Word: seato
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...hint of a big stick-a warning that, in spite of all the hazards of warfare and the possibility of another Korea, the U.S. would fight if necessary to keep the Reds from overrunning Laos. The troops were ready, and Secretary of State Rusk was at the SEATO conference in Bangkok to rally the U.S.'s allies (see following story...
...Task Force commander, Weller can also call on a considerable phalanx of Southeast Asian forces both inside and out of SEATO. The Thais have a sharp, U.S.-trained cadre of 90,000 soldiers equipped with M-1 rifles, and a good air force with F-86s. South Viet Nam's 150,000-man defense force is available, and so is Cambodia's army of 28,000, the tough Philippines' of 50,000, and Pakistan's soldiery numbering 160,000. Poised for take-off in Malaya are the 2,500 members of Britain's crack Commonwealth...
Angry and fearful over President Kennedy's dallying in the Laotian crisis, a few SEATO members want Secretary of State Rusk to travel to Asian capitals and reassure them personally that the U.S. has their interests at heart. While it is true that the basic issue behind it--whether SEATO can work out a Laos policy all its members will accept--is pressing, their request for Rusk in person is unfortunate and smacks of a recent era in diplomacy when junketing was thought an adequate substitute for solid diplomatic achievement. It should not be heeded...
Rusk can do in Washington exactly what he can do in Bangkok. And by staying home, he will not raise hopes and expectations that a speedy resolution to the SEATO division is possible. In the months to come, there will be other such crises and similar cries for him and Kennedy to bring salvation in a travelling kit. If the Kennedy administration really means to lay things on the line to the people, then it had better not start by re-introducing personal diplomacy...
...Asia Treaty Organization in dealing with the Communist-backed insurrection in Laos. Reporters were startled, and Nhouy hastily explained: "We simply wanted to reassure our people that we have friendly nations with us. Foreigners in Vientiane have been digging trenches, and the population is worried. So we appealed to SEATO to put the people at their ease." Well, did the government want SEATO to intervene or not? "Of course not," said Nhouy. "If SEATO intervened, there would be a world war, and nobody wants that. Laos would become a battlefield...