Simulation Actitivties Page Back to Entry Page Back to News page Back to Communique page 315. This memorandum was prepared for you at Mr. Moyers' request. It deals with certain diplomatic and political steps the U.S. might take over the next several weeks largely, but not entirely, in response to recent initiatives from Hanoi. This paper has been seen by Ambassador Unger, but has nototherwise been reviewed by either State or Defense.
All brackets are in the source text.
State has indicated its interest, but has told Bohlen that we would not like to see the French involved in the exchange and indicated its desire to explore direct channels to Bo or to a DRV representative in some other capital. In telegram 2660, the Department informed the Embassy in Saigon that the response being made to the approach by the North Vietnamese in Paris was that the contact might be of some value in the future, but the United States did not want France to be involved in any exchange that might develop. In a separate, but possibly related, development, a Monsieur Devilliers, a French journalist and scholar specializing on Vietnam, was in Washington last week. May 25 Secretary Rusk sent a memorandum to the President containing items for evening reading. Bohlen is telling the French that we are interested in anything which the North Vietnamese may tell them on this subject.