Nixon & Kissinger on Vietnam War and Laos

4:38:17That's all right.
4:39:26because the North Vietnamese are not limited by troops, by mass hours.
4:39:31They're limited by the difficulty of access.
4:39:34And, uh, and, uh, take that profit itself by putting the Chinese in there.
4:39:43If we went north, if we landed in Hong Kong, or if we landed in Vinh, or something like that, then it's conceivable.
4:39:56I don't think that the presence of consensus had come in.
4:40:07But if I had a duty now, yeah.
4:40:10Oh, they moved back in, didn't they?
4:40:11Oh, yeah.
4:40:11They practically don't make it in time in the future because they're part of the intelligence.
4:40:16And they're so confused or they're walking out of their community.
4:40:20No, that's what they're going to do.
4:40:23Well, now they're pretty sure what it is, and they're moving it whenever they can.
4:40:33Well, they're still pulling some.
4:40:35They're not moving anyone from the coast.
4:40:38But again, they tried one, and they're trying another one tonight.
4:40:44They did one, but they're doing another one tonight.
4:40:51Now, some people scream that that's a violation of the understanding.
4:40:54I'm sorry.
4:40:57Yeah.
4:40:58Because they're technically part of me.
4:41:00But I mean, because they think that he did violate the understanding of me with that.
4:41:19Oh, I see.
4:41:21I see.
4:41:21And they're probably in the sand.
4:41:24Yeah, but all the tax would sell for most of the time.
4:41:31What are they going to do?
4:41:33They're going to fix this.
4:41:35In fact, they claimed they sank eight ships last time.
4:41:43I don't know if that's true.
4:41:44Well, they've got one more schedule.
4:41:47It's already open.
4:41:48I am.
4:41:48That's all that's authorized me to do.
4:41:49What's your reaction?
4:41:50Well, I'm here with people of Western Interest.
4:41:53They all feel the same.
4:41:54I've seen them thrive.
4:41:55They're not good at it.
4:41:55I haven't seen any of these players.
4:41:59Well, they have a little bit of copy, but I have practiced with them this morning.
4:42:03Oh, you've seen them?
4:42:04Yeah.
4:42:04I have practiced with them.
4:42:05I've seen some of them.
4:42:09You've seen some of them?
4:42:11Yeah.
4:42:12Laird is a funny guy.
4:42:13He's numerous like a main character in this film.
4:42:15Sorry, Laird.
4:42:16You can taste it.
4:42:17And he's also loyal to you.
4:42:17Very nice.
4:42:19So I, uh... Well, he is, he's a...
4:42:22I rather like him, yeah.
4:42:27He's a rascal, but I'm going for a rascal.
4:42:34I didn't do it.
4:42:35I'm listening now.
4:42:35I've got it.
4:42:36I'm listening.
4:42:37I'm listening.
4:42:49For us, you can call this thing, sucker, get out of there.
4:42:51But the key would be, I guess it's not that we want the drugs, you know, it's not that we have to lose an election, but we're going to have to lose this war.
4:43:03That's my view.
4:43:05My view is that we're going to have to allow this.
4:43:11I thought the weather had been on and on for the next three days.
4:43:16It's expected to be perfect.
4:43:18It's perfect now.
4:43:20And they're sounding them.
4:43:22They're putting every 52 they've got in there.
4:43:25They're putting tracks there.
4:43:26They're pounding them around the block.
4:43:28Well, there's the grounder, and we've got it.
4:43:42I think 150 yards of the, of the front line crew.
4:43:44And, uh, those other enemies, they're running on these, uh, and it's going to be awfully tough for them to take this problem.
4:44:00They, they took it as an obvious case, actually, years ago today.
4:44:03And they're going to run for us.
4:44:08And we're going to have to shoot up a lot of their troops.
4:44:12That's going to be, if it's still done, I don't know if the press is going to try to cut it out.
4:44:16The main event should be over.
4:44:19And if they are, if they keep their hopes cut, they are going to tell them the club operation is going extremely well.
4:44:29Yes, everybody's free.
4:44:30That's what I heard.
4:44:44But if they would roll over and fly that 10 miles from their point, then this is completely true.
4:44:51On the other hand, all of the units are going to lose up there.
4:44:59He does not feel ready to put an event like this next year or later this year.
4:45:10The future itself is East by 12.
4:45:13They're going to be standing here for years to come.
4:45:18I guess if they fight well, North Vietnam can never be North Vietnam.
4:45:22Never.
4:45:23Because North South Vietnam has more people than North.
4:45:26That's more equipment for us.
4:45:27Those three members will be at the end of the supply line.
4:45:31If the other people work against it.
4:46:213,000 are in reserve, so that's April 4th is an active reserve, whatever.
4:46:27And then there's another division he's got in reserve, too.
