LAOS'S PUBLIC SECRETS U.S. NOW TELLS THE TRUTH, BUT NOT ALL OF IT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-01601R001300360001-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 9, 2000
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: March 10, 1972
• Content Type: NSPR

3
? FJi~
Approved For Release 2001 ' RC1A-RDP80-016
10 MA
Laos's public secrets
U.S. now tells t
By MICHAEL PARRS the hiring of foreign mercenary not
Sun Staff Correspondent troops. u
Vientiane, Laos-After a dec. 2. The activities of the more
ade of official American secrecy, than 100 military attaches and
r in Laos is going public. the estimated 300 "case offi-
th
e wa
United States Embassy offi- cers" and "field technical rep- The American establish-
Icials -here say that the broad resentatives" the Central Intel- ' ent's increasing acknowledg-
II ligence Agency has here. meat of U.S. activities here is
outlines of the American in- This information would pro- attributable primarily to this
volvernent in the war with the vide proof for charges that the budget limitation-"We have to
Communist Pathet w Lao and United States is violating the account for everything we do
North Vietnamese are known Geneva accords that neutral- now,,, one American officer
now although many specifics sized Laos and banned foreign complained-and to the preced-
Groups of newsmen have sonnel. the Senate Foreign e a ions the Symington amendment aft-
es formerly top-secret bas- 3. The number of American Committee, which triggered the th its sponsor, Senator Stuart
es with the chief U.S. intelli- fighter-bomber strikes and B-52 legislative interest. Symington (D., Mo.), also has
gence agent as their guide. missions flown in northern But there are a number of stirred bitterness among the
Laos, which would show an indications that the current rate Lao.
Open about raids increase in the number of B-52 ! of spending here exceeds that "I don't carp, if the Ameri-
The frequent B-52 bomber raids and a 60 to 70 pet centl allowed on an annual basis by cans want to tell the whole
decline in those by the smaller Congress and that the Nixon
raids ever northern Laos now world exactly what they are
are acknowledged and their tar-planes since 1970. administration, rather than doing here, but we can't fight a
gets identified. A substantial Carrots, sticks I seeking legislative approval for war counting each bullet and
part of the American war budb increased spending, will at-I bomb and rifle," said Sisouk
et in Laos now is open to 4. The inducements and tempt to camouflage the higher. Na Champassak. the acting
I congressional and public scruti- threats the U.S. Embassy uses I costs through accounting gim- Laotian defense minister.
ny. with various Laotian political;micks. American officials here are!
"some people have gotten the factions to keep the "neutral- also under orders from the U.S.
feeling that the intensity of theist" government of Prince Sou- Shuffling the count Agency for International Devel-
war up hero is increasing," says vanna Phouma, the premier, on "Washington just asked us 11 opment, which runs the Ameri-
a senior American official. "Ac- an even keel as the country is how many bombs and bullets can foreign aid program, not to
tually what is increasing is our devastated by a war that has we used. They are figuring how use any agency funds for Lao
visibility. increasingly less to do with the ce or for CIA
much they cost," said' a top military assistan
"We are just letting people L,ao? U.S. official. programs,
know what is happening here. 5. The thefts of supplies and "The cost can be figured lots! Many of the recent disclo-
After all, the North Vietnamese money by Lao officials from of ways. Do you include ban-1 sures here .have been anti-cli-
American aid programs, which dling and transportation costs? matic, simply official acknowl-senior
war up here is increasing, says
o
American
emb i"After all, the North Vietnamese) othe rder to keepasgoodgrelations ID O you include development Iwidelyeknownwhat already was
~r nrnmont Icosts w1-.... ,.ecnnnrlcntc wPYP
L 1L_ .,,
are the aggressors, not us."
A more cynical European dip-
e Lao or
Thai volunteers in t
and the Nixon administration in b d t' D
h
d
STATINTL
"What you, are' going to see,
come April, May and June
when the money runs short, is
a lot of American pilots doing
the job Lao pilots have been
doing," says a U.S. Air Force
officer stationed here.
Laotians bitter
Laotian rrregu a' a g
Cheng, described as the CIA's
top-secret command post for
years, they were disappointed
to find most of the radio and
electronic gear gone.
But American agents were1,
seen wandering nonchalantly
around directing air strikes-
just as everyone knew they did.
A British correspondent taken,
up to the Plain of Jars to cover,
o
u ge . you
the T
ar ai
"The Americans have, it Washington may never address include costs already in the
true, told in general terms what these points. budgets at the bases in Thai-
they are doing. But they have A first accounting land? .... I guess the answers
revealed only 50 per cent of the depend on how much we
facts, many of which were But' further details are ex- spend."
known anyway. pected to become public when Officials here say that the
"The make the bi points, the administration makes its
y g Nixon administration might
they omit the details.- Many of first six-month accounting of seek a supplemental appropria-
the details are important. expenditures under the Laotian tion, but wants to avoid a con-
though." war budget. ressionaI clash over the war
ti r .,,mac ordered g
mom
e
l
1. The exact number of Thai
mercenaries the United States
is supporting in Laos, how they
were recruited and what they
are paid. The number reported-,
ly is being doubted to 12,000.
Disclosing any information
about the Thais, American offi-
cials here i, ~@l 1
to substanttdtdd charges that
the Nixon administration is vio-
lating a' congressional ban on
by Congress as part of legis
a-; American military-aid admin- 3 government operation camel
tion limiting American military istrators in Laos, however, back wondering why he bad,
and economic assistance to have exceeded their budgets Al- been barred from covering pre-;
Laos to $350 million in the 1972 vious operations.
most every year, sometimes by
fiscal year. "Lord Lord only knows what they
This represents a potential I almost 100 Ironically, per cent.
spend- thought they were hiding," he
jump of $65 million over last ing limitation is likely to result said.
U.S. officials here say
o
d
limit
.ees not include! in more American air strikes in Top
year. TThe
}
~~
~
'
~
fnl idfi 'd r` bk ~ ~hbombs anPtueZ~hsed iffl n these `t' O kdrate and
been estimated at between V missions are excluded from the; complete information about the
billion and $2 billion annually350 million. military situation to come-i
I
"" Y- rut ' flown to the headquarters. of the
h
I I t Lon
J