HENRY A. KISSINGER

STRICTLY PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL

January 22, 1985

Dear Mr. Prime Minister:

I have just returned to the United States and I want to lose no more time to thank you for the extraordinarily cordial manner in which I was received by your government. For me the high point was the conversation with you. I hope you will not consider it presumptous if I tell you that in my many meetings with heads of government over two decades I have never been more impressed and indeed moved than by what you said to me so eloquently and so simply.

While I was in Pakistan I took the liberty of telling President Zia of my conviction of your sincerity and seriousness, not as a message from you but as my own impression. I also told him that it seemed to me imperative for Pakistan to make some gesture to indicate that it reciprocated your good will. I particularly mentioned the issue of the hijackers and of Pakistan supported Sikh agitation.

With respect to the hijackers, President Zia gave me his firm promise that they would be tried in March after his election and under the hijacking law which carries the death penalty. He would make an announcement to that effect sometime in February.

SUITE 1100 • 55 EAST FIFTY-SECOND STREET • NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10055 • (212) 759-7919

HENRY A. KISSINGER

January 22, 1985

Dear Mr. Prime Minister:

...Western Europe, p. 2

Asia, p. 12

Communist Countries, p. 14

VIETNAM: PRIVATE PARIS TALKS END

Summary

Foreign media reported the conclusion of Henry Kissinger's private talks with North Vietnamese representatives in Paris and sought signs of progress toward peace.

In the absence of hard news from either side, commentators speculated on possible achievements. These were examples:

--The *Times* of London reported speculation that Mr. Kissinger would "shortly return to Paris to pursue the prospect of a negotiated settlement in time for the election."

--*Figaro* of Paris, which like most French observers had developed some optimism as the talks were extended, today asserted in a headline that peace prospects "have darkened."

--*Die Welt* of Hamburg saw "no visible evidence of success."

--Italian TV's New York correspondent said Mr. Kissinger's mission had "contributed to clarification of the various positions and even to a rapprochement, but it seems premature to talk of an agreement."

Media in many countries noted that the U.S. had apologized to France for the damage to the French mission in Hanoi but had not directly acknowledged that U.S. bombs had caused it.

The *Times* of London called the incident "inexplicable... It is hard to imagine any act of war... which could go more sharply against the professed policy of President Nixon of reaching a settlement." French media concentrated on the fact that the negotiations continued and said U.S. -French relations would not be adversely affected.

Monitored Communist media condemned the bombing. Hanoi's *Nhan Dan* called it a "deliberate and wanton" act. Peking *People's Daily* said it demonstrated U.S. "brutality and savagery."

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London: Signs of Progress?

British media today searched for signs of progress in the secret Paris talks following Mr. Kissinger's departure for Washington. Yesterday commentators expressed dismay at the bombing that damaged the French mission in Hanoi, which most took to be a regrettable miscalculation-- either political or technical.

Today's independent *Times* of London carries a story from Washington reporting speculation that Mr. Kissinger "would shortly return to Paris to pursue the prospect of a negotiated settlement in time for the election."

Yesterday the paper's diplomatic correspondent wrote that "whatever connection there may be between the Vietnam negotiations in Paris and Mr. Nixon's re-election campaign... the fact remains that the talks could not have been more brilliantly timed from any point of view, including the electoral one....

"If, as part of a settlement, President Thieu is replaced, Mr. Nixon cannot be criticized by the Democrats for that, and if a new regime in South Vietnam is set up and appears to be protected for a time against Communist domination, then the Administration can claim that it has at least won better terms than Mr. McGovern would have accepted....

"As for the North Vietnamese, those of their leaders who want a settlement have long argued that the best moment to clinch matters is just before the American elections."

Bombing of French Mission "Inexplicable"

The paper yesterday carried an editorial terming the bombing of Hanoi on Wednesday "inexplicable," because "it is hard to imagine any act of war... which could go more sharply against the professed policy of President Nixon of reaching a settlement." Asserting that "the American military has a mind of its own," the paper cited the case of General Lavelle as showing "how a commander in the field could order bombing on his own initiative..." and added, "It may be that yesterday's action comes into this category."

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"Chance of Gain for Le Duc Tho?"

The influential weekly London *Economist*, out today, said in an editorial that it was "hard to see why Le Duc Tho should have been ready to spend four whole days helping Mr. Nixon to persuade the American electorate that peace may be breaking out, unless he has seen the chance of gaining something for his side... Either North Vietnam thinks that it might bulldoze the Americans into something much more like surrender before" election day than afterwards, or it has decided that "peace on some acceptable terms is now in its interests and that, as President Nixon is going to be re-elected anyway, it might as well earn his gratitude by holding the first stage of the vital talks now...."

Remarking that the North Vietnamese at this moment "appear to be voting Republican, like three-fifths of the voters in the U.S.," the editorial reasons:

"On the assumption that the North Vietnamese are not voting Republican out of a love for President Nixon's beautiful eyes, the odds are therefore that both sides think that there is a possibility that peace terms can be worked out which would be acceptable to both of them."

"Bomb Probably a Clean Miss"

A Washington correspondent of the liberal *Guardian* of Manchester and London pointed out: "Significantly, the State Department has ceased to reiterate the U.S. negotiating posture. All that it will now say is that the negotiations are 'sensitive'.... This suggests that there may have been movement on the American side. The next developments are expected in Washington to include further talks in Saigon."

The paper noted yesterday in an editorial that Hanoi had accused the U.S. of bombing the French mission deliberately and remarked, "In a twisted way this, if true, would uphold the myth of the deadeye bomber pilot. It is far more likely, however, that it was a clean miss--into the center of Hanoi."
The editorial went on to consider aspects of the current negotiations. It asserted:

"The prolonged delicacy of the talks between Dr. Kissinger and Le Duc Tho with France playing host, reflect President

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Nixon's ambitions to boost further the size of his expected
victory over Mr. McGovern. There have been suggestions
that France may have been playing a role more important
than that simply of the generous host. From this point of
view, the destruction of the French mission in Hanoi could
not have been more badly timed.... but it is unlikely the
talks will be directly affected."

In a Washington dispatch carried today by the conservative London *Daily Telegraph* a correspondent reported "persistent speculation" in the U. S. capital on "suggestions that the Hanoi negotiators are offering to drop their insistence on excluding President Thieu... from an interim coalition." He remarked that "the present flurry of diplomatic activity is doing no harm to President Nixon's election campaign."

Yesterday the paper noted that the Hanoi incident "had no apparent effect on the high-pressure peace talks being conducted in the French capital... The French Government has sensibly taken a low-key attitude to the episode and clearly will not let it interfere with the use of Paris as the site for the peace talks."

"U. S. Must Be More Flexible on Thieu"

The independent London *Financial Times* today ran a dispatch from Washington saying the U. S. "must exhibit far greater flexibility on the crucial issue of the future of President Thieu and his regime..." On the issue of POWs it said "the French experience suggests that North Vietnam would be unlikely to hold the POWs hostage after it became clear that the U. S. withdrawal was going to be a complete one..." The paper concluded:

"Ultimately North Vietnam's willingness to go for a settlement will be heavily influenced by its leaders' own reading of the U. S. political situation. They must be convinced that Mr. Nixon is a sure winner if they do not try to force his hand by mounting a last-minute all-out offensive which might just tip the electoral balance to Senator McGovern..."

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"The aging ideological purists in Hanoi have been fighting for two decades for control of the South. Nobody can be certain yet whether their will and ability to fight on has been seriously diminished. But if the road to peace is found through negotiations, the real test of any settlement will be whether it truly circumscribes Hanoi's influence over the South."

## Paris: "Prospects Have Darkened"

French media, which had developed an optimistic tone during the Kissinger visit, generally turned today to pessimistic assessments of the situation.

For example, today's moderately conservative Figaro of Paris headlined, "Prospects for Vietnam Agreement Have Darkened." Left-of-center Combat wrote, "Vietnam: A Mountain of Obstacles. Kissinger and Le Duc Tho Leave Paris Without Breaking Deadlock."

## Report of Hanoi Withdrawal Agreement

However, the early edition of pro-Government mass-circulation France-Soir reported today that Hanoi had agreed to withdraw units from South Vietnam. Its story said:

"Great strides have been made. Both sides are virtually agreed on the principles. Questions of a technical order which are not the simplest remain to be settled. That is why Hanoi and Washington decided on a respite for reflection....

"Kissinger is believed to have asked Hanoi to undertake very shortly to bring home some of its soldiers as a goodwill token in exchange for a reduction of the bombing. According to reports received yesterday in Paris, Hanoi has already given the order to withdraw..."

