Memorandum from Rear Admiral R. H. Hillenkoetter to President Harry S. Truman, with Attachments

ER 0-2541 CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WASHINGTON 25, D. C. 21 December 1948 MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT Dutch military action was instituted in Indonesia on 18 December, one half-hour after a Netherlands Government repre- sentative in Indonesia had informed the Chairman of the UN Good Offices Committee (GOC) of his Government's intention to terminate the Renville truce agreement with the Republic. Dutch forces are now establishing military control over Republican areas in Sumatra and Java. Members of the GOC in Batavia (US Representative Cochran and the deputy Australian representative) immediately forwarded a report which asked for prompt Security Council action. They charged that the Netherlands Government had not fulfilled its obligations under the Renville agreement because it had failed to inform all members of the GOC of the contemplated action and, by cutting telegraphic communications, had made it impossible to inform the Republic. The Security Council is sche- duled to hear the case on 22 December. Dutch Motives The Netherlands Government has described its military action as a move to re-establish peace and security in all Indonesia and to eliminate terrorist and irresponsible elements. Actually, the Dutch are motivated largely by the conviction that an interim Indonesian Government under firm Dutch control must be established as soon as possible. They do not really believe that the Communist movement in Indonesia repre- sents a threat of such magnitude as to require action on the present scale. However, in order to establish an Indonesian Government under Dutch control the Dutch must forcibly eliminate the Repub- lic as a de facto government in view of: (a) the apparent impossibility of settling Dutch-Republican differences on Dutch terms; (b) the Dutch fear that the Netherlands Government could not maintain control over an interim government in which the Re- public was represented; and (c) the difficulty of establishing such an interim government without Republic representation. Moreover, the Netherlands Government believes that maximum economic benefits can only be realized by restoring Dutch control over Republican- held areas. No Change In Class. Declassified Class. Changed to: TS S C Next Reviow Date: RECORES co Auth.: HR 70-2 Date: 26 APR 82 By: 103430