DETERIORATION IN CAMBODIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: Library of Congress
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): LOC-HAK-37-4-22-2
• Release Decision: RIPLIM
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: January 11, 2017
• Document Release Date: May 28, 2010
• Sequence Number: 22
• Publication Date: August 4, 1973
• Content Type: MEMO

No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/05/28: LOC-HAK-37-4-22-2
a
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
WASHINGTON. D.C. 2O5O5
OFFICE OF THE DIRECTO
MEMORANDUM FOR: Brigadier General Brent Scowcroft, USAF
Deputy Assistant to the President for
National Security Affairs
SUBJECT : Deterioration in Cambodia
25X1
1. As we discussed in our 4 August telephone conversation, recent
reporting from Phnom Penh indicates that the atmosphere there is steadily
worsening.
Sirik Matak is becoming increasingly vocal and 25X1
strident in expressing his dissatisfaction with Lon Nol, whom Sirik accuses
of personally ordering the press ganging of conscripts in order to embarrass
5X1
On 2 August, as reported in the
Phnom Penh Embassy's Exdis telegram 7967 (copy also attached), Son Sann
talked with Charge Enders alleging that the High Council was on the verge of
breaking up and taking the line that both Lon Nol and Sirik M'atak had to go..
3. 25X1
relays in translation a FANK G-2 analysis of "Perspectives After 25X1
15 August. " Though the document represents a commendable effort to face
up to a serious problem, its childlike unrealism is chilling, e. g.
C7rr7' 71rX'.'9PMIIC
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/05/28: LOC-HAK-37-4-22-2
 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/05/28: LOC-HAK-37-4-22-2
25X1
4. Our Chief of Station's report on his 3 August session with Lon Nol
(sent to Dr. Kissinger on 4 August) indicates that Lon Nol is living in a dream
world even more than the FANK general staff.
5. None of the omens, in short, are very good and some of them are
very bad. As Communist pressure on Phnom Penh increases, even before
15 August, the mood at the top level of the GKR is becoming progressively
more unrealistic in some contexts and more poisonous in others. The risk
is steadily mounting of some of Lon Noll s High Council colleagues moving to
unseat him within the next few weeks, or even days, without giving the U. S.
prior warning and in the face of U. S. displeasure. In the present situation --
which Mr. Justice Douglas' ruling, if it is implemented, will further
exacerbate - the GKR could start unravelling at almost any time.
6. The GKR' s basic problems -- as has been the case all along --
are ones of leadership, not resources. In the critical sphere of leadership,
the U. S. has little room for maneuver, particularly at this time. At a
minimum, however, I would respectfully suggest that contingency plans
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/05/28: LOC-HAK-37-4-22-2
 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/05/28: LOC-HAK-37-4-22-2
a SEC( "JS ;I MMVE W
should be made, and appropriate instructions issued to our Charge, for the
posture the U. S. would take if some of Lon Nol's own colleagues move to
oust him with the enemy (almost literally) at the gates. It is also my opinion
that in such an eventuality, an attempt to preserve Lon Nol's position in the
face of determined opposition from his High Council colleagues -- particularly
if the latter should be working in unanimous concert -- would probably be
Ge rge A. Carver, Jr.
Special Assistant for Vietnamese Affairs
State Exdis Telegram-Phnom Penh 7967
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/05/28: LOC-HAK-37-4-22-2