## Bombing Story: Little Comment

Non-Communist French media generally refrained from commenting on the bombing of the building occupied by the French representative in Hanoi, but reported that reaction in other countries was highly critical of the U.S.

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Mass-circulation pro-Government *Parisien-Libere* yesterday mentioned
the bombing only in passing in a very brief report on the Kissinger visit
buried at the bottom of an inside page.

## "Hanoi Could Have Exploited Incident"

Limited discussion concentrated on the continuation of negotiations:

Moderate-right *Aurore* noted that "Hanoi could have seized upon this as a
pretext for breaking off negotiations. It has not done so. The dialogue is
continuing.... One fact appears irrefutable: both sides are eager to carry
it through to a finish."

*Combat* said that "until the matter is cleared up, the French Government
will not renounce--far from it--the active role it has been playing for some
time in the search for a solution..."

## AFP Stories Carried Widely

Agence France-Presse, frequently cited in other countries as the source of
accounts of the bombing of the French mission, reported Wednesday night
from Paris that French Government circles, Western diplomatic circles,
and "most observers" thought it "unlikely that this act of war will have lasting
effects on Paris-Washington relations..."

It also carried a dispatch from Hanoi by Jean Thoraval reporting that "American
suggestions that a faulty North Vietnamese missile may have caused the
destruction of the French mission in Hanoi produced a wave of indignation
today among both diplomats and authoritative circles."

## TV: "Gap as Wide as Ever"

State-run French television reported that Mr. Kissinger and Mr. Le Duc Tho
had left Paris and that after the regular Thursday negotiation meeting "the
gap is as wide as ever." The U.S. apology to France was noted.

## Radio: "A 'Strangelove' Attack?"

State-run radio said it was possible that the bombing had been ordered by "some
Dr. Strangelove, some hawk" eager to torpedo the Kissinger talks.

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Hamburg: "No Visible Success"

West German papers today prominently played reports of the end of the
talks. *Die Welt* of Hamburg headlined, "No Visible Evidence of Success."
Reporting yesterday that Ambassador Watson had apologized to the French
Government, some papers speculated that the bombing incident could have
destroyed prospects of French mediation for a settlement.

"U. S., DRV Closer on Some Points"

The military analyst of independent-right *Frankfurter Allgemeine* judged
today that "dark shadows" had been cast over Franco-American relations as
a result of the bombing of the French mission in Hanoi, but he concluded
that "the basic political issues have not been affected by this deplorable
incident.

"Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho will continue to use Paris as the ideal site for their confidential discussions, and Foreign Minister Schumann will continue to offer his good offices of mediation.

"The indications are that Washington and Hanoi have drawn
closer on some basic points. Hanoi would be acting against
its own interests and against the interests of its Chinese
neighbor if it refused to participate in removing political
obstacles from the path of U.S. strategic withdrawal."

Left-center *Frankfurter Rundschau*, in an editorial titled "Symbol of Brutality,"
called the bombing incident "deplorable" and hoped that it would not be "a
setback" for the negotiations.

*Die Welt* yesterday said, "It is impossible to distinguish at this moment
between real prospects of a negotiated peace settlement and mere speculation
or propaganda." It cited recent statements by President Nixon and Secretary
Laird and judged that the U.S. was "almost certainly" ready to drop Mr. Thieu.

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It concluded:

> "...In principle, the U.S. has accepted the idea of establishing a coalition government in Saigon which would include the NLF. President Nixon has mentioned only one condition--that he will never agree to any settlement that would directly or indirectly impose a Communist government on the people of South Vietnam."

## "DRV Will Have to Make the Concessions"

Pro-Christian Democratic Muenchner Merkur of Munich wrote today that Mr. Kissinger's "mysterious missions" and President Nixon's statement on the "sensitive stage" of the Vietnam talks "may have led some to conclude that the only measure necessary to achieve peace is to overthrow President Thieu.

> "However, the facts contradict this. Thieu does not intend to resign and he cannot be induced to do this by a telegram from the White House. Moreover, President Nixon is no longer under pressure--he has lived up to his promise to 'bring the boys back home,' Vietnamization is more or less a success, Hanoi's offensive is petering out, and McGovern has fallen so far behind that there is no need for the President to make campaign promises at Thieu's expense. The situation no longer exists that would permit Hanoi to blackmail Nixon in his campaign. North Vietnam will have to make the concessions."

## TV Coverage

A second network television commentator correspondent reported Wednesday night from Washington that "no one knows at this point whether the Kissinger-Le Duc Tho talks will be successful, but for campaign purposes it is necessary that they take place even if they produce no results by November 7."

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Of Senator McGovern's televised speech he said:

> "McGovern's plan differs from other American plans not so much in its details as in its basic concept. The plan does not surrender anything not already lost and is not ruled by considerations of prestige.... The morality of American politics is more important to him than any government in Saigon."

### West Berlin: "Closer to Peace"

Pro-Social Democratic Spandauer Volksblatt concluded today that although the Kissinger-Le Duc Tho talks "have not yielded any spectacular results, there are many indications that they have come a good deal closer to peace in Indochina." The paper, noting President Thieu's address yesterday, judged he "was willing to sacrifice himself in the cause of peace" in the knowledge that without Washington support, "his hours as chief of state are numbered." Asserting that a peace agreement would improve President Nixon's chances for re-election, it concluded:

> "It may be assumed that Kissinger was not ungenerous about the offers he made to the North Vietnamese. What matters is whether Hanoi still believes in a Communist military victory or whether it has realized that it can score the same results in the long run at the bargaining table."

### Rome TV: "This Diplomacy Will Continue"

A New York correspondent of Italian TV said last night of Mr. Kissinger's mission:

> "It has contributed to a clarification of the various positions and even to a rapprochement, but it seems premature to talk of an agreement. The forecast is that this diplomacy based on transoceanic trips will continue for some time..."

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Rome radio this morning reported his return to Washington and noted:

> "Undoubtedly there has been progress, observers say, but the obstacle seems to be the withdrawal of North Vietnamese troops from South Vietnam. This has been requested by the Americans and flatly turned down by the North."

Independent _Corriere della Sera_ of Milan remarked today:

> "Skillful direction continues to keep the 007 mission of U. S. diplomacy at a spectacular level... According to Washington's most authoritative circles, the five-day talks between Kissinger and Le Duc Tho outlined the area of 'agreements in principle.'"

Socialist _Avanti_ of Rome said this morning: "The impression is that great confusion reigns in Washington about the new, wild series of U. S. raids which are aimed at exerting pressure on the Vietnamese... The electoral deadline is near and Nixon needs a diplomatic success..."

## Belgium: McGovern and Vietnam Policy

Conservative Catholic _Gazet van Antwerpen_ wrote that Senator McGovern was "facing the possibility that Nixon will beat him by ending the Vietnam war" and that the Democratic candidate was therefore returning to "the extreme position with which he began his campaign. He is thus hindering, or attempting to hinder, present negotiations in order to postpone possible concessions by Hanoi until after the verdict of the American voters."

Another conservative Catholic paper, _La Libre Belgique_ of Brussels, judged that "McGovern's offensive against Nixon's Vietnam policy has had little impact on public opinion."

## Vienna: "A Decisive Turn?"

A Paris correspondent of Socialist _Arbeiter Zeitung_ of Vienna wrote today that "informed sources speak of a decisive turn" in the bilateral talks because "both sides now seem to be willing to accept things which each earlier had termed unacceptable."

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Yesterday, the paper's New York correspondent, reporting Senator McGovern's Vietnam speech, stated "the news of Kissinger's negotiations constitutes a skillful tactic to lessen the impact" of Mr. McGovern's plan. The Senator's speech, he said, "sounded warm... a sermon... from the heart," but he judged that Administration tactics would out-maneuver the Senator.

Independent Kurier of Vienna said yesterday that the bombing of the French mission demonstrated that "the Americans deliberately continue to endanger the lives of civilians even though the secret negotiations have reached the point where the only matters of issue are points of wording in the agreement."

### Stockholm: "U.S. Act of Terror"

Liberal Dagens Nyheter of Stockholm yesterday judged the Hanoi bombing "a deliberate effort to put an ultimate emphasis on the fact that no one is any longer safe from the bombs, not even in the heretofore rather safe Vietnamese capital...."

"Nixon escalates in this very moment because he thinks American supremacy in the air will press the enemy to make concessions at the negotiating table... Nixon is in a hurry. That is why he is now seen in an act of terror. It is his actions which will be judged--judged against McGovern, who can only offer common sense and morality."

### "Sabotage by U.S. Military?"

The principal editorial of conservative Svenska Dagbladet yesterday expressed doubt that it was "Washington's intention" to bomb the center of Hanoi just when Mr. Kissinger was negotiating in Paris. It suggested that "there could be only two explanations: Either the bombs were misguided or... it was deliberate sabotage against the peace efforts, sabotage by the American military."

