27. Transcript of Telephone Conversation Between President Nixon and the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger)1
[Omitted here is discussion unrelated to Indochina.]
P: Good. Now on this other thing—the strike—we’re going to try to plan that for the weekend.
K: Or early next week.
P: But let’s be damn sure now that we really have something to hit. I just don’t want to fly a lot of stuff over there.
K: Well, we’re hitting in Cambodia now.
P: That’s good. But step it up. I mean, I see no reason not to really whack the hell out of them in Cambodia.
K: the question is whether we should hit also on the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
P: On the Trail, I understand. But if they’re continuing to violate the thing, I think we’ve just got to—but if there’s enough. But you know, these Trail things, you remember—the point is not to use an F–105 to hit one truck. None of that crap!
K: No, no, but they are going day and night now. So we could fly during the daytime. We could do a 24-hour thing and we’d probably raise a lot of hell. I mean, it would be basically a shot across the bow.
P: It wouldn’t stop it but it would maybe frighten them a little.
K: Which is what we want.
P: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, I’ll look it over. Thank you.
K: Right, Mr. President.
- Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, Henry A. Kissinger Telephone Conversation Transcripts, Box 19, Chronological File. No classification marking.↩