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A summary of our present policy and of the proposed policy contained in NSC 124 is annexed. (Tab A),

The Joint Chiefs of Staff have submitted eight pages of comments, including an Annex, which have been circulated to the Council. The primary points made by the JCS are:

1. NSC 124 involves the making of a single, basic decision, which is political in its nature, i.e., whether or not the United States would be willing to take military action which would in affect constitute war against Communist-China to prevent Southeast Asia from passing into the Communist orbit. They propose in effect that the NSC affirm this willingness in order to provide the basis for determining the cost of the courses of action in terms of men, money, material, impact on the U.S. economy and upon U.S. military assistance programs.

2. The JCS report that their preliminary discussions with the Chiefs of Staff of the UK and France indicate that both are opposed to the concept of action against Communist-China other than that limited to the area of or approaches to the land battle in opposition to the aggressor forces.

3. The JCS believe that such limitations of the military action would result in the action being defensive in character and at best indecisive and indefinite in duration. They recommend solely from the point of view of military operations that in order to offer a chance of success military operations in defense against Chinese-Communist invasion of French Indochina, Thailand, and/or Burma must be accompanied by military action against the sources of that aggression, namely, Communist-China itself. The JCS concede that this course of action night result in a long war and an expensive one, at least materiel-wise.

4. The JCS therefore insist that the U.S. must be accorded freedom of action and if possible support in the undertaking of appropriate military action to include action against Communist-China itself. Failing such freedom of action, the U.S. should accept the possibility of the loss of mainland Southeast Asia. The JCS oppose the use of U.S. ground forces in SEA and oppose joining a combined military command of the defense of those countries.

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