Liberal Goteborgs-Posten said a suggestion that U.S. military leadership in Saigon carried out a deliberate raid on Hanoi "to stop an agreement with the enemy which the military feel would not be advantageous to the U.S.... must be taken for no more than it is worth because of the lack of evidence." It said

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there was stronger probability that "the U.S. has intensified the bombing against North Vietnam as a result of the critical position of the South Vietnamese forces close to Saigon..." The paper added the comment that "the coordination between the military and diplomatic efforts of the U.S. seems to be in a miserable state."

## Japanese Views of Bombing

Japan's publicly financed NHK-TV observed yesterday:

> "The bombing of the French mission appears to support Hanoi's claims that the U.S. is not only bombing military targets but also causing heavy casualties among the civilian population."

TBS-TV said prospects for a Vietnam cease-fire near the date of the U.S. Presidential election may have been delayed as a result of the bombing incident.

Moderate, occasionally left-leading Tokyo Shimbum observed today:

> "There may be reasons for the intensification of the fighting in Vietnam. The U.S. may be bombing to put pressure on North Vietnam in order to make Hanoi compromise since peace negotiations have reached the final stage.

> "The Communist side is trying to expand its area of control to prepare for a status quo cease-fire. However, shouldn't the warring parties take reciprocal steps to control the fighting at the present stage?"

## Bombay: "Crude Insensitivity"

The independent Indian Express of Bombay, New Delhi and Madras declared:

> "Much has been heard in recent months of the U.S. precision bombing in Vietnam which has taken a savage toll of hospitals, schools, churches and temples, murdering in the process inoffensive civilians of whom a fair number have been women and children...

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"Some price, of course, has to be paid in foreign lives for President Nixon's romping home safely into office again. No civilized country or government, while expressing formal regret for what it has done, would reiterate its resolve to continue the bombing. The crude insensitivity of America, which has also dropped two successive atom bombs on an Asian country, cannot easily be forgotten or forgiven...."

## Kathmandu Plays AFP Stories

Kathmandu major dailies today and yesterday gave prominent news placement to Agence France-Presse wire stories on damage to the French mission in Hanoi and ran editorials highly critical of the U.S.

Semi-official *The Rising Nepal*, largest circulation English-language daily, ran three AFP stories attributing the damage to U.S. bombers. Today's editorial was headed: "Outrage in Hanoi."

## An Israeli View

Israel's largest-circulation daily, *Maariv*, declared yesterday that the bombing incident would not disrupt the outcome of the Paris negotiations. It asserted:

"North Vietnam is tired and is just as interested in an arrangement as President Nixon, who needs it before November 7... Perhaps North Vietnam knows now it can get far better terms from the U.S. now than are possible after the election because only recently the Americans agreed to discuss a comprehensive political arrangement in Vietnam."

## Beirut: "Confirms Bombing of Civilians"

Independent *an-Nahar* of Beirut, widely read in the Middle East, declared in an editorial yesterday that "the attack" on the French mission "could be the turning point" in the Vietnam war because of the possibility that "it is the work of American military personnel unwilling to stop the war."

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"If that is not the case, the attack at least confirms for the first time that U.S. planes bomb, not only dams, but human beings as well, including diplomats."

Pro-Cairo _as-Shaab_ said the incident "confirms the evil intentions of the U.S. which wants the war to continue to satisfy the warmongers... The attack also proves that the U.S. is playing a double game--an olive branch in one hand, a poisoned dagger in the other."

## Tunis: "Normal for This War"

Independent _as-Sabah_ of Tunis said today of the bombing:

"It is normal for this dirty war, where there is no hestitation in bombing dikes and threatening the lives of millions and where no distinction is made between the streets and military targets, between churches and barracks in a capital city."

## Hanoi: "Wanton Bombing"

Hanoi's _Nhan Dan_ today called the bombing of the French mission "deliberate and wanton" and declared that the Americans were "continuing roundabout denials in an attempt to shirk their responsibility and conceal their crimes."

The paper noted the statements of Secretaries Rogers and Laird and quoted reports of the bombing by Canadian TV reporter Michael Maclear and by the AFP correspondent in Hanoi. It concluded by citing _The New York Times_ on "inherent contradictions" of the Administration's Vietnam policy.

The Hanoi wire service on Wednesday noted the Congressional report on "Operation Phoenix" and Senator McGovern's speech on Vietnam, stating that he "promised peace within 90 days" of his inauguration. A brief dispatch today cited a UPI report that Senator McGovern had denied that his was a "surrender plan."

## Le Duc Tho Statement

On his departure from Paris, Le Duc Tho told newsmen that "there are still many difficulties to settle" and that he would "return to Paris if the occasion presents itself," AFP reported.

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Peking: "Criminal Act"

People's Daily said yesterday of the bombing of the French mission:

"This barbarous criminal act of U.S. imperialism has aroused the extremely great indignation of the Vietnamese people and of peoples around the world...

"The U.S. Government has... claimed 'not to have bombed military targets' and to want to settle the Vietnam issue through negotiations. But... it has stepped up the bombings of North Vietnam and has openly announced that the bombings will 'continue.' This can only make the world see more clearly the brutality and savagery of the U.S. aggressors."

Radio Moscow Says Films Prove Attack

Moscow domestic service today reported that a U.S. military spokesman in Saigon had "cynically stated" that the damage to the French mission in Hanoi might have been caused by North Vietnamese missiles. It commented "However, this clumsy attempt to incriminate the innocent has failed completely. An eyewitness to the event, Canadian journalist Maclear, reports that he possesses exhaustive data proving the guilt of the raid. One can see American planes dropping bombs in low-level flight. On the promises of the French mission, two craters were made by the blast of the bombs, and in the ruins of the building bomb fragments with American inscriptions were found."

TASS, reporting Secretary Laird's press conference on Wednesday said, "And, in general, the Defense Secretary said with a thoughtful air, the causes why the building of the French mission was destroyed are so far difficult to establish."

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RADIO - TV
DEFENSE DIALOG

RADIO TV REPORTS INC. WASH., D.C., SUMMARIES NOT TO BE QUOTED.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1972

(BROADCASTS OF OCT 12)

SUMMARY OF NETWORK NEWS IN THIS ISSUE

MARVIN KALB, CBS-TV, John ROLFSON, ABC-TV, and Lloyd DOBBINS, NBC-TV, all report on Henry KISSINGER's four days of secret peace talks with the NVNese in Paris. There is much secrecy surrounding the talks - secrecy and speculation. But the officials are not saying a word to news men. Bill GILL, ABC-TV, also reports on the situation that may be developing for a peace settlement, again, it is only speculation that there may be a tri-party government set up in SVN.

BRUCE DUNNING, CBS-TV, and Bob JONES, NBC-TV, both report on the rally that took place in Saigon - thousands of high school and college students attended to listen to President THIEU denounce a coalition government for SVN. The crowd was apparently not very enthusiastic, however, and did not applaud THIEU during his speech.

FOSTER DAVIS, CBS-TV, Charles BURKE, ABC-TV, and Dennis TROUT, NBC-TV, all report on the hamlets hit by the enemy near Saigon. Several were overrun by the enemy and retaken by the government troops today. However, one such village was in such bad shape that there really wasn't anything to retake.

HARRY REASONER, ABC-TV, and Garrick UTLEY, NBC-TV, both report US planes continued to pound NVN, however, there was some talk about the US pilots being restricted in their bombing missions because of the damage done in the diplomatic section of Hanoi. President NIXON sent a personal note to President POMPIDOU apologizing for what damage might have been caused by US bombers to the French Embassy.

WALTER CRONKITE, CBS-TV, Harry REASONER, ABC-TV, and Garrick UTLEY, NBC-TV, all report the US lost twenty-one GI's in combat last week. That is the highest figure since a year ago. Fifty-three were reported wounded also.

WALTER CRONKITE, CBS-TV, reports that the SVNese operation against VC leaders called Phoenix operation, has come under fire by the House. Investigations indicate the US has played a role in what some believe were the deaths of some civilians in SVN.

ROGER PETERSON, ABC-TV, talks with the sister and mother of a POW, Everett ALVERAZ, who is one of the GI's held longest by the NVNese. His sister says he is still living back in 1968 and wonders about his adjustment problems when he is released by the enemy.

HARRY REASONER, ABC-TV, and Garrick UTLEY, NBC-TV, both report General Creighton ABRAMS was confirmed by the Senate as Army Chief of Staff. This came after considerable delay during investigations into unauthorized bombing raids over NVN and his possible link to that action.

