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    "ocrText": "TELECON\nThe President/Mr. Kissinger\n6:25 p. m., November 20, 1970\nK:\nMr. President, we have confirmation now and the original\nreport was right. Everyone got away -- no one was hurt and there\nwere no casualties.\nP:\nWhat is the appraisal?\nK:\nThis was a telephone report. We are getting a flash message --\na full report in. I asked the same question -- whether there was every\nanything there or what it was. There wasn't a trap or they wouldn't\nhave gotten away uninjured.\nP:\nIt was a complete surprise -- but a little late.\nK\n:\nIt was bad luck.\nP:\nIt was not bad luck at all. We haven't paid any price at all.\nIt was just a little exercise, but it proved we could do it. It proves\nthey could do another one.\nK:\nThat's right.\nThey could hit something else with that\nsort of thing. The other thing is going.\nP:\nGood. One or two?\nK:\nIt depends on the weather. One, certainly.\nP:\nGet a message to that Colonel congratulating him.\nK:\nI have already done that, Mr. President.\nP:\nSay I am proud of him and his men -- the daring, the execution.\nK:\nI have done that. It ran like planned.\nP:\nWithin our inner circle, we are proud of them.\nK:\nThey are really behind you now. They were behind you before\nbut your attitude on this has been tremendous. It gave them a tremendous\nboost.\nP:\nPoor Johnson and even Kennedy. They stomped around and\ndidn't do anything.\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nThe President/Mr. Kissinger\n6:25 p.m., November 20, 1970\n- 2 -\nK:\nIf they had taken the initiative, we wouldn't be in the\nmess we are in now.\nP:\nI like the idea of something daring. You and Laird work\nquietly on it. This is the 'end of the war plan. 1 Do it on the basis\nthat we are quaranteeiring Vietnam while we withdraw. What\nSouth Vietnam does after that is their business. The only problem is\nwhat the Russians will do, but let them do it.\na\nK:\nThey have played/very rough game with us.\nP:\nIt will change. This strike today will hurt.\nK:\nAnd if we do one or two other things\nP:\nLike raising the budget. We are going to start, in effect,\nby rebombing the north on the basis of protective reaction. We took\nthis one -- another next week. If they ask questions, Mel says\nit was protective reaction -- he's good at that. We x couldn't do it\nearlier because of the weather. For everyone they give us, we\ngive them more.\nK:\nThey have told us now they will shoot any other planes.\nP:\nI want to see some of the plans. If they give us any provocation.\nK:\nIt was a little pinprick before -- they used 10 planes. It was\nnothing to talk about.\nP:\nUse 100 planes -- knock the Sons-of-bitches out. These guys\nsure must be down.\nK:\nThey probably are disappointed.\nP:\nIt's amazing -- 20 miles from Hanoi. That proves something,\ntoo.\nK:\nI am sure they are shaken.\nP:\nWe say nothing. Deny everything. It could have been a search\nand destroy operation which we have going all the time. That really\nmust screw up Hanoi.\nK:\nThey are totally confused. They can't figure out what hit them.\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nThe President/Mr. Kissinger\n6:25 p. m., November 20, 1970\n- 3 -\nP:\nTell Moorer to have the same Colonel brought back for\nplanning. He must have great imagination. He will find another\none. I like guys like this. One thing which will help the Defense\nmorale is the bigger budget.\nK:\nIt will change the whole atmosphere.\nP:\nThey will se whether American will be No. 1 or No. 2.\nK:\nRight, Mr. President. I will keep you informed.\nlds\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nTelecon\nThe President\n11/20/70 6:35 p.m.\nP: I've got to leave now. Anything new?\nK: No final word, but I am pretty certain. I talked to Moorer and\nsince you told me\nhe was terribly moved. He thought if you had been\nPresident five years ago we wouldn;t be in the mess we' re in today.\nP: Oh well, this is fine. Nothing wrong with this.\nK: It was in inspiration to these people that you had the guts to do this.\nP: It was a brilliant move, brilliantly executed. We'll find something\nelse to do. Keep looking.\nK: I told them you wanted to see the commander when he returns and\ndecorate them. They were very moved.\nP: Is Laird okay?\nK: He's disappointed but he feels fine.\nP: There were no casualties, right?\nK: Yes and our intercepts say the enemy is totally confused. They\ndon't know what has happened.\nP: Let them be.\nK: One thing, the weather is closing in, so they may just be able to\ndo one strike. They might not be able to make two. I thought they should\ndo the one.\nP: Do what they can. They are going to do something tonight though?\nK: It depends on the weather. If they have 10 hours of good weather\nthey'll do something.\nP: My feeling is to do it because with the confusion of the North Viet-\nnamese, they might just think this is a diversionary action. You told Laird\nand Moorer to say nothing?\nK: Yes, absolutely nothing. We lost an 105 today.\nP: Over North Vietnam?\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nTELECON\nMr. Kissinger/Joe Sisco\n6:40 p. m., November 20, 1970\nK:\nJoe, I talked to the President about Hussein, and that is\nokay.\nS:\nOh, that's good.\nlds\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nTELCON\nMoorer/Kissinger\n6:40 pm\n11/20/70\nK: Sorry to bother you. The President wanted to make sure that that commander\nandx will have a personal noe of appreciation.\nM: We are sending out a message in his name. Also to the other men in his\ngroup. Told him on the phone too.\nK: Did they close it?