But any prudent military commander carefully selects the terrain on which to stand and fight, and no great captain has ever been blamed for a successful tactical withdrawal. All told, some 55,000 sorties had been flown during the year, nearly half of them on attack (strike and flak suppression) missions, and three-fourths of them as armed reconnaissance rather than JCS-directed fixed target strikes. The Pentagon papers ultimately led to a Supreme Court decision that gave greater protection to journalists. . Commit US forces as necessary in direct actions against North Vietnam. American diplomat and U.S. ambassador Le Duc Tho was the main negotiator for the Communist government of North Vietnam. Above all, Lodge has virtually no official contact with Harkins. 4. Summary. Lodge's newly-designated deputy, David Nes, was with us and seems a highly competent team player. If additional PAVN forces were employed in South Vietnam on a scale sufficient to counter increased US troop strength [which the SNIE said was "almost certain" to happen] this would substantially increase the amount of supplies needed in the South. Pentagon Papers Part IV. "Excerpt from the Pentagon Papers (1963–1964) As a national writer for the Times based in Washington, Sheehan was the first to obtain the Pentagon Papers, a massive history of U.S. involvement in … The Pentagon Paperswas a 47-volume document chronicling the history of the U.S.’s political and military involvement in Vietnam from World War II to the document’s creation. d. Overfly Laos and Cambodia to whatever extent is necessary for acquisition of operational intelligence. Such "strategic" targets had not been entirely exempted from attack, of course, but they had been exempted from attack where they counted most, in the sanctuary areas. Encyclopedia.com. Because of this conviction, we are wholly in favor of executing the covert actions against North Vietnam which you have recently proposed to the President. We are not bombing in the Hanoi . Thailand, less strong today than a month ago by virtue of the loss of Prime Minister Sarit, would probably be unable to withstand the pressures of infiltration from the north should Laos collapse to the communists in its turn. And a minor third, at but 10%, was "to permit the people of SVN to enjoy a better, freer way of life.". Plans for Covert Action into North Vietnam were prepared as we had requested and were an excellent job. Our experience in the war thus far leads us to conclude that, in this respect, we are not to now giving sufficient attention to the broader area problems of Southeast Asia. Memorandum, "Vietnam Situation," from Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara to President Lyndon B. Johnson, Dec. 21, 1963. He had worked as an aide to McNaughton from 1964 to 1965, had worked on the study for several months in 1967, and Gelb and Halperin approved his access to the work at RAND in 1969. bridges. Our efforts may be unproductive until the tide begins to turn, but nevertheless they should be made. At the same time, McNamara argued for a substantial intensification of the air war. For the Secretary, it meant an open-ended commitment. We're not seeking to widen the war. . Thirdly, realistic pacification plans must be prepared, allocating adequate time to secure the remaining government-controlled areas and work out from there. The Hoa Hao have already made some sort of agreement, and the Cao Dai are expected to do so at the end of this month. All three fields must be integrated into a single, broad US program for Southeast Asia. . Justice Hugo Black. In my view, a deep commitment of United States forces in a land war in South Viet-Nam would be a catastrophic error. The approval cycle shifted from one-week to two-week target packages. It may be politically easier for North Vietnam to accept negotiations and/or to make concessions at a time when bombing of their territory is not currently taking place.c. In accordance with your direction at the meeting, General Krulak of the JCS is chairing a group that will lay out a program in the next ten days for our consideration. The country is bled white from twenty years of war and the people are sick of it. New fixed targets from the JCS list of major targets, which grew from 94 to 236 by the end of the year, continued to be selected in Washington. A Supreme Court case, The New York Times v. United States (1971) ruled that the publication of the papers was constitutional, claiming the government's attempt to keep the papers secret infringed upon the First Amendment. Coordinate with other influences on the DRV. But different amounts of effort and different political prices may be paid depending on how and where it is done. So long as full victory in the South appears likely, the effect of the bombing program in promoting negotiations or a settlement will probably be small. A. The paper immediately began publishing excerpts from the Pentagon Papers, along with analytical articles. South Vietnamese military and political leader; president of the Republic of Vietnam, 1967–75 By the end of 1965 total ROLLING THUNDER attack sorties had levelled off to about 750 per week and total sorties to a little over 1500 per week. Evolution of the War. 5. for all those reasons it seems unwise at this time . Ellsberg approached Nixon's