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8. In stating certain implementing actions to the current military posture of the United States, the Joint Chiefs of Staff stated :

""Certain other countries such as Indochina, to which the United States has no specific commitment, are of such importance to the United states that an attack on them probably would compel the United States to react with military force either locally at the point of attack or generally against the military power of the aggressor.""

It is considered that the rest of the Southeast Asian countries are included in the above category.

9. In view of the above, the United States should adopt the concept of offensive actions against the "military power of the aggressor," in this instance Communist China, rather than the concept of "reaction locally at the point of attack," which is the thesis of the action outlined in paragraphs 5 and 6 above.

10. The force requirements and the logistic support for the operations envisaged in paragraph 9 above are being considered but have not been fully developed. However, it is felt that adoption of this concept would provide a more acceptable return for the manpower and resources expended than would be the case in the concept of a static defense.

11. Up on the decision to implement either one or the other of these courses of action, it would be necessary to insure the degree of mobilization required to take care of the increased possibility of a general war.

Enclosure Rh