Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 017-102
Date: Sunday, December 26, 1971 at 12:12 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Moorer, Thomas H. (Adm.)
Recording device: White House Telephone
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/017-102

This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:00] Mr. President, Admiral Moore is on the line.
[0:04] Ready.
[0:06] Hello.
[0:07] Good morning, Mr. President.
[0:07] Merry Christmas.
[0:08] Merry Christmas to you.
[0:09] Did you have a good one?
[0:10] Yes, sir.
[0:10] Thank you.
[0:11] I had my family here.
[0:11] I hope you saw that game.
[0:13] I did.
[0:14] Wasn't that fantastic?
[0:15] Terrific, yes, sir.
[0:16] That's probably the best one.
[0:17] I mean, well, they're always the best, but the only thing I'd do if I were having that playoff role, I think it's a mistake for them to have it on the sudden death thing because it makes it basically so...
[0:31] unlike football and so conventional everybody plays it's a safer fair of an error they really ought to play a third quarter a fifth quarter and then they'd you know you'd have all the excitement of both teams going for broke again you know right I think it might be well we might have that again today yeah oh my no god I hope the Washington well they got a chance the strike got off all right did it last night yes the strike got off Mr. President but uh the weather's bad it is yes sir we had a uh a shift in the uh uh
[1:01] front there and the weather is bad.
[1:03] You mean they had to make the strike in bad weather?
[1:06] Yes, they did about half of it.
[1:08] Oh, I see.
[1:09] Well, actually, they didn't do half of it.
[1:11] They did just about the first wave.
[1:13] Now, we're standing by to go again.
[1:14] Did it look pretty good?
[1:16] Did the first wave get something or we did some damage, I hope?
[1:18] Yes, sir.
[1:19] We got two good targets.
[1:21] What were they?
[1:22] What kind of targets?
[1:24] Well, they were a
[1:27] transshipment point, I think.
[1:30] The other was apparently P.O.L.
[1:33] It was a big explosion.
[1:35] But the weather really turned bad on us.
[1:38] And we really had a break on that.
[1:40] You know, we've been ready to go to this damn thing for two weeks now, and they just can't get it off.
[1:44] That's right, sir.
[1:45] Now, that other thing, you know, the boat thing is going.
[1:48] It will go
[1:51] Probably right now.
[1:53] No, by the South Vietnamese?
[1:54] Yes, sir.
[1:55] You think that'll harass them a little, huh?
[1:57] Yes, sir, because we're going to use their weapons against them.
[2:02] You know, the captured weapons.
[2:03] Oh, is that right?
[2:05] Yes, sir.
[2:05] And that was the idea, to fire back something that we captured from them.
[2:09] Is that right?
[2:09] Good.
[2:11] But we're just standing on standby here now, and I'll find out again, and we're going to press ahead as hard as we can.
[2:18] I know what your objectives are here.
[2:20] Well, of course, the problem is that there's times running out on us, you know, and we get beyond a certain point as we get right into the China thing where we can't... Well, tomorrow we're going to... Or it could be tonight, actually.
[2:36] Yeah.
[2:36] The weather continues like it is now.
[2:38] We're going to go instruments on a lot of those targets.
[2:42] Can you do that?
[2:43] We can on some of them, yes, with a lot of, you know, like POL storages and...
[2:49] things of that kind.
[2:50] But this being a last opportunity, everybody's all primed and cocked.
[2:54] We're going to do our very best.
[2:56] Okay.
[2:57] Okay, fine.
[2:58] Well, I hope that... We're keeping a situation in the room.
[3:02] Oh, I know.
[3:03] I know that's fine.
[3:04] I just want to show you that I'm watching it.
[3:06] Sure, sure.
[3:08] I know.
[3:08] I know what you want.
[3:09] Well, the main thing is, as I say, we...
[3:11] I just know it's a last opportunity, and I just, we want to weaken them as much as we can before we have to, you know, we'll be in a position that we're just going to be there getting out, and that's not going to be very good.
[3:21] Yes, sir.
[3:22] We did, well, we think we've lost one airplane.
[3:26] That's not bad.
[3:27] We don't have 10 occasions yet.
[3:29] Well, one would be, I would be, you'd expect that, wouldn't you?
[3:32] Oh, yes, sir.
[3:34] Yes, sir.
[3:34] Because they, as you know, they've increased the double air...
[3:38] missile firings, missile batteries from about 22 down in the area we're in, plus about, I imagine, 30 anti-aircraft regiments, too.
[3:48] Right, right.
[3:49] We're going to go after them just as hard as we can, I assure you.
[3:52] Good, I know that.
[3:52] Okay, bye.
[3:53] Thank you for calling.
[3:54] Bye.