\nM: We think so. He is sending in a complete message and when they do we will\nsend a copy to you.\nK: We will do another one and bring that commender and his men into see the\nPresident.\nM: Writing him up now.\nK: That other operation is in operation?\nM: ? ? ? to Abrams and Abrams is\na TOT message. I will let you know\nas soon as I have it.\nK: Would you? I am holding up a cable to Bruce.\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nTELCON\nFinch/Kissinger\n6:41 pm\n11/20/70\nK: Frank Lincoln was in here to talk about the Gleason case. I would appreciate\nit if you wouldn't re-open that.\nF: I have no intention of it.\nK: He said you were going to Rogers, Stans and the President.\nF: I said we understood his bpx problem and going on formx some time.\nK: The President has\non it for 4 times. We will approve it after the\nannouncemnt but we cannot do it while the Russians are moving ships around\nCuba.\nF: I said I would bring it to the President's attention but of course I won't.\nI won't move until I talk to you about it.\nK: You did exactly what I would have in this case.\nF: I am off to tip-toe around the Atlantic Union. Accepting an award for the\nPresident.\nK: Is that Calx Clarence\n?\nF: I thought of turning it over to you. Then I said no, I couldn't do that to Henry.\nK: That entitles you to another speech in L.A. If you run out there I will\nspeak with great conviction and more than once.\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nTELCON\nMr. Kissinger/Admiral Moorer\n6:49 p.m., November 20, 1970\nM:\nHenry, 2100 eastern standard time 9:00 p.m. tonight ToT, they\nare manning the planes and getting ready to go now.\nK:\nWe won't know about the strike until tomorrow.\nM:\nGlad you agree with me, we'll go and do what we can. [something\nsaid about the weather]\nK:\nAbsolutely, right. If a restrike is necessary, we will do it. Give\nthem hell. Don't leave a plane on the ground.\nM:\nRight, you know me, this is what I like. 2100 hours tonight.\nThat's it.\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nTELCON\nMr. Kissinger/Alex Johnson\n6:55 p. m., November 20, 1970\nK:\nThey are going tonight, hitting around 9 o'clock our time.\nJ:\nOkay, I will get the message out to Dave. DOD is going to make\nthe announcement tonight or tomorrow morning on this. All statements\nwill be made by them.\nK:\nDo it SH eyes only.\nJ:\nSending it Cherokee. Directly to him I called A1, standing of the\nreconnaissance on our understanding send a paper over here done in\nJanuary 1969 with no indication that you had seen it. I called A1 and\nsent it over to him. It is a fairly complete and accurate summary\nof this situation.\nK:\nOkay Alex. I am sorry I couldn't see you in action on one of these\nsonsultations\nJ:\nI am too, I feel for the fellows that didn't make it. I really feel\nfor them, WXXX it wasn't for the lack of trying.\nK:\nJ:\nHad to do it, couldn't turn it down on the lack of intelligence for the\n.\nK:\nOkay Alex, thanks for your help.\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nU. Alexis Johnson/Mr. Kissinger\nNovember 21, 1970 8:50 a. m.\n(paraphrased)\njlj\nJ: Did you get any sleep last night?\nK: It wasn't as bad as Jordan.\nJ: No, One. Any new developments? I have been sitting here reading\neverything we have from the tickers from Hanoi. We are not going with\nany other statement are we other than the one you put out?\nK: I think not but you will probably have to shoot Laird to keep KIXXIXXX him\nfrom doing it.\nJ: Oh, well, I think it is just as well we are standing where we are. I\ndon't think it would be a good idea to go with a statement.\nK: Why don't I call Mel and tell him.\nJ: There are no other developments?\nK: We have a report on the other operation.\nJ: I want to see that. I would like to read it and tell the Secretary about\nit before he leaves. Who got it - DOD? Could they LDX it to us?\nK: I will ask Mel to send it over to you. I am not sure they want to\nLDX it?\nJ: I would like to see it and tell Secretary about it before he leaves\nNOX today.\nK: That is all I have but I will keep you informed.\nJ: We have heard nothing from Paris. They are having a meeting to\ndecide for the next meeting.\nK: Thursday?\nJ: It is set for Wednesday. We asked for it and they agreed to Wednesday.\nIf they ask for a postponement we will have to agree.\nK: I'll get that report over to you.\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nMr. Kissinger/Secretary Laird\nNovember 21, 1970 8:55 a. m.\n(paraphrased)\njlj\nK: In crises we never have any problem with you. We never have a\nproblem with you anyway.\nL: Hell no.\nK: In light of the way this is playing I don't think we should make any\nannouncement.\nL: Sometime along the way we ought to make something out of it. It\nis going to get out sooner or later and rather than just letting the newspaper\nreports get out I think we should get some mileage on it. Everything is\ngoing fine.\nK: I do not exclude the possibility later but let's let it settle down a\nbit.\nL: So far soogood. It is night over there and maybe we can wait until\nit is over. Let's ride it out.\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nSecretary Rogers/Mr. Kissinger\nNovember 21, 1970\n9:00 a. m.\n(paraphrased)\njlj\nK: I just talked with Alex. We have the report in of the operation and\nI am getting it over to him right away. They apparently killed 5 guards.\nWent through the compound and felt that it had been used as a prison but\nnot used for several months. There was no one else there. The killed\n2 others making it a total of 7 altogether. Put some ordinance in near\nthere to keep those troops from coming in - all according to the plan.