Evening star., 1954-05-08


Those who were called to the
White House, members of the
Text Of Dulles Speech. Poge AS
National Security Council, left
by back doors and the Presi-
dents Office made no announce
ment of what decisions, if any,
were reached.
Secretary of State Dulles laid
down basic points of the admin
iStration attitude last night: It
is considering defense commit
ments which might involve the
use of armed force" but under
present conditions" the United
States has no intention of send
ing fighting men to Indo- China.
Those attending the White
House conference included Vice
President Nixon, Mr.. Dulles,
Secretary of Defense Wilson.
Admiral Arthur w. Radford,
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff; Allen w. Dulles, director
of the Central Intelligence Agen-
cy; William M Rand, acting di-
rector of the Foreign Operations
Administration, and Arthur S.
Flemming, Defense Mobilization
director.
Dulles Reports Progress.
Mr.. Dulles spoke in a nation
wide broadcast last night a few
hours after news of the fall of
Dien Bien Phu reached WASH
ington.
Mr.. Dulles said the tragic loss
of the fortress IN the Indo-
Chinese state of Wet Nam will
harden, not weaken" the allied
resolve to stay united.
He reported real progress" in
his drive to form a donation
collective security arrangement
for Southeast Asia.
May Involve Commitments.
Il feel confident" he said,
"that the outcome will be such
that Communist aggression will
not be able to gain in Southeast
Asia the results it seeks. This
may involve serious commit
ments by us all.
But free peoples will never
remain free unless they are will
ing to fight for their vital in
terests. Furthermore, vital in
tereSts can no longer be pro-
tected merely by local defense.
"The key to successful defense
and to the deterring of attack
is association with others for
mutual defense. This is what the
United States seeks in South
east Asia"
Mr.. Dulles conceded, however,
that this did not answer the
question of what the United
States should do about the cur
rent fighting in Indo-China.
In carefully chosen words, Mr..
Dulles then declared that, The
present conditions there do not
provide a suitable basis for the
United States to participate with
its armed forces"
Congress Would Share Decision.
He warned any cease-fire ar
rangement that would provide
q road to Communist takeover
and further aggression" would
make the need for united action
"even more urgent" But he
emphasized that Congress is a
full partner "in making COM
mitments which might involve
the use of armed force"
Mr.. Dulles address was billed
In advance as report on the
start of the Geneva conference,
and discussion of Indo-C China
problems. But the dramatic fall
of Dien Bien Phu in the 57th
day of siege led Mr.. Dulles to
revise his talk and devote almost
all of his attention to Commu-
nists in Indo-China and their
threat to the rest of Southeast
Asia and even the Philippines,
Australia and New Zealand.
Even the gravity of this threat,
Mr.. Dulles indicated, was not
enough to lure the United States
into military action all by itself.
He compared the present dilem-
ma with the American decision
to fight for Korea.
Defended independence.
"In Korea, we. along with
others. joined in the defense of
an independent government
which was already resisting an
armed assault" Mr.. Dulles said.
I'VE did so at the request of the
Republic of Korea and under
United Nations mandate.
In Indo-China. the situa-
ton is different and far more
(See DULLES, Page A-4.)