BOMBING HALT STUDY

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Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9
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RIPLIM
Original Classification: 
C
Document Page Count: 
22
Document Creation Date: 
January 11, 2017
Document Release Date: 
August 2, 2010
Sequence Number: 
1
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
January 15, 1970
Content Type: 
MEMO
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PDF icon LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9.pdf766.33 KB
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? No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 MEMOKAN3JL'&i 'I'FIE WHITE HOUSE ~~,.rr~r'n~rrmrn r a oraz~a z ~T~rx ss ~"anuary 15, 1970 MEMORANDUM FOR HENRY A. KISSJNGER FROM: Al Haig ~?~": ~.= 5UPTEC'1': Bombing Halt Study ,-~,,~.~..G,-t_~ ~ ..!7'Z~-'ti~ The attached memorandum from Bob Haldeman enclosing a mempranduxxx from Tom Huston points out the difficulties that Huston has run into in trying to piece together the history of the bozxzbing halt. As you know his point of departure was the inforrrzation we had assembled over a long period last' spring. I have talked to Huston and he believes that the studios done by Davidson and Moor were biased and loaded in favor of the Democratic Administration. I could not but agree. Nevertheless, he has had the sarn.e difficulty they had in trying to get the infarrrzation necessary to .make a real hard judgrrzent, Since there w-ere so many people around who were obfuscating the true facts, I doubt they will ever be known and frankly believe that Huston should write his piece on what he now has to a degree he can do so. I watched Phil Habib do the rz7ost delicate dance in the history of an NSC ;meeting last winter when the President asked him if there was a bombing halt agreement and a caxnplete understanding by both sides that one existed. Z do not think Phil could ever be mare forthcoming than he was on the gri11 in front of the President and with the pressures working nn him at that moment I doubt that Huston or anyone else could gin up any more. Consequently, 1 think this now becomes a sterile exercise unless they want Huston to z-nake a career of it. Frankly, the only reason for which this dacuz~n.ent will be employed in the near future will be to present this Administration's view of the problem. It will, therefore, probably be subjected to the sarrze kind of judgment that the Davidsonf Moor studies, were and thus serves the purpose for which the President is seeking, I recommend that you tell Haldeman that Huston should be tr~]d to proceed with what he now has, to make it an interpretive document which would ?) ,'be-political v~.].ue and to give up on the well digging, J --~- ~'llh7'"^rT"'T"'r7'~7"~T' A T v v ? ~ ~. a.t.r 1~ rv~:"lrlSi No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 [.~.. ~ ;~ ~ecerxzber 19. 1969 Your are Correct in assuming ttxat the, President wants a complete and corr7prehensive review o? all the rnate~rial at hand with regard to the bom?aing halt, C~xban Missile Crisis and the Diem Murder. A re-write ,job such as you've indicated `could not be adequate. While I realize that yau~r taking on this assignment independently while maintaining your other duties may not Ue feasible I would stitl like you to devote a substantial arxiount a? time an this in conjunction with the apprapxiata members o? Henry Kissinger's staff. Pleae~e pxoceed with this project as quickly as possibles and provide for the T'resi.dent. a 6rie? status report on ~~vhere the project stands. Sn addition you rn.ay want to include a statement o? any of the. problerz~s that you're presently herring on the project and your suggestion of how we caz~ solve therm to make sure that this project ie cozngleted in a reasonable amount a? time. HRH:LH:prn cc: Henry Kissinger Jim Keogh No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 -- ,., No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 ,~;~:'~ corrFm~NTZAx. January ~~, lg7a MEMQR~a.NDUM FG~R GENERAL A. M. HAIG FR?M: Jan. Hawe 5Uk3JEC'x'r Hu~tan's Mernarandum re T3ambix~g Halt At Tab B is Hustan's arequest far infarmatian on the availability of xrxat?rial relating to events leading to the 19b8 bombing halt. At Tab A are three xxaemaranda far your signature per your request. JTH:feg:1 /13/70 Cf~NFIT3ENTI.AI., No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 January 1 ~#, i g7~ ? No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 CC~N~'II~EN'~'T..