\nIt was a beautifully executed plan it was just bad luck that there were no\nprisoners to extracate. Laird is going to make a brief protective reaction\nstatement. In the light of this I have just been talking to Mel. We should\nnot go with this commando operation.\nNext week if things cool down\na bit and\nNo one will\nR: I agree. I think that is the right policy. This doesn't make you trust\nintelligence decisions does it? How is the President taking it?\nK: The last time I talked to him last night he took it very well. He\nhad words of encouragement to Moorer and the men.\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nU. Alexis Johnson/Mr. Kissinger\nNovember 21, 1970\n9:20 p.m.\n(paraphrased)\njlj\nK: I am sending over to you the report you wanted. However, I think\nit should be held very close and only yourself, the Secretary and the\nUnder Secretary should see it. There is no official authorization for\nthis to be distributed. I just talked with the Secretary and gave him a\nbrief run down on it.\nJ: I just hung up from him.\nK: I talked with Mel and he will make no statement without checking\nwith us. I don't think there should be an announcement because they\ncould say was a failure and on a day when you are operating it anyway.\nJ: What was it in the first place?\nK: It had obviously been used as a prison camp. However, it looked\nlike no one there for several months. At lunch for the first time yesterdayx\nyesterday, Moorer told me that they had a letter in from one of the\nprisoners in code that said the camp was closed July 14. Wexthoughtxx\nThey thought it meant the gates were locked and no one was admitted in.\nThey never told us about this letter. We had absolutely flat assurances\nthat there would be 60 people in there.\nnever was a camp there\nHanoi must be thinking those crazy bastards. What will they\nbe doing next.\nJ: It's only virtue is that it holds some people around various\nK: I would like to be XXX in on some Hanoi conversations this morning.\nThey must be saying that those guys go into a place and blow up one of\ntheir helicopters and take off in another one.\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nSecretary Laird/Mr. Kissinger\nNovember 21, 1970 9:45 a.m.\n(paraphrased)\njlj\nL: Have you heard or read what they did at the press conference in\nParis?\nK:\ngrave consequences\nL : The text is moving now and maybe you can look at that. My\nconcern is that (maybe I should not be upset about this but I feel I\nhave the responsibility) - does Bruce know generally what we have\ndone?\nK: He knows that it was planned but he doesn't know that it came off.\nI will get a flash out to him.\nL: If we do not go public with this I think that Bruce should know\nso we have no problem whatever about that.\nthrust of what\nI did want to say. Do that through Bruce\nK: Better do it publically. How would Bruce do it?\nL: They took us on for our raids and killing PWs. Get that text\nand then I will talk to you.\nK: Let me look at the text and I will call you back in half an hour.\nL: Accuse us of gutting up our PWs. We will get Simons and Manner\n(phonetic) in here and then we will find out what happened.\nwhether\nis bad. I do not think they will take\nLaos.\nK: Announce that we have concluded this series. Don't you think\nL: Let me check on the wheatherx weather. It is bad and we don't know\nif we can fly anymore sorties.\nK: If the weather holds up for another 10 hours.\nL: The 7th Air Force says they cannot fly. We haven't heard from the\ncarriers. I know this is in the foreign policy area but\nK: I think you ought to do it. It cannot be done in Paris. Let me get\nthe text.\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nSecretary Laird/Mr. Kissinger\n(paraphrased)\nNovember 21, 1970 10:10 a. m.\njlj\nK: I have read all the ticker stuff I can lay my hands on. I still do\nnot think we should go until next week.\nNo bombing attacks on\nPW camps.\nno bombings along\nHaiphong. They will be\nheld responsible for any loss of Americans.\nWill not look very\ngood.\nbrought these people over to the President on Monday.\nI do not think it should get out.\nL: I want to know about the operations and you can't tell until you\nget about the third report.\nK: What do we gain by putting out the commando raid?\nL: Not very much and I do not think it would be a good idea.\nK: xgivxxx A tough warning\nto them regarding PWs would be in order. That I think we should just\ncategorically state. We know the location of the camps and we did\nnot hit them.\nL: I have just had a report. There are a couple of sorties still out.\nI will be back in touch with you in 15 or 20 minutes. The weather does\nnot look good.\nK: Could say operations are now concluded. No bombing attacks WEKE\nnear PW camps.\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nProf. Yoshida/Mr. Kissinger\nNovember 21, 1970 10:30 a.m.\n(paraphrased)\njlj\n[Note: Mr. Peter Flanigan was listening on another extension. ]\nK: I have talked to our expert who is handling this. We are prepared\nto make a proposal to you along these lines. We can accept 6 groups\nbut severely limit to shifting in each group.\nYour friend will\naccept that. We will make that proposal through your IXEX expert here.\nIsn't that quite right?\nY: That is right.\nK: One thing I have to tell you on the basis of our friendship. The price\nin terms of our relationship is severe.\nconfidence declining\nYour friend said 4 of 5 points are acceptable and that only the 5th had some\nproblem. Then your representative said 4 of the points are a basis for\na discussion. Anything is a basis for discussion. Well, I do not want\nto go into the whole history. This weekend, probably tomorrow, we will\naccept 6 group.