US Presidency
1971

Every, decision I have made in the past and every decision I make in the future will have the purpose of achieving that goal. Let me review now two decisions I have made which have contributed to the achievements of our goals in Vietnam that you have seen on this chart. The first was the destruction of enemy bases in Cambodia. You will recall that at the time of that decision, many expressed fears that we had widened the war, that our casualties would increase, that our troop withdrawal program would be delayed. Now I don't question the sincerity of those who expressed these fears. But we can see now they were wrong. American troops were out of Cambodia in 60 days, just as I pledged they would be. American casualties did not rise; they were cut in half. American troop withdrawals were not halted or delayed; they continued at an accelerated pace. Now let me turn to the Laotian operation.