[Coun]cil of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization issued a communique declaring the defeat of the Viet Cong essential to Southeast Asia's security and underscoring the necessity for SEATO nations to fulfill their treaty obligations. McGeorge Bundy, Presidential Assistant for National Security Affairs, in a related memorandum dated 25 May, recommended that a high-level Southeast Asia strategy conference be convoked to consult with the SEATO allies of the United States in order to obtain specific force commitments. This proposal of a SEATO conference–a conference that was never held–was the last official attempt to place Free World assistance under the aegis of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization. Certain members, especially France, were growing more antipathetic to American policy in Vietnam; hence, when the issue of Free World support for South Vietnam surfaced again in December 1964, it was discussed outside the context of SEATO commitments.
When troop commitments to South Vietnam were further discussed at a White House meeting on 1 December 1964, U.S. objectives were reiterated: first, to end Democratic Republic of Vietnam support of Viet Cong operations in South Vietnam; second, to maintain the security of other non-Communist nations in Southeast Asia; and third, to re-establish an independent and secure South Vietnam. The meeting resolved also that aid be sought from "key allies." Thailand was to be asked to support the U.S. program and intensify its own counterinsurgency efforts in Thailand. Prime Minister J. Harold Wilson of England was to be briefed on the U.S. position and his support sought. William P. Bundy of the State Department was to ask Australia and New Zealand for additional help as well as consideration of the possibility of sending small combat units when and if the United States moved to the second phase of its strategy of increasing military pressure against the enemy. The Philippines were to be asked for a commitment of approximately 1,800 men. The conferees decided to press generally and strongly for more outside aid.
A memorandum for the chief of staff of U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV), implementing the 1 December White House decision, specifically stated that "Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines should be encouraged to provide combat advisory personnel now and, in event of U.S. troop deployment in RVN, to provide combatant units to reinforce DMZ Defense."
