152. Transcript of a Telephone Conversation Between President Nixon and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Moorer)1
PRESUS: Hello. Ans: Good morning, Mr. President, how are you?
PRESUS: Fine, Admiral, what is the morning report today on Laos? Ans: Things are going pretty well. As you know, the weather is tough, but we still are managing to fly a bit.
PRESUS: Still no opening in the weather in the north to hit those three passes? Ans: No, sir, we have a satellite picture and it shows that the area is still covered with clouds but the weather, as a whole, is moving out and should be favorable in the next 48 hours. I think it is going to be bad inside . . .
PRESUS: Is it bad inside Laos? Ans: It is bad but yesterday we were able to fly 387 fixed wing sorties in addition we saw a significant reduction in traffic flow to the south on the main highways down north. Significantly within the general area that they are carrying out their plan to move down Highway 914. As you probably have noticed in the papers this morning there was quite a bit on the FSB Lolo. Actually, what has happened there is that they have just moved to higher ground at the same point. But the newspapers are suggesting that they “fled”—this is not the case.
PRESUS: This is just a typical newspaper story. Ans: They have been in contact with various elements of the enemy throughout the entire area of where 914 and 9 join and the B52s are also working in there. That is the SVN are moving down to . . . all up and down . . . Highway 914. By and large the movement through that general area is certainly severely disrupted. So I think it is going right along. I think when the weather improves which is bound to do in a day or so they will be more effective in some of the helicopter work and TACAIR work which has been going on.
PRESUS: They are going ahead pretty well, at least the plan is still coming off? Ans: The SVN are still set to hang in there for 3 or 4 weeks.
PRESUS: Are they going to move to the South? Ans: Yes and that is a good idea and not just sit in their positions.
PRESUS: The traffic can’t get through them? Ans: No since they are moving back and forth but I am watching these very carefully especially [Page 461] the road connecting Highway 23 which connects to the one to the West 9 and 912 the old complex Ho Chi Minh Trail, to the east—they are attempting to reconstruct that crossroad (east and west). I think the fact that they have been going to such effort . . . the fact that they are going ahead before established defenses or anything of that kind indicates how desperate they are. I have ordered Gen Clay to watch this daily and he has sent me pictures of the road. I have ordered him to seed the road with delayed action bombs and to see to it that they don’t use the road to the west. Traffic is very light. As you know, there are four irregular battalions on that road and last night the action was light knocking off some construction vehicles. But overall it is very good both north and south of Tchepone area. I think we are really working on them.
PRESUS: I noticed a couple of days ago they have got a few more tanks with airplanes? [Ans:] Yes, sir, last night on Highway 9 five were destroyed and two were damaged so that shows how effective it has been.
PRESUS: This is bound to have some effect on these people. Ans: They have lost nearly 100 tanks. Every time they bring them down they will get knocked off. They are trying to cover them up with bamboo and trying everything to make them blend in with the terrain but they are picking them out and working on them. I don’t think the tanks have been of any real impact on this operation because the losses have been so heavy. We do have word that they are bringing some more tanks that are still in NVN but they will get picked off when they get down there.
PRESUS: When the “window” opens you should be able to get alot of stuff in those passes. Ans: Yes it will be a job for them simply to supply these troops over and above their efforts to push the supplies through and much of the sensor activity we have been watching is related to their military actions in a local sense and transfer of supplies all the way through their system.
PRESUS: I guess the people and truck traffic is heavy down below, too. Ans: It is very significantly reduced down below.
PRESUS: How is the morale of the SVN? Hanging in there pretty good? Ans: They are fighting well and we have no indications otherwise. Of course, they are commencing rotation of units to give them a little rest but they have to do that in normal combat and that is going to help solve some of their problems to take these people out and put them in their regular bases. The Marines have rotated and the Airborne, too, this is a part of an orderly, regular process of rotating on the line.
PRESUS: I guess the Khe Sanh attack was pretty much built up in the newspapers? In terms of damage? Ans: There was no serious damage although 10 helicopters were hit with fragments, 8 still are operational [Page 462] and two of them can be repaired right away. There was no real significant damage although it was hit with a heavy attack but, as you know the mortar rockets are not very accurate at all and in some cases they simply prop them with sticks and get a pretty good feel for the angle and just lunge forward—like a shotgun—it is not very accurate.
PRESUS: Keep your eyes on the passes will you? Ans: Every day, sir.
PRESUS: I want to get a report on that weather. Once you get a “window” you will be able to go in in about two days? Ans: We are going to hit them the minute it opens up, the very instant.
PRESUS: That’s fine; that’s good.
- Source: National Archives, RG 218, Records of the Chairman, Moorer Diary, July 1970–July 1974. No classification marking.↩