National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger, Senators William Fulbright and George McGovern, and others, but none … The Washington Post followed suit closely thereafter, going to press even after the Times was hit with an injunction; Post journalist Ben Bagdikian (himself a … U.S. resources and personnel cannot usefully be substantially increased. . In McNaughton's view the principal U.S. aim was "to avoid a humiliating US defeat (to our reputation as a guarantor)." President of South Vietnam, 1954–1963 Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. The Pentagon Papers (Daniel Ellsberg) Trial: An Account, The Daniel Ellsberg (Pentagon Papers) Trial: A Chronology, The Daniel Ellsberg (Pentagon Papers) Trial: Selected Images, Walter Cronkite, Anchor for the CBS Evening News, Interviews Daniel Ellsberg, Richard Nixon Discusses the Pentagon Papers Case: Recorded Conversations With Aides, The United States Supreme Court Oral Argument, New York Times v. United States ["Pentagon Papers" Case], The Trial of Daniel Ellsberg and Anthony Russo: The Indictment, United States v Daniel Ellsberg and Anthony Russo (1973), Case Dismissed:Judge Matthew Byrne's Ruling in the Trial of Daniel Ellsberg and Anthony Russo (May 11, 1973), The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (2009), Daniel Ellsberg ("Pentagon Papers") Trial (1972-73): Selected Links & Bibliography. Faced with this gloomy situation, the leading question on the U.S. agenda for Vietnam was a further major escalation of troop commitments, together with a call-up of reserves, extension of military tours, and a general expansion of the armed forces. As remedial measures, we must get the government to re-allocate its military forces so that its effective strength in these provinces is essentially doubled. Once published, the papers fueled the already strong antiwar movement by underscoring the relative impossibility of concluding the war in a manner favorable to the Americans. Ellsberg served with the Marines in Vietnam and came back disillusioned. Secondly, General Westmoreland believes that an attack on that would lead to an attack on the petroleum dumps outside of Saigon that contain eighty percent of the petroleum storage for SVN. At that point, in not very propitious circumstances, the Administration halted the bombing entirely, and for 37 days, from 24 December 1965 to 31 January 1966, pursued a vigorous diplomatic offensive to get negotiations started to end the war. (f) Communists remain quiescent in Laos and Thailand. This kind of criticism of the bombing concentrated on the most conspicuous aspect of the program, the strikes against fixed targets, and it faulted the program for failing to focus on the kinds of targets which strategic bombing had made familial' in World War II-power plants, oil depots, harbor facilities, and factories. The new government is the greatest source of concern. This is what we wish to avoid. I am wondering if your policy has actually changed now in regard to the targets. It is indecisive and drifting. The VC had launched a drive "to dismember the nation and maul the army"; since 1 June the GVN had been forced to abandon six district capitals and had only retaken one. But he recommended that the infiltration routes be hit hard, "at least to put a 'ceiling' on what can be infiltrated;" and he recommended that the limit on targets be 'Just short" of population targets, the China border, and special targets like SAM sites which might trigger Soviet or Chinese reactions. In general, the infiltration problem, while serious and annoying, is a lower priority than the key problems discussed earlier. 3. The new government is the greatest source of concern. General Vo Nguyen Giap was the leader of the North Vietna…, Born January 3, 1901 The Joint Chiefs of Staff consider that the strategic importance of Vietnam and of Southeast Asia warrants preparations for the actions above and recommend that the substance of this memorandum be discussed with the. In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. The U.S. Justice Department had forced the New York Times and Washington Post to stop publishing leaked Pentagon Papers excerpts in June 1971. In short, if "the U.S. commitment" were once seen to be unreliable, the risk of the outbreak of general war would vastly increase. Quang Binh Province, Vietnam McNaughton wrote that "meaningful negotiations" were unlikely until the situation began to look gloomier for the VC, and that even with 200,000400,000 U.S. troops in SVN the chances of a "win" by 1968 (i.e., in the next 2½, years) were only 50-50. . Pentagon Papers Part IV. . The Pentagon Papers Federal Trials and Great Debates in United States History. A. . . The Secretary went on to explain why he felt that an absolute commitment was necessary: The integrity of the U.S. commitment is the principal pillar of peace throughout the world. By Margaret Wolf Freivogel | Post-Dispatch file article. The Mekong route (and also the possible sea entry) is apparently used for heavier weapons and ammunition and raw materials which have been turning up in increasing numbers in the south and of which we have captured a few shipments. The Pentagon Papers, officially titled "Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense … In anticipation of the trip, McNaughton prepared a memo summarizing his assessment of the problem. we are seeking by our bombing in North Vietnam to reduce and make more costly the movement of men and supplies from North Vietnam into South Vietnam for the support of the Viet Cong operations in South Vietnam. 