Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–1963, Volume XXIV, Laos Crisis

469. Memorandum From the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (Harriman) to the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy)⁰

Washington, May 7, 1963.

SUBJECT

• Actions Taken with the Poles re ICC Laos

The following summarizes, in response to your telephoned request, the actions which we have taken or are contemplating with respect to the Poles in light of their obstructive action on the Laos ICC:

1. When the cease-fire was first seriously breached in the Plaine des Jarres, Secretary Rusk called in the representatives of the three members of the ICC and asked that they cooperate to restore the cease-fire and to prevent further aggressive action by the Pathet Lao.¹ The Polish Ambassador, after seeking instructions from Warsaw, returned to inform the Secretary that his Government’s representative on the ICC was being fully cooperative and that the cause of the current difficulties in Laos rested with right-wing elements rather than with the Pathet Lao.²

2. During my recent trip to Moscow I stressed to Gromyko, as Soviet Co-Chairman, his responsibility for obtaining Polish cooperation in making the ICC effective.³ I said that the Pole seemed to be guided more by the specific interests of the Pathet Lao than he did by his conscience or his own objective observations. Gromyko did not give me an effective response beyond assuring me of the Soviet desire to see the ICC function effectively. Khrushchev reiterated this desire when I talked with him.

3. On April 30 the Department of State instructed our Embassy in London to ask the British, in their capacity as Co-Chairman, to raise with the Soviets the violation of the Geneva Agreements inherent in the Polish ICC’s Commissioner’s failure to provide a member for the team which the majority of the ICC members agreed should be established in the Plaine des Jarres.⁴ On May 3rd the British Foreign Office instructed its Embassy in Moscow to raise this issue with the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We do not yet have a report of the results.

4. On May 6th Assistant Secretary Tyler called in Polish Ambassador Drozniak to express our concern over the Polish Commissioner’s violation of the Geneva Agreements.⁵ Additionally, Mr. Tyler complained of the continuing failure of the Polish Commissioner to cooperate in the Commission and of his recent irresponsible behavior after the ICC helicopters had been attacked by Pathet Lao artillery and automatic weapons fire. It was specifically decided that Mr. Tyler should make this demarche because it is with him and his office that the Poles have been dealing on such matters as PL-480 and other economic and trade problems. Although no connection was explicitly drawn between these matters and the Polish behavior in Laos, it is hoped that there will be some connection made in the Polish mind.

5. If Drozniak’s response to this demarche, after he receives his instructions from Warsaw, is unsatisfactory, I contemplate bringing him in to make more definitive demands for Polish cooperation and also calling in Soviet Ambassador Dobrynin.⁶

WAH

0. Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, Laos: General, 5/1/63–5/20/63. Secret. A note on the source text indicates the memorandum was part of the President’s weekend reading for May 11.
1. An account of Rusk’s conversation, April 20, with Polish Ambassador Drozniak is in circular telegram 1815, April 20. (Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 Laos)
2. The discussion of April 29 was reported in circular telegram 1861, April 29. (Ibid.)
3. See footnote 1, Document 466.
4. In telegram 5747 to London, April 30. (Department of State, Central Files, POL 27–14 Laos)
5. An account of the Tyler-Drozniak conversation of May 6 is in telegram 1358 to Warsaw, May 6. (Ibid.)
6. Drozniak’s response to this demarche was reported in telegram 1428 to Warsaw, May 14. The Polish Government reiterated that sending the ICC to the Plaine des Jarres was illegal because the move did not have the unanimous consent of the three Lao factions. (Ibid.) In a letter from Rusk to Polish Foreign Minister Rapacki, May 16, Rusk expressed disappointment at the Polish attitude on the ICC, asked Poland to live up to its obligations under the Geneva Accords, hinted that the Geneva Accords had significance extending far beyond Laos or Southeast Asia, and stated that “it would be difficult to predict the serious consequences” if the obligations of the agreement were not fulfilled. (Ibid.)