70. Editorial Note

Because he “had the feeling” that the U.S. Government was “proceeding at too leisurely a pace,” President Nixon made his views about assistance to Cambodia directly known to his senior staff (including Kissinger, Helms, Packard, Moorer, Johnson, Green, Pickering, and Holdridge) at the Washington Special Actions Group meeting of June 15, 1970. (National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–114, WSAG Minutes, Originals, 1969– 1970) After initial discussion among these advisers, the President entered the room and, according to a June 17 memorandum from Kissinger to Helms, Johnson, Packard, and Moorer, immediately reaffirmed that it “is our national policy to preserve the neutrality and integrity of Cambodia. It is important for such countries as Indonesia, Thailand and Laos to know that we are standing firm; we must keep the psychological factor in mind.” (Central Intelligence Agency, Job 80–B01285 A, Executive Registry Files, DCI Eyes Only Files 1970, Box 11 of 13)

According to the WSAG minutes, the President said that the “situation might appear dubious” in Cambodia but that he equated the current views “with the decisions which he had made on March 17 regarding the defense of Long Tieng in Laos. There we had decided to use our air power and commit the Thailand battalions. It had been a close decision, but this decision had eventually had some effect. We had perhaps saved the decision for another year.” (National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–114, WSAG Minutes, Originals, 1969–1970)

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“Regarding the Thais, the President mentioned that he knew the legal arguments and problems, but even Frank Church and several other Senators who had objected to Americans in Cambodia understood the principle of Asians helping Asians. This might be a costly business, and Congress didn’t like it, but the South Vietnamese, the Thai, the Indonesians, and others had an economic excuse for not assisting on their own. In addition, there would be a great psychological effect.” (Ibid.) The complete minutes of the June 15 WSAG meeting are in Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, volume VI, Document 326.