would ,have at their dis-
The Secretary of State avoided'?Tames E. Rudder, president of iposal the nation's "best experts"l
~- )Texas A.& M., whom he described';
con,,, ?n,,,~h proposals by var;nusc in education, health, agriculture
a
B
d
s a
ra
academicians that Peking be seat-
y (Texas) rancher and
ed without displacement of the1 old friend," Mr. Johnson said he
reltl'esentalives of the Nationalist, had just returned from Vietnam
Government, but, noted.thal hotb s a member of the mission head-
Chinese governments reject lhej;ed by John W. Gardner, Secretary
'major charter problems."
Vice President Humphrey's de-
scription ' several days ago of
United States policy toward the
Rudder, the President said, had)
'described American troop morale
in Vietnam as the highest and the)
Peking regime as one of "con- had ever seen.
tainment without necessarily iso- "lie never 'saw better coordina-
lation," was described by Rusk as tion, thought it was absolutely
"a very shorthand way of saying marvelous, unbelievable, that your
it." , could move 200,000-odd men that4
He then cited unsuccessful at-i far, that fast,, that effectively....
tempts by the United States tot "Fond Of Vietnamese"
probe the Chinese on such subjects "He said they had had a won-,
as efforts to win freedom fo?lderful effect on the Vietnamese,lj
Americans held on the Chinese i and that the boys felt they had ax,
probes invariably met with the,
Chinese statement that the ces-
Refers To Scholars' Views , condition, -.1- ?,9, 4 .,-
"Until there is some change on Blames Chinese Position
China's part, I doubt (hat these Mr. Johnson said today he had
;academic discussions will (10 watched with "interest and com-
muc?h more than satisfy peoples plete understanding" the testi-
,yearning for information." mony before congressional com-
,Mr. .Johnson was alluding to mittees on the subject of China.
i testimony by scholars on China.
It was "very good," he said
and others before the Senate For-i ,to have the Opinion of these.
eign Relations Committee and its; professors and experts and am-
lioure encrnterparl urging a great-si bassadors and other people, but
cr 1 r)iicd Slates effort I.o draw; )"as far as I' nm aware, it is not
the J'eking regime into world.'
the ~2Qs~il{'m~h of lhi, r n
so iety? Approved - ora a ~Islee, , / iJ
CPYRGHT
i' ing newspaper columns about
President Johnson said in re-II "hnw pupruf Nina hae ann, 1-di
[Washingtoft Bureau o, The z-o
mission and they were fond of the),
Vietnamese people and were:,
working very well together. He';
said they wouici protect them-;
and general productivity to make
la go of "peaceful construction"
in Vietnam.,
"We are trying to concentrate
our energies and all of our ex-
pertise and knowledge to help
these people help themselves-and
have a better way of life," the
President said.
l~oner, a Harvard graduate
w ur set Ciii ~ITxly as'a~ iritel-
ligence-'b'fficer, has worked.sincej
the war in the"?c_i ot.ua(. infelli-i
gr"e-?Akulty:M on the National
Security Council staff.$. lie was
one of 1: e' fGf,` aSsJI.t cats to wl-
clyr wlro"retiicd,,,last..,1n, nth,.,as
9pecTal- assistant for national se-
curity- affairs: Konier has spe-
cirljzed ? herelofoi-e:__irc;-itirlia-Pak-;
istan problcrn ,,,n
Z:7- "V'op Echelon
His promotion to a $30,000 sal.I
ary-hrings-?him to the- top echo-i
selves during the day and ad-,,,I loll of the White House, staff.
Vance and take the valleys and'jl,.,,His.,Itip--tn"Vclnam will .follow)
spend the evenings trying to I ix'; `ttj 0--President's meeting next
up the schools and teach the chil-;)week with Mrs. Indira Gandhi,.
u Dr. James Cain of the Mayo
Clinic at Rochester, Minn., John
son family friend and physician?
also a member of the Gardnerl
mission, had reported that event
American wounded were eager to
get hack into combat, the Pres
blent said.
Cain, Mr. Johnson said, had
visited with 30 United States
wounded, some in "terrible shape"
Intl had reported. that prohablyi
all would live because of the ex-.,.,
cellence and promptness of medi-l
cal care provided, with possibly,:
Prime Minister-of India.
'T'oday Mr. Johnson lunched;
with the Indian Ambassador, TO
K. Nehru, arranging the agenda:
for the visit. which, !Iho 1'resi-1
(lent said, will deal with plans to,
promote III(' peace and prosper-,
ily on the subcontinent.
t L CIALPD'P "IWOG4i 000200220023-7