In March, Secretary of State Acheson, with customary candor, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: “We do not want to get into a position where the French say, ‘You take over; we aren’t able to go ahead with this.’ We want the French to stay there.… The French have got to carry [the burden] in Indochina, and we are willing to help, but not to substitute for them.” Acheson cautioned the lawmakers that “the thing we want to be careful about is that we do not press the French to the point where they say, ‘All right, take over the damned country. We don’t want it,’ and put their soldiers on
...more