12. Therefore, it’s best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publication’s requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. Our considerations, furthermore, cannot be confined entirely to South Vietnam. "Excerpt from the Pentagon Papers (1963–1964) . THE COMPLETE PENTAGON PAPERS ONLINE (NATIONAL ARCHIVES SITE) "Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force" (7,000 pages in pdf format) (first made fully available to public in 2011) Excerpt: [From The Pentagon Papers, Gravel Edition, Volume 4, Chapter 1, "The Air War in Vietnam, 1965-1968"] 2. To counter this infiltration, we reviewed in Saigon various plans providing for cross-border operations into Laos. The Pentagon Papers: Excerpt and Links. The Secretary's arguments had difficult sledding, however. Previously in his paper he had listed "nine fundamental elements" of a favorable outcome. is directed against traffic moving on roads and railroads, and the other portion . . Like the DPM, it called for interdicting the movement of "war supplies" into NVN by mining the major ports and cutting the rail and highway bridges on the LOCs from China to Hanoi; mounting intensive armed reconnaissance against all LOCs and LOC facilities within NVN; destroying the "war-making" supplies and facilities of NVN, especially POL; and destroying airfields and SAM sites as necessary to accomplish the other tasks. 2021
. The bombing of the North, coupled with the deployment of substantial forces should not look like an effort to soften up NVN for an invasion. Credit... Mike Lien/The New York Times. The document set in motion a chain of events that ended not only the Nixon presidency but the Vietnam War. There were certain reservations with respect to the above estimate. Of the two possibilities 1 think humiliation would be more likely than the achievement of our objectives--even after we have paid terrible costs. Vo Nguyen Giap Our first need would be immediate U-2 map-ping of the whole Laos and Cambodian border, and this we are preparing on an urgent basis. In defending the policy of not attacking the powerplants and POL sites concentrated in the Hanoi/Haiphong area, the Secretary did not stress the interdiction purposes of the bombing but rather the risks of widening the war. Washington, D.C., June 5, 2001 – Thirty years ago this month, President Nixon picked up his Sunday New York Times on June 13, 1971 to see the wedding picture of his daughter Tricia and himself in the Rose Garden, leading the left-hand side of the front page. I have directed a modest artillery supplement, and also the provision of uniforms for the Self Defense Corps, which is the most exposed force and suffers from low morale. supremecourtopinions.com. For the Under-Secretary of State, this meant an early withdrawal from Vietnam. Current trends, unless reversed in the next 2–3 months, will lead to neutralization at best and more likely to a Communist-controlled state. Cambodia apparently has estimated that our prospects in South Vietnam are not promising and, encouraged by the actions of the French, appears already to be seeking an accommodation with the communists. Beverly, Massachusetts Encyclopedia.com. . Retrieved April 04, 2021 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/excerpt-pentagon-papers-1963-1964. On Sunday June 13, 1971, the New York Times ran a three-column, front-page story containing excerpts from the Pentagon Papers. f. Arm, equip, advise, and support the Government of Vietnam in its conduct of aerial bombing of critical targets in North Vietnam and in mining the sea approaches to that country. It stated: Over the longer term we doubt if the Communists are likely to change their basic strategy in Vietnam (i.e., aggressive and steadily mounting insurgency) unless and until two conditions prevail: (l) they are forced to accept a situation in the war in the South which offers them no prospect of an early victory and no grounds for hope that they can simply outlast the US and (2) North Vietnam itself is under continuing and increasingly damaging punitive attack. . We also need to have major increases in both military and USOM staffs, to sizes that will give us a reliable, independent U.S. appraisal of the status of operations. New York Times Co. v. United States , (per curiam) 403 U.S. 713, 91 S. Ct. 2140, 29 L. Ed. We want to avoid that if we possibly can. For the first time ever, all three major editions of the Pentagon Papers are being made available simultaneously online. . An excerpt from The Doomsday Machine, which was published this month by Bloomsbury. Facing a decision with these kinds of implications, the President wanted more information and asked McNamara to go on another fact-gathering trip to Vietnam before submitting his final recommendations on a course of action. Content of the Pentagon Papers Cutting our Losses in South Vietnam supply and. Mansfield with respect to sensitive targets team player as 1965 ended, the infiltration,... 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