\nY: Could you spare a little more time. I have had an extensive\nconversation with my friend\nwhat exchanges between our experts.\nYou would be prepared to agree with our proposal of 6 groups for 17\nitems.\nK: Not for 17 items. 20 items - in that neighborhood.\nY: 20\nK: We want to limit severely shifting within the groups and not just\nbetween the groups.\nY: My friend really needs a name. 6 groups for 17 items\nK: 17 items we cannot accept.\nY: Then counter - prepared to give in your proposal of very very limited\nshifting within group and between groups and also the growth rate - only\n3 points (? ? ? difficult to understand at this point)\nK: Growth rate. You agree with our growth rate?\nY: That is what I understand. Not the growth formula 6 (?) very modest\ngrowth rate\nYour expert suggested that if we could not accept your\ngrowth rate\nshifting with group\ncarry over. Your minimum\ncomments.\nK: I do not know the carry over arrangements to judge that part.\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\n-2-\nY: My friend needs at least the name that you agreed with our basic\nproposition.\nK: 17 points is a problem for us. It may have to be 7 groups for 20\nitems or something like that.\nY: This is negotiable. Exchange of views - what we have after review\nby experts - what we can sit down and discuss. My friend has here is\nthe strong political need for the impression that youmake concessions.\nso this is agreement.\nYou said you had made\nK: One thing you should understand.\n./.\nconcessions yesterday. That\nis not the impression that our experts had.\nY: That's right.\nK: In fact our experts wanted to drop the whole thing yesterday.\nY: My friend definitely does wish to drop this. Our political point of\nview at home now\nstarting from Tuesday so he told me now\nthat he would like to get the whole thing scheduled by Monday night.\nK: That's almost impossible.\nY: Impossible did you say?\nK: We will make a proposal to you probably tomorrow. However, it\nwill have to be 20 groups. Some of the other items we can see about.\nY: I will make some frank and honest\nmodification of our position\nin order to reach an agreement with you. You have substance and in turn\nyou give us name.\nK: We have high regard for your friend and last year much of what we did\nwas to help him. We have now lost confidence with our businesses. Our\npeople here are very tempted to break yesterday but it is only due to our\nrelationship that they did not.\nY: I understand very much. If it is leaked out in our press this will cause\na big problem for us and you in our press. Would you rather for us to make\na similar kind of proposal from our side.\nK: Dictate it on the telephone?\nY: Not necessary. Our permanent representative is an expert. He knows\nhow much scope he has. If we were to make a proposal today or this\nweekend your time then he has to cable it to us and it is very probably\nto leak out. I can ask my friend for us to make a very similar proposal to you.\nIt is quicker and safer. Have had a problem here with leakage in the press.\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\n-3-\nK: That is all right. One frank suggestion. I have the impression\nthat your representative takes the hardest possible side of the instruction.\nHe, of course, is trying to get the best possible deal for you. If he comes\nin without a proposal we can accept then there will be no agreement and no\nmore negotiations.\n17 items - categories. It has to be around 20.\nno flexibility\nY: I see. Are you quite sure/that you know because the cable we got said\nyour expert did not react negatively. Did not say anything about items.\nK: I understand there is none on that item. I could probably use my\ninfluence and give up one.\nY: Your friend would be involved if you would make another proposal\ncould not accept.\nK: If you want to X make a proposal this weekend but it has to be very\nclose to what we have given you. I am in the position again where I must\nrun.\nY: Would not be possible politics to handle the negotiation. Haig could\ngive me more details about % of these three points. Shift limits, vested\ngrowth rate.\nK: I think that it would be better if we make it. Then we know what we\nwant.\nY: As quickly as possible. My friend has strongobxxxxxxx strong hope that\nthis be reached at Monday of your time. All we need is name that you\nmade concessions. If possible at all, 17 items.\nK: We will have a proposal by tomorrow evening.\nY: I will get in touch with you again.\nK: I will call you when you we have our proposal.\nY: Sooner the better. Up till then we will not make any counter proposal.\nK: Major effort to make the best agreement.\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nTELCON\nUnder Secretary Irwin\nMr. Kissinger\n11:02 a. m., 11-21-60\nI:\nHello Henry. I just had a call from Chris Phillips - more\non a personal basis than official. He said the situation\nthere for Charlie was getting to be intolerable. Charlie\ndoes not know whether he was in or out. He has been\ngetting calls from other Ambassadors and the press seems\nto have such authoritative articles. I don't know what you\ncan do about this.\nK:\nI don't want to get involved. I will talk to the President.\nI:\nIt seems to me if they could say definitely that he is in or\nout it would be very good. If you would like me to speak to\nthe President, I will.\nK:\nNo, I don't know whether it would serve any purpose. I\nwill talk to him. I will bring it to his attention.\nI:\nAnd perhaps the President could call Yost.\nmlh\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nSecretary Laird/Mr. Kissinger\nNovember 21, 1970 11:20 XXXXXX a. m.