4:46:33We've just got to stay cool now and shove in whatever reserves are needed.
4:46:37It's going to be tough, and we'll need the strong will the next few weeks of the panicky moment.
4:46:45But I think, having paid the drives, we ought to stay in there now, isn't it?
4:46:49Look at the energy, just look at the energy from the stars.
4:46:51And just shoot them up.
4:47:01We got it all taken in terms of being able to stay at home.
4:47:09And Moro gave me some statistics today of helicopter losses.
4:47:12But actually they lost only six more helicopters.
4:47:19I wonder if...
4:47:20I wonder if...
4:47:38Yes, sir.
4:47:39They took a trip up and said, you know, this is kind of all getting together and going at this time.
4:47:44They aren't all going together here.
4:47:46And so it's quite a lot.
4:47:49What I'm beginning to think, who I'm going to go for, who I'm going to take to common is this one.
4:47:53They're all going to Santa.
4:47:55And I think I'm going to go to Santa.
4:47:59That's great.
4:47:59So he's got his staff and Helter, who used to be on my staff for three months.
4:48:03He was...
4:48:06which is chief aide of our maintenance.
4:48:08And at some moment, I heard some memos that Halpern wrote for me.
4:48:11He was trying to butter me up.
4:48:13He is John Halpern, your kid.
4:48:14Son of a bitch.
4:48:16What can I do?
4:48:17I find Halpern is alive.
4:48:22He must be just a man who played in peace.
4:48:24I know he must be pure, and I think he's a man who played his core down in the war.
4:48:37He's certainly not in charge of policy research, which is what he thought he was going to be.
4:48:47And I don't think Lake is, A, he's in the heavy, B, his knowledge is not very out of date.
4:48:54Helga doesn't have any inside knowledge anyway, because he was across the street writing think-tanks.
4:48:59For me, he didn't even see any documents.
4:49:04As I said, I'll get rid of him in July 69.
4:49:06But Halton is probably the saddest of the list.
4:49:15I know.
4:49:15I heard that he is.
4:49:19I don't know.
4:49:32That is a tragedy.
4:49:33At one stage, I thought God meant it, but potential, so I took care of it.
4:49:35Uh, here in your house, it's a tragedy.
4:49:36It's hard to get in.
4:49:37It's got to be smoking.
4:49:37It's hard to get in.
4:49:38I said it yesterday.
4:49:40It's over there today.
4:49:41It won't be in the water.
4:49:43You can't help it.
4:49:44It's here in the house.
4:49:48It's just a bunch of slime.
4:49:51You can't stop it.
4:49:52It's here in the mouth.
4:49:55Two sides.
4:49:55You can't do that.
4:49:56I think it's got to be in the water.
4:49:58I said it yesterday.
4:49:59It's going to be in the water.
4:50:00It's going to be in the mouth.
4:50:01You can't help it.
4:50:03And so, you know, to say your policy is a policy that leads to more war, what is their alternative?
4:50:10If they have the guts to say, don't get out, but then they don't have the guts to say, I may have guts to...
4:50:35It's a pity to see a man of this kind in a covered house.
4:50:39Henry's in New York.
4:50:41You've got to see him financially.
4:50:45I have noticed that thanks to Paul, he tried to sign his financing of Stein.
4:50:49It's a way left, you know.
4:50:51Yeah.
4:50:52How exciting it is against his past since 2011.
4:50:54These other investments he made, he's got two.
4:50:58Paul Stein, isn't that amazing?
4:51:00Here's Stein, one of the richest men in the country.
4:51:03He's in 2011.
4:51:10Oh, yeah.
4:51:48And, uh, the, uh, the, uh, the, uh, the, uh,
4:52:06I can see it all over this government.
4:55:27I don't think this is the time.
4:55:29I think we're going to be lost.
4:55:30That's what I think.
4:55:31I think we're just a piece of this.
4:55:32We're a piece of this.
4:55:34You know, I just want to give you a little test here.
4:55:36I'm sorry.
4:55:37Come on.
4:55:38You know, I can't do a test.
4:55:39You know what I mean?
4:55:40Yes.
4:55:40I'm sorry.
4:56:23And I told Sandler this, I said, I love you, but... And I said, but can you really feel that it's different?
4:56:31Democracy in this country wouldn't be taught to me.
4:56:35He asked me, wouldn't you?
4:56:37I said, the thing you never get that it's for is you've kept it right in this country related to this, to the government.
4:56:49We're in all normal situations.
4:56:54had to do this difficult thing.
4:56:58And so you'll still turn out to be the best protection of the students who are riding against you, even though they'll never thank you for it.
4:57:09Because the alternative to you in 1960 was not a liberal Democrat, but a Wallace or a Reagan.

Nixon & Kissinger on Vietnam War and Laos

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Nixon Library Finding Aid

Also recorded on February 18, 1971

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