Conversation 700-002

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Because I've now found out that Laird would not let the reports go forward until he had edited them.

And this is the reason why we were 12 hours behind the news

And we can't afford the, we can't afford the, the, it is clear that there's a massive attack.

Oh, we know there is.

They've now got 50 tanks near Dong Ha.

I know this is fine.

This is Abrams instead of the situation in Graham.

which of course you can say.

Of course, I've asked him to.

And of course, the prosecution, he terms they didn't allow grout, disarray, and so forth, and so forth.

I don't think it's that bad.

Nevertheless, I don't know.

G.I.s, they say, are poised in opposition to the war.

And Abrams, or McVie, is saying, the Arabians, taken by surprise, on for Christ's sakes, we're targeting the goddamn intelligence up there.

The military can't cop out on this one, Henry.

The only thing I want to make sure is that Larry's going to say that you're sure that they've had the orders to do that bomb since we came back from China.

Right.

No, he's going to say that because he's been sitting on every attempt to do anything.

No, the opposite is much more.

They have not let over here any disquieting information.

For example, I cannot believe that they did not have the information that they were building out right near the DMZ.

But they were afraid to order an attack.

And, uh, last week, on Thursday, I told Tate this is the attack.

Uh, he called Bruce Lee, that Peacemic General Aid of Lear's.

He said, oh, we just have a lot of alarmist reports.

It wasn't until Saturday midnight that they confirmed to me that this was more than isolated attacks.

I made a fool of myself with Dave Traslow, even, who called me.

And I said, let me just check the Pentagon.

He said they are coming across the PNC.

I checked

Mora and Glade.

You told me the same thing.

I told you the same thing.

We were drawing bases that were under artillery fire.

That's what I told you.

I gave you the information.

Well, there's no reason for us to lose our cool, Henry.

If you lose your cool in the crisis, it'd be the first time you've done anything.

I just want to be sure that they started the bombing attacks or not.

That's what I want to find out.

I have the uneasy feeling

that Laird has called Abrams and told him that his promotion to Chief of Staff is coming, and that he'd better do what Laird tells him.

And because he gave him the authority... What about Laird wanting to lose?

Well, Laird himself isn't so bad, but he has his peacenik general.

Yeah, Percy.

Percy wants to lose.

Basically, he's Clifford's protege, and McNamara's in prison, but above all in prison.

I just sent a message directly to the person who gave it to us right now.

We're not going to let there be witnesses.

You called there this morning?

Yes.

Oh, no.

I'm alive.

You called him and raised some lines.

I called as a matter of fact.

I called you the experience you were interested in meeting.

I raised holy hell.

I asked for that this morning.

And I expect you over here.

And I won't run at all.

I think, Mr. President, you should not call because if they start leaking, you ought to be kept out of it that you ran day-to-day military operations.

No, we've got to run them.

We'll run them.

I'll take care of them.

I'll fight it.

By the end of the day, these guys are going to be shaved up.

I have a 10 o'clock record meeting here.

If you would consider letting me bring in Rush and Mora, say 10.45 for five minutes.

If you could tell them you'll hold them personally responsible or something like that.

Rush won't do anything.

I'll go to Laird.

Well, I'll get Laird under control.

Once Laird knows what's going, that if we go through this, by the end of the day, they'll get it done.

I'll have them shaved up, and I'll get it done.

They'll be attacking by tonight, I guarantee you, if they have to walk over.

There'll be something that he had...

There'll be something.

What in the name of it will cause what the curse is?

Well, I talked to John Ehrlichman this morning, and he asked me what the situation was.

I said, why don't they fly it?

I said, because of the weather.

He said, hell, they flew all over the Battle of the Bulge, dropping bombs during blizzards.

And he's right.

Yep, there's something wrong.

Something wrong here.

That's all right.

It's a loss.

It's just a question.

Oh, it's really...

They're withdrawing, and they're having the attack, and they've got their press.

The press is just reveling.

It's not a...

I didn't program it, but you left the press up there, I see.

There, see, of course, they're reporting that to some of the President and others.

Are you sure that it was the messenger that you sent through the DOD?

Did it get to the knockoff of this business of having the President be carried up there by American helicopters to cover this thing?

I'm sure they're not carried by American helicopters.

I'll check.

But I think, Mr. President, that so far they've lost 10 miles, 15 miles.

This is their new division that was only fourth last year.

It's a third division.

Why the hell do they have a fourth division up there?

No one expected them to come across the TNC in Fort St. Guttivision.

It's protecting Hue and Da Nang.

We've always expected that they might take one or two or three provincial cities.

We could lose Cancun City.

In fact, I expect us to do one.

And we might lose Guantanamo.

But in a way, they're attacking close to the centers of, close to their own border.

Shows how far they've been pushed out.

And I think we shouldn't panic now.

In a way, it's a godsend.

We should give them a tremendous punishment.

I believe...

It's a godsend because they could have done this.

What they've done now, they could do next October.

It would be as good as that now, wouldn't it?

Well, in October, it will be about like now.

It will be the end of today.

Right.

They can do it in October.

It's just as good.

Well, I have it right now.

It's just as well.

We can now precipitate.

