ABSTRACT
President Eisenhower, in a speech setting forth what has remained American policy in Viet-Nam for a decade, declared on April 7: "The loss of Indochina will cause the fall of Southeast Asia like a set of dominoes." A Guernica-type, single large-scale raid, which could perhaps even be carried out at night and by American aircraft bearing French insignia, was considered the operation most likely to avoid severe diplomatic repercussions. The conflict was resolved by the President himself in a characteristic compromise: He accepted the Arthur B. Radford plan of a Guernica-type raid—but only if the American position was supported by "other allies". The overwhelming majority of senators of both parties were against American military intervention in Indochina as early as mid-April, 1954. According to one of the best American press reports, written by Chalmers M. Roberts for The Washington Post of June 7, 1954, the later Sir Anthony Eden version, as well as Life's, was substantially correct.
