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OCR Page 1 of 47TELECON
Secretary Laird to
Mr. Kissinger
9:30 a. m. , September 11, 1969
K was surprised to be hearing from L -- he had thought he was
leaving yesterday for Illinois and the Dirksen interment.
In answer to query from L, K said the President called last night
about 9:30 and said to get a job done. K told him L was away, and
the President told K to get with Wheeler (they didn't want Packard
in on it, and they didn't want State to know). L was upset because
the first he knew of it was by an inquiry from the Chief of Staff of
the Air Force. He said this is why the Johnson Administration got
screwed up -- they didn't keep to the lines of communication. K
assured L that the President wants him to know everything.
L told K that right after the end of the truce, the first one hit at
1:47
(at night in VN) He thought K and the President should know
that
from
1:47
9:30 when they got the word to stop it, there were
23 sorties on 5 targets. A total of 50 sorties had been scheduled;
back
when the order went out, all scheduled planes were called. Result:
23 out of 50 B-52 sorties were flown in the 8 hours previous to the
9:30 directive. L thought K should understand that. K said this sort
of ruins what we were trying to do.
K reiterated that he was under the misapprehension that L was out
of town; K had planned to talk with L upon his return. He told L he
can be absolutely sure the President relies on him almost exclusively
and on his judgment. L said the President should have known
immediately how many sorties had actually been flown, and L has
the capability to provide that information in 5 minutes. K said it
was a complete goof-up which was his fault. The President is not
aware of what happened.
L said the next problem was the press conference in Thailand yesterday
in which the Foreign Minister announced the number of troops to be
removed, the agreed schedule and the timing. L said when he talked
with the President and K, the President asked what L could do by the
end of the year. The schedule announced yesterday is off the track;
only 38 people will be taken out by the end of this year. They have a
caveat by October 1st, but then they have to clean up the whole mission.
L thinks to accomplish any substantial reduction 6, 000, you have
to keep the pressure on the other way to start with. L thinks this
is
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library
DECLASSIFIED
This document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.