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1 back of President Thieu.

2 I told him if the May 8th proposal is accepted, we will
3 accept, and we did that. I told him we did not want a
4 ceasefire only for prisoners, and that is what happened. I
5 said we hope they don't offer us the prisoners under these
6 conditions. I had the problem of convincing him that we were
7 not selling him out and convincing him also that we would
8 honor our word to the American public. And as far as I am
9 concerned, as long as you publish with it what I have just
10 told you, you can release this document.

11 Chairman Kerry: Well, that is why I wanted the
12 explanation. I, Mr. Secretary, to this moment have not tried
13 to make this document inflammatory. I think you will agree
14 that if one wanted to one could play with it. I simply asked
15 you --

16 Dr. Kissinger: One could not be no, Mr. Chairman. One
17 could play with it, but not honestly.

18 Chairman Kerry: Well, I agree. That is why I asked you
19 for your explanation of it. It has not leaked to the press,
20 nobody wrote about this ahead of time, there has been no
21 effort to sabotage you. We just have quietly tried to ask you
22 for your personal explanation. And the reason I brought it up
23 at the end is simply I thought it would be unconscionable for
24 us to have this in the public, to try to interpret it, without
25 you personally being able to speak to it. And I thought it

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1 was more important to do that than not to do it and to have
2 you leave without having had a chance to do it.

3 Dr. Kissinger: My problem, Mr. Chairman, is if I leave
4 now, will it be said I fled?

5 Chairman Kerry: No, Mr. Secretary. We had clear
6 understanding and ground rules. We knew that you would be
7 leaving even earlier than this. You have stayed longer, and
8 we appreciate it enormously.

9 If I could just say personally I am sympathetic to an
10 understanding of your frustration with this process,
11 notwithstanding the fact that you welcomed this inquiry. I
12 personally believe that it is one of the marvels of our
13 system, maybe an expression of the genius of our political
14 system, that I, who had an opposing position to yours and who
15 spoke out about it, and you who was frustrated by many of
16 those who did, could be sitting here at a table like this 20
17 years later on behalf of our country looking openly and
18 honestly at this issue.

19 And I think that says an extraordinary amount about us,
20 / about you, about the system, and I thank you, for this
21 committee and for the Senate process, for being here not
22 withstanding what I know is a personal reticence in having to
23 deal with all of this at this point in time. So I am very
24 grateful to you for the Senate and for the American people.

25 Dr. Kissinger: Mr. Chairman, I appreciate your comment.

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1 I appreciate the way this hearing has been conducted. We were

2 on opposite philosophical sides, but we both have the same

3 objectives, and the real problem is how we can now serve this

4 objective in the future, hopefully on the same side.

5 Chairman Kerry: I appreciate it.

6 We stand in recess until Thursday morning.

7 [Whereupon, at 4:55 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]

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