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From: Chung Nguyen <Chung.Nguyen@umb.edu>
Date: Jul 31, 2006 9:04 AM
Subject: [Vsg] Nixon Considered Nuclear Options Against North Vietnam, Declassified Documents Reveal
Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2006 11:55:27 -0400
From: National Security Archive <archive@GWU.EDU>
Subject: Nixon White House Considered Nuclear Options Against North
Vietnam, Declassified Documents Reveal
National Security Archive Update, July 31, 2006
Nixon White House Considered Nuclear Options Against North Vietnam,
Declassified Documents Reveal
New Evidence Adds Historical Context to Current Debate about Nuclear Attack
on Iran Nuke Sites
http://www.nsarchive.org
For more information contact:
William Burr - 202/994-7000
Jeffrey Kimball - 513/529-5121
Washington, DC, 31 July 2006 - The Bush White House's reported interest in
using nuclear weapons against Iran's nuclear energy complex is but the most
recent example of how American officials since the administration of Harry
S. Truman have given serious thought to employing such weapons in crisis
situations. Details about one of these episodes were revealed today in a set
of formerly top secret documents published by the National Security Archive
that appear to confirm rumors and secondhand reports that President Richard
M. Nixon and his national security adviser, Henry A. Kissinger, discussed
the option of using tactical nuclear weapons against North Vietnam as part
of preparations for operation "Duck Hook," which was scheduled to be
launched against North Vietnam in early November 1969.
According to a memorandum from Kissinger aides Anthony Lake and Roger Morris
to Pentagon military planner Captain Rembrandt Robinson, the president would
need to decide in advance how far he would be willing to go; that is,
whether the president would be willing to use tactical nuclear weapons. This
issue, staffers pointed out, could not be decided "in the midst of the
exercise." Among the "Important Questions" mentioned in another planning
document Kissinger probably forwarded to or discussed with Nixon was this
one: "Should we be prepared to use nuclear weapons?"
Nixon ultimately decided against going ahead with the Duck Hook attack plans
in 1969 and thus, as his predecessors had in prior situations, tacitly ruled
out using nuclear weapons in Vietnam--although the issue would resurface in
1972. In the end, he decided that the costs of using nuclear weapons were
higher than any conceivable political or military benefit.
Released late last year by the U.S. National Archives, these documents raise
significant questions about White House military planning against North
Vietnam. Why did Lake and Morris bring up the question of using tactical
nuclear weapons? To what extent were they responding to instructions by
Kissinger to raise the matter? Did Kissinger and Nixon believe that nuclear
weapons were potentially efficacious for use against North Vietnam in the
circumstances of 1969? To what extent did Nixon or Kissinger push for
military plans to use nuclear weapons against North Vietnam? What
considerations led Nixon and Kissinger to abandon the concept of nuclear
weapons use from their Vietnam planning?
These documents, along with an essay by Archive senior analyst Dr. William
Burr and Dr. Jeffrey Kimball of Miami University, were published today on
the Archive's Web site.
http://www.nsarchive.org
________________________________________________________
THE NATIONAL SECURITY ARCHIVE is an independent non-governmental research
institute and library located at The George Washington University in
Washington, D.C. The Archive collects and publishes declassified documents
acquired through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). A tax-exempt public
charity, the Archive receives no U.S. government funding; its budget is
supported by publication royalties and donations from foundations and
individuals.
From: Chung Nguyen <Chung.Nguyen@umb.edu>
Date: Jul 31, 2006 2:16 PM
Subject: Re: [Vsg] Nixon Considered Nuclear Options Against North Vietnam, Declassified Documents Reveal
There is a quote in the essay by Dr. William Burr and Dr. Jeffrey Kimball of
Miami University
in the NSA archive that appears really startling. It's a response by NVN
negotiator Le Duc Tho
to Kissinger at a meeting in Paris on December 4, 1972:
"we . . . sometimes think that you would also use atomic weapons because
during the resistance against the French, Vice President Nixon proposed the
use of atomic weapons. . . . If we do not achieve . . . [our] goal in our
lifetime our children will continue the struggle. . . . We have been
subjected to tens of millions of bombs and shells. The equal of . . . 600
atomic bombs. . . . The simple truth is that we will not submit and
reconcile ourselves to being slaves. So your threats and broken promises, we
say, that is not a really serious way to carry on negotiations." (Note 8)
Nguyen Ba Chung
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