CONGRESS BRIEFED ON SAIGON RISING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP65B00383R000200170032-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 24, 2003
• Sequence Number: 32
• Publication Date: November 2, 1963
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved For Release 2003/10/10 : CIA-RDP65BOO 0032-9
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1963.
CONGRESS BRIEFED
ON SAIGON RISING
Complete Surprise_tp C.I.A.,
Representative Told_
By JOHN D. MORRIS
Special to The New York Times
WASHINGTON, Nov. 1
Con;;?ressional sources said to-
ciay that Administration i-
ciT xa told them --the nill-
tary revolt in South Vietnam
had conic as-a. sur rise to the
rTnitc St ? Government.
Members of a House of Rep-
resentatives study mission were
briefed on the developments by
State Department intelligence
officers. Their spokesman, Rep-
resentative Clement J. Zablocki,
Democrat of Wisconsin, said he
understood that the uprising
had been "a complete sur rise"
They told us there was no.
advance information," he added.
Mike Mansfield of Montana,
!Democratic leader of the Sen-
ate, gave his colleagues a some-
what similar report after sep-
arate consultations with Ad-
ministration officials. In a brief
statement to the Senate, he
said:
"The news of the uprising in
Vietnam came as a complete
surprise to me and, I am quite
certain, a surprise to the Ad-
ministration. There have been
rumors, of course, for weeks
that a coup d'etat was in the
making, but there was nothing
tangible to reinforce such an
assumption up to this time."
Representative Clement J.
Zablocki, Democrat of Wiscon-
sin, who is chairman of the
House study mission, said he
understood that the revolt had
been a "complete surprise" to
the t nitea Statintelligence.
s Group Briefed on Revolt
He said he and several other
members of the group were
.i C:^si on the Vietnamgg c -
vclopmen s LJ P.M. j State
bepepartment intelligence offi_
ce"s.
Howevct Mr. Zabloclf ought
to qualify liis sstatement when
l:c ~v:is` ?; r~i$TiigiL?x21
iriiIle, te some shortcoming -on
the Vii,art of the intelligence
agencies.
"They didn't know it would
happen yesterday at 1:30 P.M.,"
the Representative added. "They
were not alerted at 10 A.M.
Saigon time that at 1:30 P.M.
a coup would be attempted."
Both Senator Mansfield and
Representative Zablocki said
the uprising was "purely" a
affair. They thus
ck up the Adminis-
trarto.rs lor.ial of any involve-
ment by the United States Gov-
ernment.
Policy Review Urged
"As far as this Government
is concerned," Senator 1\ [ans,
field added, "it is my opinion.
that the events of the past sev-
eral hours call more than ever
for a reassessment and reap-
praisal of our policy in South
Vietnam and, for that matter,
in all of Southeast Asia.
"One would hope that the
people of South Vietnam will
obtain the kind of government
out of these tragic developments
which will be responsive to
their needs and responsi',le to
them. It remains to be c.
wi}ether such a goverma
shall emerge, and in and,
praisal of our policica Jus
would be a factor of the uano~t;
importance."
The Mansfield statement re-
flected a general caution at
the Capitol in appraising and
commenting on the Vietn?imese
developments.
A comment typical of 1: aryl
came from Senator Bourke mss..
Hickenlooper of Iowa, senior
Republican member of the Tt or-I
eign Relations Committee. He
said the developments posed, "a
very serious situation that will,
require scrutiny and watchful'
waiting until we know more
about it."
Another Republican member
of the comnxittee, Senator
,George B. Aiken of Vermont,
said he did not know whether
United States agents were in-
volved.