Office of the Historian

136. Summary of Conclusions of a Meeting of the Washington Special Actions Group1

Washington, February 23, 1971, 2:20 p.m.–3:10 p.m.

SUBJECT

  • Laos

PARTICIPATION

  • Chairman—Henry A. Kissinger
  • State
    • Under Secretary John N. Irwin
    • Ambassador William Sullivan
    • Mr. Robert J. McCloskey
  • Defense
    • Mr. David Packard
    • Mr. Daniel Henkin
  • CIA
    • Mr. Richard Helms
    • Mr. George Carver
  • JCS
    • Adm. Thomas H. Moorer
    • Lt. Gen. John W. Vogt
  • White House
    • Mr. Ronald L. Ziegler2
  • NSC Staff
    • B/Gen. Alexander M. Haig
    • Col. Richard T. Kennedy
    • Mr. John H. Holdridge
    • Mr. D. Keith Guthrie

SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS

With regard to press policy on the military operations in southern Laos, the WSAG:

(1)
Reaffirmed the responsibility of the Press Secretary to the President to coordinate on a daily basis press guidance for USG agencies in Washington.
(2)
Agreed that United States and South Vietnamese Government representatives in Vietnam should play a larger role in providing information on the southern Laos operations to the press and that USG spokesmen in Washington should as a general rule avoid dealing with day-to-day operational matters.
(3)
Agreed that greater emphasis should be given in press briefings and statements to explaining the overall concepts and objectives of the operations in southern Laos.
(4)
Endorsed a Defense Department instruction calling for General Abrams and General Weyand to schedule an early press briefing to explain the objectives of the southern Laos operations and their contribution [Page 417] to the safety of US troops and the continuation of US troop withdrawals.
(5)
Endorsed facilitation of travel of US correspondents to the area of operations in southern Laos on a carefully planned basis.
(6)
Decided to continue the ban on backgrounding on the southern Laos operations by State and Defense Department officials in Washington.

[Omitted here are the minutes of the meeting.]

  1. Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–115, WSAG Meetings Minutes, Originals, 1971. Top Secret; Nodis. The meeting took place in the Situation Room of the White House.↩
  2. Not present at the beginning of the meeting. [Footnote in the original.]↩