\n(paraphrased)\njlj\nL: I just wanted to read this announcement to you. (reading) The\nlimited duration protective\nfinished 6 p.m. EDT today.\npurpose for missile and anti aircraft\nhit south of 19th parallel.\nOne other point I have noted\n(reading continued re PWs)\nK: Is this put out as a statement or are you going to read it?\nWe will continue these reconnaisance flights.\nXXX One matter, purely\nof writing style. The second paxxx line referring to PW's I think should\ngo in the paragraph with PW/s. It is a very good paragraph. When you\nchange it to the other paragraph it puts all points dealing with PW's together.\nL: Say such reports are false. We will hold that we\nwill continue to take protective reaction strikes.\nK: Or put that up in the other paragraph. Link safety of our paxixxx\nprisoners\nWhen are you going with this?\nL: 11:30 a. m.\nK: Are you going to put it out or read it?\nL: Just put it out. A-6 striking but these are the last two out.\nK: Not done in reaction. You said 6 p.m.\nL: That's just so they don't think we did this in reaction to what they\nsaid.\nK: It is well to do it this way.\nL: Tom has no problem with this. We are sending it to you and to State.\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nThe President/Mr. Kissinger\n(paraphrased)\nNovember 21, 1970 11:45 a. m.\njlj\nK: I just wanted to bring you up to date on a few things. Hanoi radio\nstarting reporting massive air attacks. Their xadix\nradar pcoblemxxprobably picked up Commando raid and they are\npicking up diversionary strikes. Said we attacked one of our own PW\ncamps. Laird is issuing a short statement. I worked with Laird\nand I talked with Rogers SO we are all on board, that we didn't hit\nanything south of the 19th parallel and caused by fact that they were\nhitting some of our unarmed reconnaisance planes and this was done in\nprotection. Falingx Talking about saying something about the Commando\noperation but they would just say it was another Bay of Pigs and decided\nnot to say anything about it.\nP: I don't want anyone to say anything. There is no point to say\nanything about it.\nK: This morning in Paris the North Vietnamese delegation called a press\nconference and the delegation said the strikes threatened sucess of the\nconference. They stated no conclusions. They maybe will cancel one\nmeeting.\nP: Will Bruce say anything. He could step up and say we don't care if\nthey cancel all the meetings. They are not getting anywhere.\nK: At 11:30 this morning Laird put out a statement saying that\nthe strikes were ending at 6 p.m. today and second, no air attacks on\nPW camps and holding them solely accountable for American lives.\nThe other operation went beautifully, except no one was there. They\nkilled 5 guards.\nP: Guards were still there. Why would they have guards there if there\nwere no prisoners. Do you suppose they could have hidden them underground?\nK: Guards or caretakers but they were military personnel. If they had\nhidden them they would have been expecting us and hit us with a buzz saw.\nP: Why do the military guard the place if no one is there.\nK: Just to keep the natives from moving in or perhaps just to move people\nthrough. It was damn bad luck. The whole operation worked exactly as\nthey planned. The weather is so bad that we are not getting photo\nreconnaisance on the areas hit. But the visual reports say that we are\ndoing a lot of damage.\nP: What do you mean visual reports?\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\n-2-\nK: The visual reports of the pilots. When they are going over on\nbombing missions they look and try to determine amount of damage\nwhile they are bombing. However, photo recon would be better.\nP: When will we get those reports. Well it doesn't matter. There is\nno reason to believe that they werexxx weren't successful. On this other\noperation I want you to hold right to the line and do not discuss it at all.\nNo comment whateoever. This is the way it is going to be.\nK: I will call Laird and tell him that.\nP: He knows that. What do they want to talk about it for?\nK: They would like to crow about it a little bit. It was a beautifully\nexecuted operation deep into enemy territory and their office had a lot\nto do with it. They are pretty close to the situation to see the importance\nof not talking about it.\nP: We will recognize them and let them know we thought they did a good\njob. We won't talk about it now but later we will explain what happened.\nGet that Col. bakx back here. Get in a group of them. Get Defense\nto work on similar actions. They must have some others but thought\nthey would get turned down so didn't propose them. We are going to\nbe out of there in a year so we can do some of these things. What do\nwe care.\nK: I have already told Moorer.\nP: Proves that something can be done. We need more schemes of this\nsort. For the past 5 years no schemes because nobody approved them.\nWell we will approve them. We only have one year left.\nK: Hanoi screaming because they are shaking a bit.\nP:\nsay we attacked a PW camp\nK: Haiphong and Hanoi. Probably shows up on their radar.\nP: Do not say that we will leave it out that we might bomb these. Keep\nthem guessing.\nK: Did bomb only south of the 19th parallel so that later if they claim\nwe bombed a PW camp we can hold them responsible. However, we did\nnot say we were not going to.\nP: Was anybody hurt?\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\n-3-\nK: 2 slightly injured. But we went in 20 miles from Hanoi Mr. President.\nP: slightly injured. That's pretty good. Do you think the prisoners were\nthere and underground.