JACK ANDERSON, Syndicated, reports General B. UNDERWOOD and his staff at the Army's post in the Canal Zone cost the taxpayers $2,000 for their delivery of the Washington Post daily.

FRANK MCGEE, NBC-TV, interviews Father John MCLAUGHLIN on the Today Show. Father MCLAUGHLIN is on the staff of the NIXON Administration and helps defend the Administration's war policy in VN.

PREPARED BY THE AIR FORCE (SAFAA) AS EXECUTIVE AGENT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE TO BRING TO THE ATTENTION OF KEY DOD PERSONNEL MATTERS WITHIN THEIR OFFICIAL RESPONSIBILITIES.

FOR INFORMATION REGARDING THIS PUBLICATION CALL MR. HARRY ZUBKOFF, OX 52884

CBS EVENING NEWS CBS-TV 7:00 PM

Kissinger Back In Washington

WALTER CRONKITE: Henry KISSINGER is back home tonight from his longest peace meeting yet with NVN's top negotiators.

As he arrived at Andrews Air Force Base, KISSINGER's path very nearly crossed that of the President returning from Atlanta.

MARVIN KALB: President and Mrs. NIXON arrived forty minutes before KISSINGER. Waved at a group of reporters and then boarded a helicopter for the short ride to the White House.

There later tonight, the President will get a first hand account from KISSINGER of his four days of secret talks in Paris with the NVN-ese.

KISSINGER did not meet with the communists today, but neither he nor the White House will say why he spent an extra day in the French capital.

Like every spokesman in Washington this week, KISSINGER was smiling broadly but he avoided the microphones and any official comment about his Paris negotiations.

The return of the White House advisor coincides with a fresh burst of anxiety from Saigon yesterday and today, clear nervousness from President THIEU himself.

Suggesting KISSINGER might have been negotiating the shape of a coalition government for SVN.

Informed diplomats here also believe that KISSINGER forced some time in Paris on the details of a cease fire.

All of this has spurred a great deal of speculation all over the world that progress was made in Paris this week. That a deal on the VN war is finally possible, but by no means certain.

## Thieu Says He Will Not Step Down

CRONKITE: And in Saigon today, President THIEU once again gave every indication that he would neither step down nor be part of any coalition government.

BRUCE DUNNING: Lately President THIEU has been using almost any occasion he can to make an appearance and a speech. He is determined to convince the SVNese people that he stands firm against proposals against a coalition government or against any other concession to the communists in the current round of intensive negotiations in Paris.

This occasion was a youth rally in a Saigon stadium.

Thirty-five thousand high school and university students gathered for a massive showing of support for THIEU and his government.

THIEU repeated for them the position he has consistently maintained. He said there can be no three way coalition government in SVN. The solution that is increasingly expected here.

THIEU urged the students to recall their history lessons. Which will prove to them, he said, that coalition governments mean death.

But THIEU did say that peace would come soon because, he claims, the NVNese are beaten.

They have lost heavily in their attempt to overturn his government. Now, he said, they must bargain seriously in Paris.

Not all the youngsters listened attentively to the President, but they all were galvanized by the climax of the rally.

Members of SVN's elite airborne paratroopers jumped into the stadium. Three groups of three shoot-ers (?).

The last three to jump flung smoke cannisters, spewing out the red and yellow pattern of the SVN-ese flag.

A vivid reminder that THIEU is determined to keep the colors of his government waving in the skies of VN as long as he can.

## Hamlet Destroyed Near Saigon

CRONKITE: Last night we had a report from Foster DAVIS on a battle for control of a small hamlet not far from Saigon.

DAVIS pointed out that no matter which side won that battle the real losers would be the hamlet people.

Well, tonight, that battle is finally over and we have another report.

FOSTER DAVIS: This division's infantrymen on the attack - their

2

Friday, October 13, 1972

mission, retake Phon Chu (?) hamlet,
what is left of it.

There isn't very much.

Artillery and most of all, bombs
and napalm from American and SVNese
war planes have leveled Phon Chu.

A NVNese unit, the estimate is
a company, has occupied this hamlet
for four days, twenty-two miles from
Saigon.

So, the troops moved cautiously.
Some of their friends were shot up
the first time they tried to take
it.

They move in farther, move in
farther (?), but at first they are
not fired upon. As the troops mov-
ed deeper into the shambles it be-
comes clear what has happened.

The NVNese pulled out during the
night. Perhaps because they were
getting cut up by the air strikes,
perhaps because they had accomplish-
ed their job.

If that job was to cause the
devastation of a SVNese community,
it has been done.

The troops discover that the
NVNese have not simply vanished.
The crack of communist AK-47 rifles
erupt from the open land to the
west.

The NVNese are there but these
troops won't pursue them, not now.
Their objective was the hamlet,
they are here.

And three miles down route thir-
teen are the residents of Phon Chu.
Camped out, anxious to go home.

They will be less eager when they
see their hamlet. The SVNese can
fairly claim to have retaken this
hamlet, but that is not likely to
be much comfort to the people who
call this home.

There is simply not very much
left.

Casualties Up Heavily

CRONKITE: The casualty figures
for last week in VN lists twenty-
one Americans killed in combat,
that is the highest number in more
than a year.

All but one of them were victims
of that gun turret explosion aboard
the cruiser Newport News.

The US command also reported
fifty-three Americans wounded again
mostly from the Newport News. Eight
others listed as missing or cap-
tured.

The SVNese lost four hundred and
six men and enemy dead were put at
two thousand forty-three.

Phoenix Program May Be Killing
Innocent Civilians

CRONKITE: Sometime ago, the
SVNese government initiated an
operation called the Phoenix pro-
gram which was designed to loot
out VC leaders among the civilian
population.

The operation had the full sup-
port of the American military and
for the past two years there has
been sporadic criticism of the US
role in the program.

Well, today, a House investiga-
tion committee specifically accused
the Pentagon offailing to look into
the charges that American soldiers
had participated and helped murder
a-suspected VC leaders, many of
whom may have been innocent civil-
ians.

The committee's report said
faulty intelligence may have led to
the assassination of the civilians
under the program and the report
also questioned what it called the
serious morale considerations of US
support for a program that has al-
legedly included torture, murder and
inhumane treatment of SVNese civil-
ians.

ABC EVENING NEWS ABC-TV 7:00 PM

Readjustment Of POW's Considered

HOWARD SMITH: The Pentagon is
now making plans about how it will
deal with one of the problems that
it will face when the VN war final-
ly does come to an end.

The readjustment of American
POW's after years of confinement.

ROGER PETERSON: When Everett
ALVERAZ (?) graduated from the
school of engineering here at the
University of Santa Clara in 1960,
he became the first member of his
family to get a college degree.

Four years later, LAVERAZ set
another first, he became the first
American pilot shot down and cap-
tured over NVN.

And now, more than eight years
later, he remains a prisoner in

3

Friday, October 13, 1972

Hanoi.

His family says Everett was a
quiet boy. A boy who could be
alone.

An engineer who could work math
problems in his head to keep him-
self occupied.

The qualities necessary to ad-
justing to being a prisoner of war.

If and when he is released,
ALVERAZ faces perhaps a larger ad-
justment, adjusting to what will be
for him a new US.

DELIA ALVERAZ (?): When my
brother was captured the Beatles
were just coming into the US and
getting very famous.

The country was recovering from
the assassination of President KEN-
NEDY. And I remember my brother was
seriously worried about what was
happening in Cuba.

You know, we weren't aware of
what was happening in VN in '64.

I like what my mother says though
about - in just being able to tell
the length of time that my brothers
been in prison and what has happened
as far as his career in the Navy.

Cause when he was captured, he
was a Lt. JG and he is now a Lt.
Commander and she doesn't want him
to remain in prison to become an
Admiral.

I think - that...(interrupted by
another person)

MRS. ALVERAZ: I want him home.
I don't want an Admiral in NVN.

DELIA ALVERAZ: My brother is
still living in the world of '64.

And it - it is hard to explain
to him what has happened, you know,
I have written some letters hoping
that they would get through to him
and trying to describe the Chicano
movement, you know, the grape buy-
cott, lettuce boycott, Brown - it
is proud to be Brown. There is a
black movement and I - I'm afraid
he doesn't understand it. How can
he.

I think about a year ago in his
letters he was making plans to come
home. He was already making plans
of where we can reach him - maybe in
a neutral place. That we could -
the adjustment was going to be dif-
ficult so that the family should -
should meet him outside the US if
possible.

He was talking about personal
- personal plans. And then when the
resumption of the bombing in March

or so, he stopped talking about
that.

PETERSON: His family believes
Everett ALVERAZ can adjust to com-
ing home. They are just hoping he
gets the chance.

HOWARD SMITH: Earlier this week,
it was publicly disclosed that
ALVERAZ's wife who married him only
a few months before he was shot down
and captured is filing for a div-
orce.

