DOCUMENT 1. Secretary of State Dean Acheson's Statement of U.S. Indochina Policy, May 22,1950.

. . . We have noted the fact that the problem of meeting the threat to the security of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos which now
enjoy independence within the French Union is primarily the responsibility of France and the Governments and peoples of
Indochina. The United States recognizes that the solution of the Indochina problem depends both upon the restoration of
security and upon the development of genuine nationalism and that United States assistance can and should contribute to these
major objectives.
The United States Government, convinced that neither national independence nor democratic evolution exists in any area
dominated by Soviet imperialism, considers the situation to be such as to warrant its according economic aid and military
equipment to the Associated States of Indochina and to France in order to assist them in restoring stability and permitting these
states to pursue their peaceful and democratic development.
 

SOURCE: Department of State Bulletin. No. 22. May 22, 1950. p. 821.