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lose their nationality: but they say that it was demonstrated to their satisfaction that the particular steel purchased for South Vietnam had been manufactured in Singapore. They still seem to incline to the view that this particular story may have had an element of Soviet I.R.D.-work in it.
6. Finally, on the subject of procurement, I might perhaps make one more point about all these stories which seems very obvious here but may perhaps not come to mind elsewhere. Anong the main heado of steam behind allegations of this sort are, quite simply, the protectionist lobbies in Congress. In particular, the steel producers here hate the idea of cheep non-American steel being used in Vietnam (or anywhere else for that matter). It is a basic instinct to decorate this interest with trappings of patriotism, and allegations that anything bought elsewhere than in America is helping the enemy, by some indirect means or other. The whole concept of "off-shore procurement" was very much under fire during the recent sustained (and vicious) attack on the appointment of Rutherford Poats, previously in charge of the Vietnam programmes with A.I.D., as Deputy Administrator of the whole A.Ï.D. In that case the patriotic allegations tended to be couched more in terms of letting our boys down by administrative mismanagement of the Vietnam aid programme, allowing too many aid goods to get into the black market (or thence to the Viet Cong), and so on. But it was no coincidence that the campaign waɛ led (and almost waged single-handed) by a senator from Indiana, whose con- stituents are heavy steel producers.
7. I am sending copies of this letter to Elliott in Hong Kong, Carter in the Commonwealth Office, Whitney in Paking and Waterstone in South East Asia Department.
(B. T. Gilmore)
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