Name: Anonymous 2010-08-06 20:55
Tapes reveal that Nixon had sense of conscience and honour; that is to say, he apparently wasn't a total unempathetic asshole when out of public view. Kissinger, well, I don't know. A General Lavelle had authority to bomb North Vietnam, but later another general screwed him over as if it was all Lavelle's unauthorized doing. Lavelle was booted from his rank, and we the public had no idea of this bullshit until years later when we had the Nixon tapes to listen to.
quotes-
On February 3, 1972, President Nixon; Henry Kissinger, the national-security adviser; and Ellsworth Bunker, the Ambassador to South Vietnam, were discussing the war. "The one thing both General Abrams and I want is . . . authority to bomb these SAM sites," Bunker said. Nixon had a solution: "I think protective reaction should include the right to hit SAM sites. I am simply saying that we expand the definition of protective reaction to mean preventive reaction where a SAM site is concerned. . . . Who knows or would say they didn't fire?" It was agreed that Abrams would be told. "Needless to say," Nixon cautioned, “he is to call all of these things protective reaction." Kissinger worried about a leak to the press. The President said to Bunker, "I want you to tell Abrams when you get back that he is to tell the military not to put out extensive briefings with regard to our military activities. . . . And if it does get out, he is to say it's a protective-reaction strike."
On June 14th, shortly after my first article on the bombings appeared in the Times, Nixon said to Kissinger, "This damned Laird." He was referring to Laird’s decision to dismiss Lavelle. "Why did he even remove him? . . . I don't want a man persecuted for doing what he thought was right." Kissinger was quick to criticize the generals: "Of course the military are impossible, too. . . . They turn on each other like rats." Nixon thought that he had been double-crossed. "Laird knows goddam well. . . . I told him, 'I said it's protective reaction.' He winks, he says, 'Oh, I understand.' " Kissinger: "Yeah, but Laird is pretty vicious."
Read more http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2007/03/26/070326taco_talk_hersh#ixzz0vsPIbuAQ
quotes-
On February 3, 1972, President Nixon; Henry Kissinger, the national-security adviser; and Ellsworth Bunker, the Ambassador to South Vietnam, were discussing the war. "The one thing both General Abrams and I want is . . . authority to bomb these SAM sites," Bunker said. Nixon had a solution: "I think protective reaction should include the right to hit SAM sites. I am simply saying that we expand the definition of protective reaction to mean preventive reaction where a SAM site is concerned. . . . Who knows or would say they didn't fire?" It was agreed that Abrams would be told. "Needless to say," Nixon cautioned, “he is to call all of these things protective reaction." Kissinger worried about a leak to the press. The President said to Bunker, "I want you to tell Abrams when you get back that he is to tell the military not to put out extensive briefings with regard to our military activities. . . . And if it does get out, he is to say it's a protective-reaction strike."
On June 14th, shortly after my first article on the bombings appeared in the Times, Nixon said to Kissinger, "This damned Laird." He was referring to Laird’s decision to dismiss Lavelle. "Why did he even remove him? . . . I don't want a man persecuted for doing what he thought was right." Kissinger was quick to criticize the generals: "Of course the military are impossible, too. . . . They turn on each other like rats." Nixon thought that he had been double-crossed. "Laird knows goddam well. . . . I told him, 'I said it's protective reaction.' He winks, he says, 'Oh, I understand.' " Kissinger: "Yeah, but Laird is pretty vicious."
Read more http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2007/03/26/070326taco_talk_hersh#ixzz0vsPIbuAQ