139. Memorandum From Special Assistant [name not declassified] to Director of Central Intelligence Turner1
SUBJECT
- Support to Afghan Guerrillas
1. [less than 1 line not declassified] from 1963–1965. Those were the years we started increasing our support to the Meo tribesmen loyal to Vang Pao.2 Better armed, the Meo did increase their harassment of the Viet Cong. The increase in activities brought more casualties. We were able to justify the loss of life on the basis that we were contributing to the efforts of our allies in Vietnam. By 1975 several generations of Meo tribesmen in Laos were dead and a substantial part of the tribe had to go into exile.
2. I do not believe any responsible person in the Intelligence Community believes the Afghan guerrillas can oust the Soviets from Afghanistan or even make their stay in the country untenable. At the most the guerrillas will serve as pin pricks in an elephant’s hide. The repercussions for them, however, are probably going to be fierce. Providing them more arms will merely increase the number of casualties the guerrillas will suffer. Can we justify this to ourselves?
- Source: Central Intelligence Agency, Office of the Director of Central Intelligence, Job 81B00112R: Subject Files, Box 12, [folder title not declassified]. Confidential; [handling restriction not declassified]. Turner initialed at the top of the memorandum on January 15.↩
- Major General Vang Pao, Royal Lao Army, was the leader of the Hmong (Meo) forces in Laos and Vietnam.↩