US Jets Continue Bombing Near Hanoi

HARRY REASONER: As the American
jets continue their raids over NVN,
there were unconfirmed reports that
the US flyers face new restrictions
on what targets they could hit in
the Hanoi area.

The US command says the destruc-
tion yesterday of the French mis-
sion in Hanoi is under investigat-
ion. A Canadian newsman says he
saw two bomb craters near the mis-
sion shortly after a low flying jet
passed over the area.

Twenty-One More GI's Die In War
That Is Winding Down

REASONER: The latest US casual-
ty report lists twenty-one Americans
killed in action, the highest death
toll in over a year.

Nineteen of them died in a gun
turret explosion aboard the cruiser
last week.

One American advisor was killed
today in an ambush twenty-five miles
north of Saigon.

Government troops have been fighting there for the past week trying to recapture several villages now in enemy hands.

More Fighting For Hamlets Near Sai-
gon

REASONER: ABC's Charles BURKE
visited one such hamlet yesterday
after it had been retaken by SVNese
soldiers and before new fighting
flared and the communists again
took control.

CHARLES BURKE: The action near
Saigon is scattered, ranging from
ten to twenty-five miles north of
the capital.

But the pattern of the action is
similar. SVNese planes retaliating
after VC or NVNese troops occupied

Friday, October 13, 1972

a number of hamlets near Highway Thirteen.

This is the area around Son Swe (?) hamlet. NVNese ground forces hang back while the planes do their work. When the blasting is over, the ARVN soldiers move in to clear out the hamlet.

The weak, little resistance at this point. The bombing and whatever ground fighting accompanied it had either killed the enemy or have sent him running.

The end of fighting also sends refugees to running. But they are headed back to the hamlet. After watching the fighting from a distance.

The refugees pass the casualties of the battle just ended. The dead NVNese soldiers carried on poles.

The wounded being assisted by those who fought next to them.

But the refugees, at least for the moment, seem unmoved by the casualties. They are intent on seeing what, if anything, remains of their homes.

Son Swe is one of six hamlets overrun and captured by NVNese or VC troops five days ago.

For today, Son Swe was one of two left to be recaptured or, as in the case of this hamlet, desolated.

### Creighton Abrams Confirmed

**REASONER:** The Senate today confirmed General Creighton ABRAMS as the new Army Chief of Staff.

Senator Frank CHURCH and William PROXMIRE were the only ones to vote against the nomination.

### No One Knows What Kissinger Is Up To In Paris

**HARRY REASONER:** After an unprecedented four days of secret talks in Paris with NVN's chief negotiators, Henry KISSINGER said nothing to news men as he headed for a briefing tonight with President NIXON.

**JOHN ROLFSON:** If anything is progressing in the secret talks, the four delegations manage to draw an effective smoke screen around it.

In their regular weekly meetings they delivered speeches that were routine in substance, each emphasizing well-known and basic demands.

Leaving us to guess whether there is meaning in what they did not say.

Coming out, Ambassador PORTER talked only about the next meeting and his briefing officer, for once, would not answer questions.

The unusual silence seemed copied after the secret covering Henry KISSINGER's talks and is perhaps aimed at avoiding speculation.

But it provoked other guessing that the American position is indeed changing.

And the NVNese talked as though it is changing at their expense.

Extremely tough in rejecting all the VC proposals.

They've done that for years, but repeating it now when their position is at stake in secret talks sounded as though they were building back fires.

The NVNese spoke very briefly in the meeting. Concentrating on the American bombing. They've done that before too, but again, with today's background, it led to guessing that they were avoiding subjects on which negotiations have advanced.

It is the atmosphere of mystery which leads to such guessing and no facts came out to clarify it.

The VC came nearest to an evaluation saying peace is not for tomorrow.

Nobody would talk about Henry KISSINGER and what he did on his fifth day here in Paris.

Except that the NVNese led us to believe that he did not meet with them today.

However he spent his time, he did board his airplane and leave in mid-afternoon.

### Kissinger's Talks Doing Good

**BILL GILL:** High level diplomatic and intelligence sources are now convinced that Henry KISSINGER's secret talks have born fruit.

Although no direct report has been received from the President's chief negotiator.

These sources insist, however, that the possible shape of peace in VN finally has become known.

We are told to expect the formation of a tri-partite (?) government in Saigon made up one part VC, one part supporters of President THIEU and one part neutral.

This arrangement, they explain, would require that neither side lay

5

Friday, October 13, 1972

down its arms pending a final poli-
tical solution.

Enforcement of a cease fire would
be handed over to an international
commission.

And for the first time we are
told, VC representatives took part
in the secret talks with KISSINGER.

Either as a direct participant
or as liason with his fellow Paris
negotiators.

These sources assert that no
final agreement has yet been reach-
ed. And that the mechanics alone
of a temporary settlement would pro-
bably delay announcement until
after election day, although hopes
for a VN Christmas package, they say
certainly are within reach.

NBC NIGHTLY NEWS NBC-TV 6:30 PM

Kissinger Back From Paris Talks

GARRICK UTLEY: Henry KISSINGER is back in Washington after four days of private meetings with NVN's top peace negotiators in Paris and tonight he is reporting to President NIXON.

The meetings were the most inten-
sive KISSINGER has ever held with
the NVNese. That, plus statements
by President NIXON and other top
administration officials that peace
efforts are at a very sensitive
stage - fuels speculation and hope
that a peace settlement was near.

It may be, but as of now, there
is no hard evidence of it.

Nor was there any sign of pro-
gress at today's regular peace talk
session.

LLOYD DOBBINS: Again today,
expectations far exceeded reality
at the Paris peace talks. This was
the first public meeting after an
unprecedented four days of secret
talks between Dr. Henry KISSINGER
and the two NVNese negotiators.

No one said anything about that.

Ambassador William PORTER went
into the public meeting without
making a statement. And Nwin VEE (?)
who replaced NVN's THUY, paused
just long enough to condemn the
recent American bombing of Hanoi.

Inside, it was the usual round of
charges and criticism, questions
that got no answers and restatements

of positions.

If there has been any progress
toward a settlement, there was no
hint of it when the delegations
left after today's meeting.

At about the same time, Dr.
KISSINGER left Paris, also saying
nothing.

Because of THUY's absence from
the public meeting, there was spe-
culation that KISSINGER had had a
fifth meeting with the NVNese this
morning.

But later today, the White House
said he had not. That there had
been only four meetings.

Dr. KISSINGER's next meeting
will be with President NIXON. And
the President will be told what was
said by whom and what the possibi-
lities for an agreement are.

Thieu Key Figure In Negotiations

UTLEY: SVN's President THIEU
will certainly be the key figure in
any peace settlement.

Today in Saigon, more than ten
thousand people, mostly students,
attended a rally organized by THIEU.

THIEU told the crowd that he
still believes in a military solu-
tion rather than a negotiated set-
tlement and again rejected any
thought of a coalition government.

Not surprising since THIEU would
certainly lose power in any new
government.

BOB JONES: The Saigon govern-
ment borrowed a page from its com-
munist enemy to the north.

Parade and pagentry and exhorta-
tions to resist the agressor.

It all seemed timed to play agai-
nst speculation that the KISSINGER
(word unintelligible) talks will
bring an end to the war and perhaps
a change in the administration in
SVN.

Probably no one in SVN except
President THIEU knows exactly what
kind of a plan is being formulated
in Paris but the rumors are very
strong that THIEU is going to be
asked to step down in favor of a
caretaker government.

Demonstrations of popular sup-
port like this one gives THIEU a
point of resistance.

THIEU has suddenly become a very
visible public figure especially
now that people are talking about
his possible ouster.

6

Friday, October 13, 1972

Not at the rally was Senate president WINH VAN WINH (?), the opposition leader often mentioned as a likely caretaker government figurehead.

THIEU said he still stands ready to resign if there are supervised general elections.

He was no receptive to the idea of a coalition government with communists and neutralists then he has been in the past.

Coalition, he said, means death.

THIEU got no applause during his fifteen minute talk and seemed to draw little interest. In fact, the students looked positively bored by it all.

Saigon has never gone in very much for this sort of thing but neither has the political situation ever seemed so desperate.

## US War Planes Hit NVN Again

UTLEY: American war planes bombed NVN again today but there were reports that US pilots were working under restrictions in the Hanoi area.

Those reports were denied.

In the diplomatic quarter of Hanoi yesterday the French mission was badly damaged. The roof of the Algerian Embassy was caved in and there was minor damage to the Indian mission.

And several people were killed or wounded, including a French diplomat. He is still in serious condition.

