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WP ~l!CRE I I would then agree that, with limited additional help from DOD, we could train a maximum of 1,200 and commit them along the line outlined during the 16 November meeting. Even our present scope of op- erations, however, continues to be en- dangered by the gambit that Mr. Mann and Mr. Merchant are engaged with in the [State] "Working Group. II I cannot empha- size this too strongly: if we are re- quired to evacuate Guatemala for reasons of high policy or because of the situation, the project will be seriously damaged unless we have immediately available real estate where these people can be put to work. 13/ Some relief would be provided for the ground training program with the opening up of Alejos finca near San Jose, but the adequacy of the training facil- ities for the ground forces would continue to plague JMARC through the course of the project. Moreover, even though the discussions concerning plausible deniability reached near fever pitch during the dis- cussions of November 1960, at n9 point did. the Special Group of presidential consultants ever step , forward with a firm recommendation that the United states assume responsibility and so admit. The most persistent advocate of this position was Thomas Mann, of the Department of State, and why his proposals were never pushed more seriously is one of the unresolved - 155 - ~ SECREI