\nK: They of course would say no. If they had any reason they would\nhave known that we were coming and radio seemed to indicate that they\ndid not know what was going on.\nP: Why don't we put some of the South Vietnamese on this type of\noperation. They have a big army. Scare the hell out of these people.\nK: Certainly. Now that they have seen that we can do it they are probably\ndoing a lot of thinking. To land 20 miles from their capitol and get out\ndoes not reassure them.\nP: The failure will not be discussed.\nsuccessful operation. We went\nin to see if there were any there and got rid of the guards.\nother\noperations being planned.\nK: Another thing. These news stories about Moynihan's appointment\nto the UN.\nP: Talk to Haldeman. We do not want to get into this at all. Rogers\nhas the action. Bob talked with Rogers about it. The story came out of\nBoston. Haldeman is in complete charge and they will work it out\nthe best way they can. Do not want the White House to get into it. I\ndo not want Yost to be embarrassed. I can't really blame Monihan, he\nprobably talked to someone at Harvard and they told it to embarrass us.\nK: And the Boston Globe.\nP: We have got to go forward on it and\npeople just have to learn not\nto talk to anyone. They tell people thinking they are their friends and that\nJoe is not going to tell anybody, but Joe does talk to other people. Haldeman\nis in charge and Rogers has the Action.\nK: I did not want to get involved but wanted you to be aware of the stories.\nP: No decision has been made. The guys did a hell of a job. We would like\nto look for another one. How many PWs do they have?\nK: Camp or not.\nHave 400 with several hundred missing.\nP: This is the only major initiative to negotiate. What will they do with\nthem if we don't negotiate and just pull out, kill them?\nK: Oh no. We would go back to bombing the living daylights out of them.\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\n-4 -\nP: 7 day strike so that we do not have to maintain the tension during\nall that time. As you recall 7 day strike hitting complexes up there would\ngive them a blow that would set them back several months.\nK: Working on mining plane now.\nP: Mining plan and prexidexxik provides it seems to me a good possibility\nand has liability of internation argument - hospital, etc. What we need\nis more imagination in some of the things we can do now.\nThere will be no incentive for us to have a negotiated\nsettlement after March is the over. After that war is ended.\nK: But we can say that anyway.\nthing\nP: Good *** to add to the protective reaction. All eyes on the PW thin g\nif it hadn't had the protective reaction bombings. We do not talkexabonk\ntalk about PW thing. We will talk about it later and tell what happened.\nK: Unsuccessful attempt to rescue. However, it worked great with\nit in conjunction with the strikes.\nP: It shoul d be handled basically as a rescue mission. I do not want\nit described - that would endanger the others.\nK: Daring attempt at\nP: I do not want it described. It was just one of our routine (what do you\ncall them? ) search and rescue operations. Tell Laird to Stonewall it\nright through. And I want them to come up with some other plan.\nK: We will get the Col. back and get him to report.\nP: They must have others. They must have others.\nK: Pentagon, you hit it correctly, gave up because they never got it\napproved.\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nTELCON\nMr. Yoshida\nMr. Kissinger\n11:45 a. m., 11-21-70\nY:\nHello. Sorry to take your time again but this is important.\nI have an appointment with my friend this morning. We are\nnow close to 2 AM Sunday morning. Could I talk to you\nagain sometime around 8:00 pm your time?\nK:\nIf you call my number here at 7:30 pm, they will connect\nyou with me. I will be in New York.\nY:\nThen I believe I can say something final. And I think you\nare right, you make the last proposal to say Sunday morning\nyour time.\nK:\nI can't guarantee you that. It will be sometime Sunday.\nY:\nAlright. Then this will have to be cabled from your place\nto here. We will take care of getting it to our experts and\nthey will work on it all day Monday and perhaps we can\nreach an agreement by that night. And when you prepare\nyour final proposal, I would like to ask you to use your\ninfluence to accept nominally our proposal and also to say\nthat you made a great concession by accepting 6 groups\nover 17 items.\nK:\nI will do my best. Our experts are reluctant to go below\n17. So there may have to be concession here.\nY:\nThen it is 6 groups over 17 items.\nK:\nOkay, I will take care of that and I will talk to you tonight.\nY:\nI will talk to my friend and call you tonight.\nmlh\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nU. Alexis Johnson/Mr. Kissinger\nNovember 21, 1970 1:15 p.m.\n(paraphrased)\njlj\nJ: I see Mel has gone into print again.\nhelp from PW camps.\nK: He is staying away from the subject.\nJ: Tom told me that he used the word agreement again and Mel talks\nabout 6 p.m.\nK: In order to not tie it to response to what the other side said.\nTom's information is correct.\nJ: Just for your information I have told them over here that we had\nsome diversionary flight over there. I told Jack Irwin the story though.\nWe have a problem with what we tell Bruce.\nK: I will get a backchannel on the other thing out to him.\nJ: I think maybe it WO uld be helpful. Tell him not\nto mention it in conversations here. Only with myself, the Secretary\nor Jack Irwin.\nK: Just to tell him what happened. Oh yes, only with you three, that is\nvery important. As a friend of mine in CIA always says this has the\nadded virtue of being true.