So far, the US has not conceded outright that the diplomatic buildings were bombed. It has said that they could have been hit accidentally. But it is also said that falling NVNese missiles could have caused the damage.

Nevertheless, the French government announced today that President NIXON sent a personal message of regret to President POMPIDOU.

## Hamlet Near Saigon Devastated

UTLEY: The current wave of fighting around Saigon today claimed its first American life. One American military advisor was killed and another wounded in the ambush of a SVNese convoy just twenty-five miles south of the capital.

Just north of Saigon, the SVNese claim to have driven enemy troops

out of several hamlets that they captured last week.

But fighting continues around some of them.

One hamlet recaptured by government soldiers today is on Highway Thirteen, twenty-two miles north of Saigon.

DENNIS TROUT: SVNese soldiers recaptured a strategic hamlet north of Saigon Thursday morning.

The NVNese had held Son Swe hamlet for nearly one week before government troops finally mounted a sustained push to retake it.

After nearly a full day of fighting, the SVNese had taken only a part of the hamlet and that was confined to the east side of the road.

Today, the government opened with a stronger move - air strikes.

Each time the American war planes pulled up from a bomb run, NVNese anti-aircraft guns hidden away in nearby tree lines would begin to clatter.

The air strikes did have a telling affect.

Fires started by naplam burned almost everything not leveled by the initial high explosives.

The liberal use of air power also cut down on military casualties. But there was still shooting and the front line troops took losses.

As they were evacuated, the full extent of the damage in the hamlet became apparent.

The civilians rushed in on the heal of the soldiers to see what they could recover and it was not much in most cases.

Their homes were rubble, their way of living destroyed.

Village officials told the people to count up their losses and apply for government repayment.

In reply, most of the peasants agreed with an old man who said the government could never repay all that he had lost.

The people here are not picking up to repair and begin a new life. They are salvaging what they can and leaving.

Both civilians and military agree the fighting north of Saigon is by no means over.

## US Combat Deaths Highest In Year

UTLEY: Last week's casualty figures in SVN were released in Saigon today. American combat deaths

7

Friday, October 13, 1972

were much higher than they have been
in a year and that was because
twenty men were killed when a shell
exploded aboard the heavy cruiser,
Newport News.

Altogether, twenty-one Americans
died in combat last week, fifty-
three were wounded.

Most of them aboard the cruiser.

SVNese combat dead totaled more
than four hundred. SVNese wounded
more than seventeen hundred.

## More Than Two Thousand Strikes

### Flown Over NVN

UTLEY: In the air war, over NVN,
more than two thousand strikes were
flown last week.

One American plane was shot down,
two American air men were lost.

## Senate Votes Abrams In

UTLEY: In Washington, the Senate
voted eighty-four to two today to
accept General Creighton ABRAMS as
the Army's new Chief of Staff.

ABRAMS was the American commander
in VN during the unauthorized bomb-
ing raids on NVN.

Investigation of those raids as
well as some criticism of ABRAMS
held up the vote for several months.

## JACK ANDERSON SYNDICATED OCT 11

5:10 PM

Canal Zone Long Way From Washington

JACK ANDERSON: For General B.
UNDERWOOD and his staff, the Army's
post in the Canal Zone is a long
way from Washington, but at least
the top brass down Panama way keep
informed.

The General is not only an avid
reader of the New York Times, which
is available locally, but he also
receives each day by airplane four
copies of the Washington Post.

The public shells out more than
two thousand dollars a year so the
General and his staff can keep up to
the minute with the latest goings-on
in Washington.

Mrs. Cora WEISS and Mrs. Daniel
ELLSBURG were interviewed on Pano-

rama, WTTG-TV, 10/12/72. Tape is
available.

## THE TODAY SHOW NBC-TV 7:00 AM

Father McLaughlin Interviewed

FRANK MCGEE: The Reverend John MCLAUGHLIN is a Jesuit priest who occupies an unusual position for a clergyman.

For the past fifteen months he's
been a speechwriter for President
NIXON. And recently, he's been a
speaker for the President - parti-
cularly in defense of the Admin-
istration's VN policy.

BILL MONROE: About VN, what is
your response to one of the main
points that Senator MCGOVERN makes,
which he made in his talk the
other night, to the effect that if
we're going to guarantee that Sai-
gon will stay in friendly hands he
feels that we can't guarantee it
unless we're willing to stay there
indefinitely, year after year?

FATHER MCLAUGHLIN: I think it's
clear to everyone that the war is
drawing to a close in the short
time. VNization has worked.

I saw the performance of the SVN-
ese army in Kontum when hostilities
were very strong.

I traveled into Hue, north of
Hue, and into Pleiku.

I am really astonished at the
transformation that's taken place
in SVN in the last four years. I
was over there in '68 after Tet.

And one of the significant dev-
elopments is the new spirit of
nationalism that I've seen in SVN.

This is evidenced by the - the
activity of the military, and it's
also evidenced by the way in which
the SVNese have taken care of their
refugee population, which is an
enormous problem.

This was generated, of course,
by a massive onslaught, an expan-
sionist lunge on the part of the
north - 13 divisions, five hundred
tanks, huge armored vehicles it'd
probably be difficult to get into
the Holland Tunnel.

8

Friday, October 13, 1972

RADIO-TV
DEFENSE DIALOG

SUMMARIES ARE
NOT TO BE QUOTED

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1972 (BROADCASTS OF OCT 11)

RADIO TV REPORTS, INC.

WASHINGTON, D. C.

HARRY REASONER, ABC: While Henry Kissinger was engaged in his fourth straight day of talks with NVNese officials in Paris, reports began circulating that during a US bombing raid today, the French diplomatic mission in Hanoi had been reduced to rubble. The French received word that the head of their Hanoi delegation was seriously injured and seven persons were killed, most of them VNese staff personnel. An Albanian diplomat who was at the French mission was injured and the roof was blown off the Algerian Embassy nearby. JOHN ROLFSON, ABC: The French Government is deliberately playing down the bombing incident, to keep it from harming French-American relations or disturbing the peace talks in Paris. ROGER PETERSON, ABC: Laird followed the standard Pentagon line that the damage may have been caused by anti-aircraft missiles falling back on the city, but conceded he couldn't guarantee the cause wasn't American bombs.
REASONER, ABC: The US said the targeted areas were three miles away from the Legation area. But a Canadian television correspondent, Michael McClair, who was filming one mile away from the scene, said he saw three jets swooping repeatedly over the heart of the capital. "I counted at least a dozen sorties by the jets," McClair said, "and watched as one, defying heavy anti-aircraft fire, dived very low, dropping two bombs. There was no possibility of pilot error," said McClair, "the area hit is the diplomatic quarter and there are no NVNese ministries or factories anywhere near." CBS and NBC reported the bombing.

WALTER CRONKITE, CBS: For the better part of a week now there's been heavy fighting near Saigon for control of a cluster of strategic hamlets in that area.

FOSTER DAVIS, CBS: That's the hamlet of Zam Thuy out in front of us. There's an estimated company of NVNese troops there. Artillery has been pounding it all morning and now American war planes dropping 500-pound bombs just to our front.

JOHN CHANCELLOR, NBC: The full Senate today took up the nomination of Gen. Creighton Abrams, to be Army Chief of Staff.

REASONER, ABC: ABC's Steve Bell visited the F-111 unit now stationed in Thailand and filed this report. STEVE BELL, ABC: The F-111 is back in combat in SE Asia. Crewmen selected for our interview were full of praise for the F-111 and defensive about its public image.

CRONKITE, CBS: Last night in a TV broadcast Senator McGovern outlined his VN policy, saying he would immediately end the bombing and halt aid to Saigon before inauguration and withdraw men and equipment within 90 days.

CHANCELLOR, ABC: Secretary Laird accused McGovern of advocating unconditional surrender.

FRANK McGEE, NBC: Interviews Senator George McGovern.

PUBLISHED BY THE AIR FORCE(SAF-AA)AS EXECUTIVE AGENT FOR THE DOD TO BRING TO THE ATTENTION OF KEY DEFENSE DEPARTMENT PERSONNEL MATTERS WITHIN THEIR OFFICIAL RESPONSIBILITIES. NO OTHER USE OF THIS PUBLICATION IS AUTHORIZED

FOR INFORMATION REGARDING THIS PUBLICATION CALL MR. HARRY ZUBKOPF, OX 52884

CBS EVENING NEWS CBS-TV 7 PM

US Planes Bomb French Mission

WALTER CRONKITE: American war planes bombed Hanoi today, and during that attack the French diplomatic mission was severely damaged.

The Legation's chief envoy was seriously injured in the explosion. Some other apparently were killed but there are conflicting reports about the exact number.

One report says the dead include an Egyptian woman employed at the mission and six VNese civilians.

