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military intervention in Southeast Asia with military counteraction. Whether or not the four other powers will join the US in such a warring is beyond the scope of this estimate. We are also unable to assess which of various conceivable methods of transmitting a warning would have the greatest deterrent effect.

1. We do not believe that a joint warning against an "identifiable military intervention" by the Chinese Communists in Southeast Asia would tend to provoke such intervention. If, however, the Chinese Communists contemplate an early "identifiable military intervention" in Southeast Asia, or if in the future they should contemplate such an intervention, a joint warning by the five powers would tend to deter them.

2. Even in the absence of a joint formal warning, the Chinese Communists probably estimate that "identifiable

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