Office of the Historian

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

Washington, December 23, 1971, 11:08 a.m.–12:46 p.m.

SUBJECT

  • Laos

PARTICIPATION

  • Chairman—Henry A. Kissinger
  • State
    • Mr. U. Alexis Johnson
    • Mr. William Sullivan
  • DOD
    • Mr. G. Warren Nutter
    • Mr. Dennis Doolin
    • Mr. Armistead Selden
    • Major Curtis Cook
  • JCS
    • Adm. Thomas H. Moorer
    • Lt. Gen. John Vogt
  • CIA
    • Mr. Thomas Karamessines
    • Mr. William Nelson
  • NSC Staff
    • Col. Richard T. Kennedy
    • Mr. John H. Holdridge
    • Mr. John Negroponte
    • R/Adm. Robert Welander
    • Mr. Mark Wandler

SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS

It was agreed that:

  • —A memorandum will be prepared for the President, giving him three options on the level and nature of our responses to the North Vietnamese attacks in Laos. The three options are: (1) Reinforcing the line defending Long Tieng as well as placing significant infantry and artillery forces in a position to defend against encroachments on the junction of routes 7 and 13; (2) Maintaining a strong defense of the Long Tieng line; (3) Diverting forces to routes 7 and 13 from the Long Tieng line.
  • —Maximum U.S. air support—both tactical and B–52s—should be provided.
  • —Dr. Kissinger will obtain the President’s guidance on what steps, if any, to take to overcome the problem caused by the Congressional ceiling of $350 million for expenditures in Laos in FY 72.2
  • —The State Department will draft a response from the President to Prime Minister Thanom of Thailand, concerning the use of additional Thai regulars in Laos.3
  • —Consideration should be given to the idea of making a public explanation of why we are increasing our air activity in Laos.

[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; Sensitive. The meeting took place in the Stuation Room of the White House.↩
  2. On October 4, the Senate adopted an amendment sponsored by Senator Symington to the Defense Procurement bill (HR 8687) that limited U.S. expenditures in Laos to $350 million. (Congress and the Nation, 1969–1972, Vol. III, pp. 916–920)↩
  3. Sent as telegram 230898 to Bangkok, December 24; see Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, volume XX, Southeast Asia, 1969–1972, Document 148.↩