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said. So I think that whatever records there are of NSC meetings before that, that they may not have kept such records in detail. And that meeting -- if you can find any meeting that Mr. Johnson took the notes of just prior to that, that is probably the meeting.

Mr. Baron. So you would assume that the language used by the President, heard by Mr. Johnson, which indicated to Mr. Johnson that an assassination was at the least acceptable means of getting rid of Lumumba, is probably the language referred to here by Mr. Dulles?

Mr. Dillon. It would sound so, seems so.

Mr. Baron. And would you also assume, from your knowledge of Special Group meetings and the way the minutes were written up, that very straightforward action could be a euphemism for assassination?

Mr. Dillon. No, I wouldn't necessarily think that. It would just mean strong action to do something to get rid of Lumumba, it could be a revolution, it could be anything. I think it comes here that they would not necessarily rule out consideration of any particular activity. I would think, if they were really going to mount something, they probably would have come back to the Group. But they might not have. And again, getting back to Mr. Dulles, I do not think he would have gone back to the President and said, now, I have got the capability to assassinate Lumumba, and I am going to do it.

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