I'm going to get the opinion in, and I'm going to tell them.

I'm just going to threaten him with the non-ratification of the Berlin Treaty.

I'm going to say now that this is it.

Mr. President, they can no more afford to not have that summit.

No, that's going to not.

Or as soon as I get them on the phone, they'll get somebody up there to deliver them.

Oh, I see.

I think we could play this into an end of the war.

I think you're right.

I think it's a... Maybe you're right, but I'll tell you, it will, provided this bombing effect we put on is one of the best, is the finest goddamn thing that's ever been done.

Should I get the chiefs in for his help?

No, if you'd just let me bring Mortar in for five minutes, and just tell him you'll accept no excuses, you want a massive effort.

Come on.

That's good.

No, if you get rough and more rough... Yeah, but they need this so that they can say they're carrying out your direct order.

Then Laird won't challenge it.

You get Laird in, he'll give you so much bullshit that you won't ever be...

You know, just take your half an hour to pick up.

I didn't say that.

From either state of defense.

That's coming today.

I've got that.

That's the archive.

We ought to be schooling by coming across the DMC.

That's right.

That prepares the way for our homings.

Exactly.

I've got a meeting with Kelly.

I've got a meeting with Kelly and

I had a meeting with Gary and Ziegler this morning.

I've got McCloskey, Henkin, and Ziegler in right after the Wessig meeting, about 10.45.

What we are going to do, we are going to get State and Defense to say this is a complete abrogation of the Geneva 1954 Accords.

It's a total violation of the 1968 understandings.

They created an anti-aircraft stream on their own soil.

They put all their supply depots on their own soil and they're now in violation of the DMC.

Then Ziegler will confirm it at 3.

We want State of Defense to say it first.

And then State of Defense will say it at noon.

Ziegler will say it at 3.

Warren at 11 this morning is going to make some very general comments so that the departments have been out first.

Well, at least his little heart of mine could seep into the story, something to the effect that we were, that Americans are not involved in it.

That should be, this is a, could be a neighbor who said to me, what does that mean?

And if to no reason, if the island collapses, we've done everything we can to save it.

If the island collapses, that's just a, that's a,

That's the question that we can't even think about because there are collapses and all other things that collapse around here.

If we were going to collapse, we had to do it a year ago.

We can't do it this year, I think.

Yeah, there are going to collapse.

You see what I mean?

We can't take it.

I agree.

That's why we've got to collapse and let the diseases out of us.

We will gain nothing for restraint and defeat.

That's right.

I think if we suck the diseases out of them, we can get to them.

Well, we can get Russia and China to help us, because they cannot want to have this whole thing, but we've got to get them to move now.

Yeah.

And Laird is already saying the 48-hour strike won't be done now until Friday.

We've got to hit Paris.

Why?

Well, partly weather, partly because he says he needs the air assets and the combat zone.

But if we've built enough of a fire under the trees, they'll get it done.

Maybe...

Can wait till Wednesday, but we ought to hit soon.

I'll go and get that briefing now.

Bye.

Well, like I say, let's not talk about what the argument can and can't have.

That's fine with regard to this, but we're playing a much bigger game.

We're playing a Russian game, a Chinese game, an election game, and we're not going to have the argument left.

In other words, this kind of attack is going to hurt us, provided we fight back in the argument.

Mr. President, if I may, I think it would lead to a negotiation.

It was a situation in that.

I've got a sort of stuck, I'm afraid I'm starting to go down to the Kentucky Dwell in the Hunter and Burkitt Airport and back.

I think that's a hell of a poor thing to do right now, isn't it?

I thought I'd mention it at this moment.

Well, let's wait till tomorrow morning and see.

By tomorrow morning, we're going to have a very big ceremony.

Well, what the hell am I talking about?

In other words, we're talking in the midst of this thing that's going on in Pollyanna, and you don't have good.

You see what I mean?

Do you not agree?

I agree.

I think... We're not going to do it, but we'd better get the hell out of it some way.

If you can get out of it, it'd be better.

Sure.

I scheduled something here late on Thursday.

I should find some excuse.

Bob Kelly, this is the time to really get tough and say it's true.

But I'm not.

And I don't, I'm not going to be down on that.

Miss Ferguson, I'm after, I'm confident.

You don't expect some, some nice, but it's just what I told you, you've got this.

It's an unusual situation with the press trying to play with us in Vietnam.

It's a tall banana and a hard thing for the press to play against Americans.

Americans aren't getting killed there, you know.

What they're saying is that, well, this proves Vietnam's elitism doesn't work.

It doesn't prove anything of the kind.

The crisis is in the north of the country.

There's no way anybody's been to Vietnam.

The crisis is there are not enough Vietnamese up there to go to the goddamn temple.

There are only a few thousand.

Mr. President, it is impossible to defend 600 miles of a frontier

against every attack without giving ground somewhere.

The attacker always has the advantage that he can concentrate.

Finally, what does your report show this morning?

Is it still good?

The report this morning shows that they're ordering in a lot of tanks and artillery.

Yeah.

No, I don't think this is what I am looking at on there at all.

Nobody really has, they all think it's a good, the problem is everybody thinks it's a good thing for you to do, but there's nothing for you to say.