In Paris the French Government strongly protested the action. President Pompidou called it deplorable.

The US Command in Saigon said the planes, Phantom F-4s, were on a mission to bomb military targets two or three miles from the French mission. The Command then raised the possibility that the damage may have been caused by NVNese missiles. The Russian built SAM-2 missiles have 1,000-pound warheads, twice as large as the 500-pound bombs carried by the American planes.

But a military source in Saigon told CBS News correspondent Bruce Dunning that the SAM-2s normally self-destruct and explode harmlessly in the air if they miss their target.

Secretary of State Rogers expressed his regret over the incident but without conceding that US planes were to blame.

And at the Pentagon there was reaction from Defense Secretary Laird.

SECRETARY MELVIN LAIRD: There was a target in the general Hanoi area, a railroad yard and a transshipment point. This particular target that was struck and to be struck was some three miles, perhaps three miles away from the French property. There was considerable anti-aircraft fire. There were several SAM missiles that were fired during this particular mission of these F-4 aircraft.

And with the number of SAMs fired and with the amount of anti-aircraft weaponry that was being used by the NVNese at the time, it's very difficult for us to state in a positive definite manner whether it actually was faulty bomb drops as far as

a pilot was concerned, or whether it could be an impact of some other weapon fired at these aircraft.

CRONKITE: Michael McCleer, a correspondent for Canada's Independent Television Network, CTV, reports that he was just a mile away from the French mission at the time of the explosion.

McCleer says that he saw three planes make at least a dozen passes over downtown Hanoi, and one of them, he said, dove through heavy anti-aircraft fire to drop two bombs in the area of the Legation where, he said, there are no military targets.

There's no indication that the explosion in Hanoi has had any dramatic effect on Henry Kissinger's peace mission in Paris.

There was a fourth straight day of talks between Kissinger and NVN's Le Duc Tho today, and this latest session has run longer than expected.

Kissinger was supposed to have left Paris by evening on his way home. But his scheduled flight was delayed. And still the latest word from the White House is that Kissinger should be back in Washington by early tomorrow.

Heavy Fighting Near Saigon

CRONKITE: For the better part of a week now there's been heavy fighting near Saigon for control of a cluster of strategic hamlets in that area.

We have a report tonight from Foster Davis on a battle near one of them.

FOSTER DAVIS: That's the hamlet of Zam Thuy (?) out in front of us. There's an estimated company of NVNese troops there.

These Fifth Division troops who lost half their number killed or wounded in the battle for An Loc up the road, wait for the planes to finish.

Each time a plane rolls in there is the sharp crack of NVNese anti-aircraft fire.

Many of the difficulties and contradictions of this war can be seen right here.

2 Thursday, October 12, 1972

These men from the Mekong Delta, fighting away from their homes where security has deteriorated since they left. They sit watching the air power they have been trained to expect. They're usually not willing to press an attack very hard when air power can do the job.

So here a company of NVNese have
tied up a battalion plus artillery
and American and SVNese air support.

For when the Americans finish,
SVNese bombers begin.

While the people who made their
homes in Quang Tri watch them being
destroyed by fellow countrymen.

A woman watches bitterly. "All
my house and property have been
burned up," she says, "What is left
for me, all burned up."

A neighbor tells her, "Well, this
is the way of war. What's the use
of crying."

Hours after the planes have left
and while artillery is still landing
in the burning napalmed hamlet, some
SVNese troops begin to move in from
the east. Their comrades provide
covering fire. Suddenly a NVNese is
spotted. Finally, the command to
attack is given. But there's little
cover in these rice paddies, and
it's a long way to the hamlet. The
NVNese are still firing. The men
are hit, the attack is called off.

It might be unkind to call this
a retreat. These men took some
wounded and the attack has not gone
as well as they thought it would.

But what this means is that
the NVNese will remain in possession
of this little hamlet until it is
levelled by air power. And, as al-
ways, the big losers are the people
who called this hamlet home.

Foster Davis, CBS News, with
troops of the SVNese Fifth Division.

McGovern Outlines VN Policy

CRONKITE: Last night in a TV
broadcast Senator McGovern outlined
his VN policy, saying he would im-
mediately end the bombing and halt
aid to Saigon before inauguration
and withdraw men and equipment with-
in 90 days.

Today, led by Defense Secretary
Laird, the President's supporters
strongly criticized that policy.
Laird called it unconditional sur-
render and charged that McGovern

would undermine the VNization pro-
gram and abandon peace negotiation.

Teamster president Frank Fizsim-
mons was even stronger, that the
speech wrecks the VN settlement
which seems so near, in Fitzsimons'
words, "The blood is on George
McGovern's hands."

The Senator meantime continued
his campaign.

NBC NIGHTLY NEWS NBC-TV 7 PM

US Planes Damage French Mission

JOHN CHANCELLOR: American planes
are said to have badly damaged the
French mission in Hanoi. And some
officials, including the Secretary
of Defense, concede that that might
have happened by mistake.

The buildings of the French mis-
sion in the center of Hanoi had been
hit by what appears to be a mistaken
American bombing attack. Several
people were killed and a chief
French diplomat is seriously wounded.

The French Government has pro-
tested, along with the Algerian
Government. Its building was dam-
aged, and the Swedish Government
which has a building nearby.

The Secretary of State, William
Rogers, has sent his personal re-
grets to the French.

The bombs fell in the center of
Hanoi, in a diplomatic quarter which
has never been hit before during
the heavy American air strikes in
that area.

A Canadian reporter says he saw
the attack, that there were three
bombing runs involving at least a
dozen jets over the heart of the
capital in the lunch hour despite
heavy anti-aircraft fire.

No industrial targets are in that
neighborhood.

In Washington Secretary of De-
fense Laird said it was hard to tell
but there could have been an acci-
dent.

SECRETARY LAIRD: There was a
target in the general Hanoi area,
a railroad yard and a trans-shipment
point.

This particular target that was
struck and was to be struck was
some three miles, approximately
three miles away from the French

3 Thursday, October 12, 1972

property. As a matter of fact, it was on the other side of the Red River. There was considerable anti-aircraft fire. There were several SAM missiles that were fired during this particular mission of these F-4 aircraft. With the number of SAMs fired and the amount of anti-aircraft weaponry that was being used by the NVNese at the time, it's very difficult for us to state in a positive definite manner whether it actually was a faulty bomb drop as far as the pilot was concerned or whether it could be an impact of some other weapon fired at these aircraft.

REPORTER: Do you think it could have been a three-mile error?

LAIRD: I cannot state to you emphatically that an error could not be made, or that you might have an accident of this kind.

CHANCELLOR: From one point of view, the bombs which apparently fell on the French mission could not have fallen at a worse time.

The President's VN negotiator, Henry Kissinger, is in the midst of talks in Paris with the NVNese which are said to have reached a very sensitive stage. The French are involved in those talks.

Kissinger was to have returned tonight after concluding an unprecedented string of four straight days of talks, but Kissinger has delayed his departure from Paris. We don't know why.

However, a French cabinet official is quoted by UPI as saying the peace talks have made rapid progress.

### Laird Accuses McGovern of Advocating Unconditional Surrender In VN

CHANCELLOR: A lot of Republicans responded today to George McGovern's peace plan for VN, which he outlined last night in the television talk.

Secretary of Defense Laird accused McGovern of advocating unconditional surrender.

McGovern's plan would call for an immediate stop to American combat activities, withdrawal in 90 days, a pull-out of all salvagable American equipment and a trip to Hanoi by the Vice President to arrange for prisoner release.

President Nixon was at his retreat at Camp David, but a number of

surrogate speakers denounced the McGovern proposals.

McGovern was traveling east from Chicago, following a series of successful appearances with Mayor Richard Daley who called him a great statesman.

### Abram's Nomination Before Senate

CHANCELLOR: The full Senate today took up the nomination of Gen. Creighton Abrams, the former commander in VN, to be Army Chief of Staff.

That nomination has been held up by the investigation of unauthorized bombing raids over NVN.

Senator John Stennis said today Abrams is qualified and should be confirmed.

But Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine said that the whole chain of command must bear a share of the responsibility for the raids and that these senior officers, she said, may not be as innocent as they purport to be.

### ABC EVENING NEWS ABC-TV 7 PM

#### French Protest Bombing of Mission

HARRY REASONER: The VN War has produced more than its share of unintended tragedies.

The latest involves the very country where negotiations for peace are underway.

The Nixon Administration expressed its deep concern through Secretary of State Rogers. He asked the French Government to accept his most sincere

4 Thursday, October 12, 1972

personal regrets. But there was no
acknowledgement of US responsibility
pending further investigation.