\nJ: Paris is waiting for word on Hanoi.\njudge Dave's instructions.\nDave and ourselves\non drafing something and you can look ixxx at it\non Monday. In the meanwhile I think we should get something to Bruce.\nThey have those after action reports through military channels.\nK: I will see to it that it is done.\nPentagon does that.\nJ: Mel went pretty far on the agreement and it was part of the understanding.\nK: I have just read your paper which is very good. You know he did that once\nbefore.\nJ: I do not think we should ge dig ourselves in any further.\nK: DIDx DOD X should stop talking about it altogether.\nJ: Yes, I think that is a good idea.\nK: I will do my best.\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nAmb. Wm. Sullivan/Mr. Kissinger\nNovember 21, 1970 1:30 p.m.\n(paraphrased)\njlj\nS: Alex told me about his last talk with you and I wanted to talk to you\nabout the nuances of understanding. Reporters around the building have\nbackgrounders given at the time of the understanding. No reconnaisance\nmentioned in the understanding. Made clear at the time of cessation of\nbombing\nand we\nback up that statement. We will get flack\nfrom those people saying reconnaisance was not covered. We gave this\nto Laird's people some time ago. It is fuzzed up enough in the statement\nthat we could probably get away with saying it is our understanding.\nK: I think we should just stop saying understanding. I will see to it.\nS: Why he came back to this is a problem. You will probably see it in\ntomorrows papers. New subject. We have just sent over a briefing paper\nfor the President with Ky. Have you seen the newest latest document.\nthing in from Paris on what he had done\nHelms. We refer\ninteresting intrigue. He has talked to the other side now.\nK: How did it go.\nS: It is reported on that fact in the report. Blue chit on top of it.\nXX K: CIA report? I will try to get it.\nS: I have talked to Habib. Before they cancelled the other meeting they\ngave us 2 hours notice and he feels that is the way it will be handled this\ntime.\nwhat they do or what they say at the time.\ncome in as soon as he gets all the facts that a meeting will go ahead\nbut based on past performance it is our consideration that they will\ncancel. I do not think we should make one.\nK: We do not need to say a hell of a lot. At the time we did not say we\nwould not continue our reconnaisance. That should be the line.\nS: Latest suplementary statement, this is a knitpick, erroneous reports\nthat we have bombed DRV. becausex Some bullets have hit the camp. But\nthese could have come from a MIG interceptor and x xx in a fight. We\nmay get some nibbling from the press. We have wives calling asking if\nwe hit any of the camps.\nK: Is there anything we can do about it now. I am going to insist that\nstatements get cleared all the way around. In fact we did clear the\nthings last night and this morning we just had 5 minutes to do it.\nS: On this understanding thing we had made very clear to his substantive\npeople.\nK: ISA?\nS: ISA and JCS\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nTELCON\nUnder Secretary Irwin\nMr. Kissinger\n1:45 pm, 11-21-70\nK:\nJack, I have talked to the President about that matter (Yost)\nand he says it is between Rogers and Haldeman and Rogers\nhas the action.\nI:\nOkay.\nK:\nI don't think I should get into it. I figure I have enough\ntroubles with your bureaucracy without getting into that.\nI:\nOkay Henry. I appreciate your asking. Whatever it is, it's\nnot good.\nK:\nLet me call Haldeman and call you back.\nI:\nYes. Let's settle it. I may be wrong but my impression is\nthat if I call Bill he may not realize it is final and he should\nbe taking action.\nK:\nI will call you back.\nmlh\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nTELCON\nMr. Haldeman\nMr. Kissinger\n1:55 pm, November 21, 1970\nK:\nBob, we are having a terrific fl ap at the UN about Yost.\nH:\nWell, Rogers knows all about it. Let him handle it.\nK:\nI just wanted to be able to say to Irwin in Rogers absence\n--\nH:\nRogers is not away.\nK:\nIsn't he down at Williamsburg? I just wanted to be able to\ntell Irwin that Rogers knows all about it, that he has talked\nto Yost. I think Rogers thinks it will go away.\nH;\nNo, it is not going away. Rogers does not want to do it. He\nthought it would go away,\nK:\nThe decision is taken then?\nH:\nJust tell Irwin to talk to Rogers. It is all settled. Obviously\nthe way the story got out was Moynihan told someone at Harvard\nand they put it out up there.\nK:\nWhat is Yost's frame of mind?\nH:\nWell, he is a little startled. Rogers did not come right out\nand tell him. He is afraid to bite the bullet. I think he has to\nnow in view of the stories that are out. It is too bad because\nit hurts Yost's position. We wanted to give him an\nAmbassadorial post and give him an easy way out.\nK:\nOkay, I will tell Irwin to call Rogers.\nmlh\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nTELCON\nUnder Secretary Irwin\nMr. Kissinger\n2:05 pm, 11-21-70\nK:\nJack, I have talked to Haldeman. My understanding\nis that the Secretary is fully aware of the situation.\nAlso that he talked to Haldeman yesterday afternoon,\nthat he talked to Yost yesterday afternoon without\ngiving him a clear understanding of the situation.\nI am giving you this for your information only. The\nlast Rogers said was if it didn't go away over the\nweekend, he would do something Monday.\nI:\nI don't understand what will go away.\n(had to drop off phone to answer calls coming in)\nK:\nThe decision has been made. The President told\nme that it was done. This is really none of my\nbusiness but I think he might really get irritated\nif you push him.