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5. The Joint Chiefs of Staff share the view of the US DEL that once armistice proposals are made the French would rapidly move toward acceptance of the probable Communist counterproposal of an immediate cease-fire. Should the United States associate itself with the French initial proposal, the United States would in all likelihood be confronted subsequently with the painful alternatives of continuing to support the French through retrogressive positions or of extricating itself at some point along the way.

6. The Joint Chiefs of Staff agree that it is no longer realistic to insist that the French continue aggressively to prosecute the Navarre Plan. At the same time, they adhere to their view that no satisfactory settlement is possible without a substantial improvement in the French Union military situation, and that, in the absence of a settlement which would reasonably assure the political and territorial integrity of the Associated States, any armistice entered into would inevitably lead to the eventual loss of that area to Communist control.

Rh