The US said the targeted areas
were three miles away from the Lega-
tion area. But a Canadian television
correspondent, Michael McClair, who
was filming one mile away from the
scene, said he saw three jets swoop-
ing repeatedly over the heart of the
capital.

"I counted at least a dozen sorties
by the jets," McClair said, "and
watched as one, defying heavy anti-
aircraft fire, dived very low, drop-
ping two bombs."

"There was no possibility of pilot error," said McClair, "the area hit is the diplomatic quarter and there are no VNese ministries or factories anywhere near."

The French Government made an im-
mediate protest of the bombing.
From Paris ABC's John Rolfson reports
on French reaction.

JOHN ROLFSON: The French Govern-
ment is deliberately playing down
the bombing incident, to keep it
from harming French-American rela-
tions or disturbing the peace talks
in Paris.

Today's protest to the American
Ambassador was inevitable but it was
almost routine. It was not written.
And the French words of protest were
spoken more in sorrow than in anger.

At today's cabinet meeting
President Pompidou called it deplor-
able, but the government spokesman
told me that in English deplorable
might seem too strong a word, instead
spokesman Jean Phillippe Le Taux (?)
substituted what he considered a
milder word, saying the French were
shocked.

JEAN PHILLIPPE LE TAUX: We suf-
fered heavy casualties. Our General
Delegate has been badly injured,
and several VNese employees were
probably killed.

The French Government protested
today and expressed to the American
Ambassador how we were shocked by
this event.

ROLFSON: The French are officially treating the bombing as a tragic accident at an unfortunate time. They don't want harm international friendliness nor the VN talks, nor their role in the talks in which they take great pride. It's mainly a role of obliging host, offering the hall and the facility, arranging

for Henry Kissinger to slip in and
out of Paris unseen, providing
secret houses for secret talks.

The French hint they do more or
would but insist its value lies in
remaining secret, like the negotia-
tions themselves.

Henry Kissinger completed four
straight days of talks with the
NVNese here in Paris and no infor-
mation leaked out.

NVNese Paris headquarters sharply denounced the American attacks on Hanoi during which the French delegation was hit. They said it's another proof the Nixon policy is warlike but it was a routine public denunciation, with no clue that it figured in the secret talks.

This is John Rolfson, ABC News,
in Paris.

REASONER: In Washington, the Pentagon said it wants to investigate the incident thoroughly before making any definitive comment. But the subject came up inevitably when Defense Secretary Laird held a news conference today.

ABC Pentagon correspondent Roger
Peterson has a report.

ROGER PETERSON: Secretary Laird
said the target was a railyard across
the Red River and about three miles
from Hanoi's diplomatic quarter.

SECRETARY LAIRD: I cannot state to you emphatically that an error could not be made or that you might have an accident of this kind. This particular thing is being looked into but I cannot give you the assurance that you ask me for today.

PETERSON: It was only coincidental that Laird's news conference came right after the bombing incident. It was hardly coincidental the meeting with newsmen followed Senator McGovern's speech on VN.

Laird was ready, even eager to
give his reaction to the speech.

LAIRD: Never before has a candidate for a major political office in this country and for the presidency of the United States, advocated unconditional surrender.

It seems to me that Senator
McGovern suggests sort of a reverse
application of the domino theory,

5 Thursday, October 12, 1972

Instead of the enemy taking over small nations one by one, he would sell out to communism small nations of the world by a policy of retreat and surrender.

By running up the white flag of surrender before negotiations go forward, whether it be in the mutual balance in force reduction, whether it be on VN, whether it be on the Middle East, whether it be on SALT or in all these other areas, will assure only one thing, and that is failure on the negotiation front.

PETERSON: Laird concluded by saying McGovern seemed to base his policies on unrealistic idealism instead of today's realities.

Roger Peterson, ABC News, Washington.

REASONER: Senator McGovern said today that while his plan to end the war is not risk-free, it is also not tantamount to surrender.

He pointed out that while his plan calls for a total withdrawal of US forces and an end to military aid, it would still leave the Saigon Government with an army of one million men.

## SVNese Troops Recapture Village

REASONER: SVNese troops recaptured a small village north of Saigon from communist forces today, but several hamlets in the area are still in communist hands.

Meanwhile a new wave of terror attacks was reported in the Saigon area and the Mekong Delta further south with 12 civilians killed and 74 wounded.

In Saigon itself authorities are on guard against a possible repetition of the terrorist attacks during the Tet offensive of 1968.

We have a report from Frank Mariano.

FRANK MARIANO: The threat against the city is said to be so serious that the Government here has ordered one of the most intense security crackdowns in years.

It goes beyond the usual spot-checking of ID cards. In fact it's difficult for citizens of this falling city to travel very far nowadays without being pulled over.

Combat-clad national police forces have been beefed up all around the city. The roadblock around

Independence Palace, a familiar sight since the Tet attacks of 1968, now stay closed more often.

Checkpoints at the city's gates are busiest. Not many can forget that it was along these very roads that major VC elements passed easily more than four years ago.

Still it's impossible to check everyone, and friend and foe alike know it.

If there is a plan to attack the city, it's safe to say elements of the attack force are already inside.

Farther out along Highway 13 lies a major concern. It's where enemy troops have overrun a series of hamlets, not 15 miles from the city's northern gate.

The troops are said to be members of the Dong Ngai Regiment, the same regiment that infiltrated the capital during the 1958 attacks.

It's the closest to Saigon the Highway has been cut since that time.

The general feeling here is that if the attacks against this city come, they'll come from within as well as from without, much as they did during Tet of 1968, but nowhere near on that scale.

There's no real defense against that combination, except to check and doublecheck. A very difficult task, especially in a city of more than three and a-half million people where it's next to impossible to tell the difference between a NVNese, a SVNese or a VC.

Frank Mariano, ABC News, Saigon.

## F-111 Unit In Thailand

REASONER: When the F-111 was recently put back into action in the VN War after a four-year hiatus, AF officials were convinced that all technical problems with the plane had been eliminated. But almost immediately new questions were raised about the plane's capabilities.

STEVE BELL: The F-111 is back in combat in SE Asia with pilots who say they fly the best plane in the world, but with a combat loss record leaves the F-111 in public controversy.

The F-111 made its first combat

6 Thursday, October 12, 1972

appearance in SE Asia in 1968 already a center of controversy due to production disputes and highly publicized crashes during testing. And of the six planes committed to combat then, three were lost in a matter of months.

So critics were watching closely when 48 F-111s from the 474th Tactical Fighter Wing went back into action from here at Ta Khli last week.

On the first mission, one plane was lost, cause unknown. The AF was deeply embarrassed. The planes were withheld from combat for five days while complete checkouts and test points were conducted.

Today the AF brought newsmen to Ta Khli in a rare visit to its high airbase for visual proof that the F-111s are back in action.

On paper, the perfect fighter bomber for missions over NVN. The sophisticated radar and computers are designed for pinpoint strikes at night or in bad weather from ground-hugging altitudes below enemy radar. And its bomb load is more than twice that of the work horse F-4.

Crewmen selected for our interview were full of praise for the F-111 and defensive about its public image, especially after last week's publicized loss.

MAJ. JOHN TILLANDER: I was in the command post that night and we felt real bad. Bill was a real good friend of ours. We've both worked with him for several years. We lived with him here. And we felt bad about that and I think we felt just as bad though knowing what was coming as we felt about the loss. We could see the headlines, the whole thing all over again. And the airplane is really good, the very best, it's a really good machine now.

LT. COL. BOB EVE: ...and B-47s, B-52s and B-58s, I know all of them and I think it's one of the finest airplanes that the AF could hope for.

BELL: Crewman seem to be conscious of the F-111s vocal critics, seem determined to prove its combat capability while the bombing of the North continues.

Steve Bell, ABC News, Ta Khli AFB, Thailand.

THE TODAY SHOW NBC-TV 7 AM

An Interview with Senator McGovern

FRANK McGEE: ****And, Senator McGovern, as you know, your plan is being called "a surrender." Is there a difference between what you propose and surrender? And if so, what is it?

SENATOR GEORGE McGOVERN: Well, the difference is that this plan is based on what I believe is in our national interest, which is to terminate the war. One of the reasons this war has dragged on year after year is that our policy-makers have been fearful of losing face.

Now, we have to ask ourselves only one question: What is in the interest of this country -- to continue the war or to terminate it?

I outlined a plan last night to bring the war to an end. I have no idea what will happen once American forces withdraw. I believe what will happen is that a coalition government will be formed in Saigon, consisting of all the principal forces in the country.

We've left an army there of a million men that is much better equipped than the army that is challenging them in the field, and perhaps five times as large. So, it's not exactly a surrender to leave under those circumstances.

***

7 Thursday, October 12, 1972