\n(had to drop off phone again to answer calls)\nmlh\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nTELCON\nSecretary Laird\nMr. Kissinger\n2:40 pm, 11-21-70\nL:\nHenry, you got that last report of what you can send on up\nto the President. We are transmitting it to you in a few\nminutes. Then we will have better wrapup a little after 6:00 pm.\nK:\nWhat is your impression of it?\nL:\nWe ended up with about 235 good strikes. The third wave\nwe were not able to get in because of the weather. Weather\nis really closed in and will be for about 4 or 5 days.\nK:\nWhat about results?\nL:\nWe have big fires. We will have better reports tomorrow\nmorning when we get the pilots in and get the pictures\ndeveloped. It is worthwhile.\nK:\nRight.\nL:\nThere is one thing. I noticed I am kind of on report for some\nthese flights we have been making. We are trying to be\ncareful with that. I have been raising hell with the military\non that a on that and I try to keep the heat on them. Maybe I should\nsend a memorandum to the President?\nK:\nI wouldn't worry about it.\nL:\nWe have a flight tomorrow that could cause some problems.\nYou know which one I mean?\nK:\nYes. I wouldn't worry about it.\nL:\nIf it is successful and detected, then we will get a little heat\nbut we have to keep going on these.\nK:\nYou have absolutely no problem on this with us and we will be\nright behind you. I saw that memorandum and did not see\nthat it did anyone any good to have it in writing.\nL:\nI think the thing that brought it to a head was the C-135 incident\nbut we were clean on that.\nK:\nYou are okay. We are behind you.\nmlh\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nTELCON\nMr. Kissinger/The President\n7:26 p.m., November 21, 1970\nK:\nMr. President\nP:\nAnything further?\nK:\nNo, but I have just talked to Admiral Moorer a few minutes ago.\nThe strike is going to go at 9:00 tonight our time. They are going\nto make a maximum effort until the weather stops them.\nP:\nGood. One or two?\nK:\nAll three but will not be able to do the\n.\nThey think they\nare socked in for 4 days but they will make a maximum effort and\nget what they can get then we can see if we want to [do the other].\nP:\nNothing further.\nK:\nHave sent your personal congratulations and good wishes to them.\nP:\nGood.\nK:\nWriting them up for some awards. We have to wait for the written\nreport to see just what happened, either the weather was faulty or\nwhat.\nP:\nGood, good.\nK:\nRight, Mr. President.\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nTELCON\nMr. Kissinger/Under Secy Irwin\n8:22 p. m., November 21, 1970\nK:\nHope I didn't take you away from anything, I wanted to say I was\nsorry I couldn't make it today. I wondered if you might be free\nfor breakfast tomorrow morning.\nI:\nYes, fine.\nK:\nAbout 8:30?\nI:\nI will come to the White House tomorrow.\nK:\nYou don't have to sell me, it is easier for me.\nI:\nIt is just easier all the way around.\nK:\nIs 8:30 too early?\nI:\nNo, No, just fine.\nK:\nOkay.\nwgh\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nTELCON\nMr. Kissinger/Prof. Yoshida\n8:26 p. m., November 21, 1970\nK:\nI still haven't anything to tell you unfortunately because your people\ncame in today with a very negative attitude and we have to decide\ntomorrow whether we want to continue talking at all.\nY:\nIs that so? My friend and\n[could not hear any of this].\nK:\nWhen were they sent out? Our people think they have to decide\ntomorrow. Don't even have the details.\nY:\nIt is so vitally important, would you kindly if you I know you\nhave tight and busy you are here at but could you get a full report\nfrom your expert and then could you please call me again?\nK:\nWhat time should I call you.\nY:\nIn a hour's time.\nK:\nToday, no I cannot do it tonight.\nY:\nNo?\nK:\nI will do it tomorrow morning.\nY:\nI see, you cannot do it tonight.\nK:\nNo, I am already late for something else.\nY:\nWhat time could I expect to hear from you?\nK:\n11 o'clock, that is again midnight for you, 10:00 my time.\nY:\nAnytime, I am working on a 24-hour basis.\nK:\nI will call you 11:00 my time.\nY:\nThat's all right, I will be at my home.\nK:\nAll right, I will call you at your home.\nY:\nPlease.\nK:\nYou can count on it. It may be a little earlier, it may be 10:30.\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified.\nTELCON\nPage 2\nMr. Kissinger/Prof. Yoshida\n8:26 p. m., November 21, 1970\nY:\nI again had a talk with my friend and my friend is determined to reach\na mutually acceptable agreement. His instructions\n[conversation at this point most difficult to hear]\nat a far more fixed meeting of our side. He is in the town to\nwhich we made.\nK:\nI understand. Let me talk to our experts tomorrow morning and I\nwill call you immediately.\nY:\nPlease. I will be standing by. You can imagine that I am at an\nalmost desperate stage, we must have an agreement. I posed to my\nfriend just now, our prominent representative on discretionary\nauthority to our representative in your place, your experts can raise\nan agreement later on with my friend himself. I gave my own\nconsidered advice to ** him and he is seriously thinking about it.\nnext Tuesday and he has to finish negotiations by\nthen. We have only three days left.\nK:\nI will call you, 10:30 or 11:00 my time.\nY:\nGoodbye.\nwgh\nReproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nDECLASSIFIED\nThis document has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order 13526 and has been determined to be declassified."
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