The Opening Bell in Laosby John T
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The focus in Southeast Asia would soon shift to Vietnam, but in 1961, Laos was front and center. The Opening Bell in LaosBy John T. Correll Photo via Vietnam News Agency A Pathet Lao unit listens to one of its members read a letter of commendation from its commander. he first crisis John F. Kennedy Eisenhower stated, “If Laos should fall March 23, using a backdrop of three maps faced as President was in Laos. to the communists, then it would be just with red markings showing how much On Jan. 19, 1961, the day before a question of time until South Vietnam, territory the Pathet Lao had captured in his inauguration, he met with his Cambodia, Thailand, and Burma would the previous six months. predecessor, Dwight D. Eisen- collapse.” Eisenhower acknowledged he “It’s quite obvious that if the commu- Thower, in the White House. was passing on a dangerous “mess” and nists were able to move in and dominate Eisenhower and his aides brought Ken- told Kennedy, “You might have to go in this country, it would endanger the security nedy and his advisors up to date on the there and fight it out.” of and the peace of all Southeast Asia,” he civil war in Laos where government forces Things went from bad to worse. said, and that “no one should doubt our were on the verge of being overwhelmed By March, communist forces, supported resolution” for the independence of Laos. by the combined strength of the communist by Soviet airlift and supplies, threatened Historian Lawrence Freedman, in the rebels—the Pathet Lao—and their North the royal Laotian capital at Luang Prabang book Kennedy’s Wars, noted the crisis Vietnamese allies. and the seat of government at Vientiane. “tends to be forgotten because it was According to Clark Clifford, who Kennedy disclosed the scope of the eventually subsumed into the larger was taking notes for the Kennedy team, problem in a televised press conference Vietnam problem and did not result in 62 AIR FORCE Magazine / December 2012 he said. “Patriotism in Laos is at best a furious regionalism.” The shape of Laos has been likened to a pork chop, which is symbolic of the way it has been traditionally seen by others. At the time, Laos had boundaries with six neighboring nations that used Laos freely for their own purposes. At best, it served as a buffer zone between the more powerful nations that surrounded Staff illustration by Zaur Eylanbekov it. Laos had no strategic value in its own right. US Secretary of State Dean Rusk called it “the wart on the hog of Vietnam.” Laos had been a French protectorate since 1893, but colonial rule was inter- rupted by the Japanese occupation in World War II. When the Japanese left, the vice- roy, Prince Phetsarath Rattanavongsa—a member of the junior branch of the royal family and acting Prime Minister—de- clared independence, and the national assembly deposed the king. In 1946, French troops from reoccupied Vietnam parachuted into Laos, overcame Laos served mainly as a buffer zone between her more powerful and antagonistic the ill-trained Laotian forces, and restored neighboring nations. the king in a constitutional monarchy any direct American military commit- in Indochina, which once consisted of within the French Union. Phetsarath went ments, but until the last few months of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. into exile, but his two younger brothers, his life, it took up more of Kennedy’s who were part of his short-lived govern- time than Vietnam.” Land of the Pork Chop ment, would dominate Laotian politics Special Counsel and Kennedy confidant The kingdom of Laos existed for 600 for the next 30 years. Ted Sorensen agreed. “During his first two years, but was a cohesive nation in name Prince Souvanna Phouma was Phetsar- months in office, Kennedy devoted more only. Most of it was mountainous, with ath’s minister of public works and Prince time and task force studies to this subject the open and level ground lying mainly Souphanouvong was commander of the than to any other,” he said. around the Plain of Jars in the middle of armed forces. Souvanna Phouma would Eventually, a cease-fire and an inter- the country and along the Mekong River be Prime Minister four times between national agreement at Geneva brought a on the border with Thailand. There were 1951 and 1975. He was an engineer, edu- façade of stability to Laos, and Kennedy no seaports, no railroads, and no paved cated in France, was courtly, westernized, was able to turn his attention to other mat- roads in the hinterlands. The remote vil- pragmatic, and steady. His destiny, Fall ters, including Vietnam. In actuality, the lages had little interest in other parts of said, was “that of being an intermediary fighting in Laos continued with the United the country or in the distant government between irreconcilable extremes.” States deeply involved in both clandestine in Vientiane. Souphanouvong, the “Red Prince,” and conventional conflicts. The US Air “Laos is neither a geographic nor was Souvanna’s half-brother, but his Force flew its last combat mission in Laos an ethnic or social entity, but merely a mother was a commoner unlike Souvanna’s in April 1973, almost three months after political convenience,” said Bernard B. mother, who was of royal blood. He was the cease-fire in Vietnam. Fall, war correspondent and historian of more accomplished than Souvanna in The crisis of 1961 had its roots in the the conflicts in Indochina. There was an many respects but his abilities were less breakup of the French colonial empire “absence of a feeling of national unity,” recognized. When he returned from France with an engineering degree of his own, he was insulted by the low-paying job he was offered. He went to Vietnam where he spent the World War II years and met Ho Chi Minh, leader of the communist Viet Minh, who became his patron. After the French returned, Souvanna Phouma worked within the system and was chosen Prime Minister for the first time in 1951. Souphanouvong joined forces with the Viet Minh who were fighting the French in Vietnam. In 1950, he founded the communist Pathet Lao and established his stronghold in the rugged northeastern Boun Oum Souvanna Phouma Prince Souphanouvong province of Sam Neua. AIR FORCE Magazine / December 2012 63 The United States did not approve of colonialism but sided with the French because of concerns about the spread of communism. The Eisenhower Adminis- tration, like the Truman Administration before it, was under pressure not to make deals with the communists in Indochina. White House photo by Cecil Stoughton Dominoes and Coups At a news conference on April 7, 1954, Eisenhower proclaimed the “Domino Theory”—which became the basis for US policy until the end of the Vietnam War 20 years later. “You have broader considerations that might follow what you would call the ‘falling domino’ principle,” Eisenhower said. “You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly.” French rule of Indochina came to a crashing end with the Viet Minh victory at Dien Bien Phu in May 1954. In July, an international conference in Geneva imposed a settlement, partitioning Viet- nam and declaring Laos and Cambodia independent. The United States was not President John Kennedy uses a color graphic at a press conference on March 23, a signatory to the accord but agreed to 1961. He didn’t make public at the time that a US contingency force was on alert in Asia, or that 300 marines and 16 B-26 bombers were covertly positioned in Thailand. abide by it and supported the Royal Laotian Army with a cash subsidy and Souvanna and Kong Le joined in a part- was Phoumi, who retained portfolios as covert military advice. The CIA was nership with the Pathet Lao and obtained deputy Prime Minister and minister of active in Laos from 1955 forward. “The airlift support from the Soviet Union. On defense. Kong Le established a new base Eisenhower Administration spent some Dec. 8, Souvanna relieved the headstrong of operations on the Plain of Jars. $300 million and five years in the hope- Kong Le from command but the next day, As 1960 began, the situation had de- less effort to convert Laos into a clearly Kong Le deposed Souvanna. However, volved into a multisided civil war. The pro-western, formally anti-communist Souvanna refused to resign and departed main battleground was the Plain of Jars, a military outpost on the borders of Red into exile, and a leftist minister was ap- rolling grassland 500 square miles, where China and North Vietnam,” Sorensen said. pointed to replace him. hundreds of ancient stone jars dotted the The resilient Souvanna Phouma was Phoumi chased Kong Le out of Vientiane landscape. named Prime Minister for the second Dec. 16 and set up a new government time in 1956 and established a coalition with yet another Laotian prince, Boun Kennedy’s Options including Souphanouvong and the Pathet Oum, as Prime Minister. The real power The meeting with Eisenhower was not Lao. The rising communist influence led Kennedy’s first knowledge of the Laotian the United States to cut off financial aid crisis. It was covered along with other and in 1958, Souvanna was forced out. national security issues in sessions with Between December 1959 and Decem- his transition team. “Whatever’s going to ber 1960, the government changed hands happen in Laos, an American invasion, a repeatedly in a series of coups and coun- communist victory, or whatever, I wish tercoups.