Undercover Armies - CIA FOIA - Central Intelligence Agency

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Siboravong died in the helicopter crash in August 1965 that also killed his
CIA adviser" ==-::J and the RTA team leader.
I Ito represent CIA in the northwest, at the jo i nt r'--',---:'~--"'....-'
headquarters recently moved from Xieng Lom to Nam Yu. professional
skills could not compensate for the leadership vacuum created by Siboravong's
death, which was followed by corruption and reduced military
effectiveness. Fortunately for the political and military balance in the northwest,
the communists did not fully exploit their advantage. A subsidiary sector
for both sides, it continued for the rest of the war to see inconclusive skirmishing
and sporadic efforts by the adversaries to enlist the support of the multiethnic
civilian population." D
[ ,had had more than one reason to accommodate General Ouane's
request for help for the so-called Armee Clandestine. In addition to securing
coopera tion in the village defense program, it wanted to blunt the general's
capacity for mischiefmaking with the prime minister. In early June 1964, just
after Souvanna had denounced North Vietnamese aggression and asked for
more tactical air support, his chronic mistrust of the United States and of the
Hmong flared up in a confrontation with Ambassador Unger. Souvanna complained
that the Hmong were defying direction by the FAR command, and O
[Jsaw in this the ambitious hand of General Ouane, and perhaps also of
the French-ever-jealous of their fading influence in Indochina-and Vang
Pao's clan rival Touby Lyfoung. 72 i - J
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