~1. L MEM4IiAi'+T~UM ~O~ executive secretary i"3epartmc~nt of Stag A member caf the White ~Tvu~e: ataxi'f i~ prepaxing a repaxt faar the ~xea3~der~t an the ~.vailability of n~~.tcxial xe~latin~ to ev~:nta leading to the 1~6t3 txalt of the bc~mbin~ a~' ~voxth Vi~txiarn. Would ycsu please h~.ve~ a che?k made rrf yaux filee~ fax zxxemvra~xda. res~axtd r~r atho~r ~aextinent ix~foxma.tiax~ aril provide a brief deacxiA~tive list. Alexazader M. lYa3~g l3rigadiex Genexalr U. ~. Army Militaxy A.~~aletant AMH:JTH:~eg: l / 13/7p CC?NFIl]ENTIAL No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 CC)N15'~~'NT~A1'. January ~~, Z97t} 5pccial Assistant to the T?irectar of Central Intelligcxxc~ Washington, .~]. G. A ~enemb~r eaf the Wh?te I~ou~sc~ staff,i~ prepa.rix~g a report far the Fresidont crn the av~.ilabiZity cif n~~.terial relating to events leading to the 1~b6 halt of the bombing a:E North V'ictn~em. ~6':roulcl you Please have ~. check made of your ~ile~s for m.exxsaranda, reports car ether pertin~sr~t infc~xrs~.ation and: provide a i~riaf cle~criptive list. /5/ ,AlexandQr M? Haig Brigadier General, U~ ~. Army Militaxy ~,, s sis tent AMH:JTH:feg:I /13/70 ~UN~'SUEN~'IAL No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 corrFZnE~rTx~,~. f~ ~/ MEMC3~tANAUM F'C)R JFi121Lt21~( .~'~r 1970 Golo~xel ~tabe~rt Parsley Military Assistant CJi'fice Q~ the Secretary of Uef~use 'xhe Heritagax~ A member a~ the '~'4'hite Houst~ staff #s pr~sparirxg a report for they Fre~sideo.t an th+~ availabilit+,~ off' xx~ate~rial r~lat3ng to events leadixxg to thr 3.~(a~ 1~~-lt of the l~rsxa~birsg of Nc~xth Vietnam. ~~ould you please have ~ check made of ~r?ur files fox meinoraxxda, repoarts or ocher pertinent infoxmativn and larvvide a brief descriptive list. Alexaxxder M. Hs.i;g Srig$dier Geaneral. U. 5. Arxxzy Military Assistant AMH:,TTH:feg:l / 73/7Q ERtfld~'~'IT3ENTIA L No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 CON~'1DENTlAL January.' 14, 1970. MEMC7RANDUM FdR GENERAL A. M, HA1G `~ FRUM: Jon Howe A~~ SUI3JFC T: Hustan's Memorandum re Bombing Halt At Tab B is Hustan's request for information on the availability of material relating to events leading to the 19b$ borx-ibing halt. At Tab A are three memoranda for your signature per your request. CONFIDENTIAL No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 MEMO1tANllUM THE 'FVIIITE f~OUS~ wnst~rNOTOrr January 13, 1970 CONIj'IDEIVTIAL RE: The Bombing Halt In order to make the record clear, should the President inquire, I wat~ld like to have ?ron7 the State Department a formal statement that they do nat presently have in their Files, in either .the office of the Secretary, Under Secretary, or Assistant Secretary for East Asian Affairs, any memoranda, reports, ox athex material relating to the events leading to the 196$ bombing Halt. While it is rxiy understanding that the only xecord they have is the cable traffic, I would like to satisfy myself completely that this is the case. I intend to make a notation o? the result o? this inquiry in my report to the President. It would also be helpful if a similar inquiry were officially directed to G7A and OSD. No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 , MEMORANDUM ~CONFTnENTIAL .~- January 10, 197Q MEM(71~.AN]~UM FOR HENRY KxSS1NGER STIBJECT Bombing Halt_SEudy Without raising any stir or pointa.ng any fingers, I would appreciate your reaction to the attached ra.~emarandun~ ?rom Tom Huston. It appears to me that Tom, once again; has raised some vital points. On the other hand, the depth o? digging that he is suggesting znay iza fact, not be appropriate ar necessary., What I need to lcnaw is your ?celing on the situation. If you da not agree with 1-lust-an, it would pro- bably be best for us to establish a position an this project and present that position to the President sa that we can either proceed or forget it. Attachment No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 wa.s~irv~rorv January q, 1170 CONFI"DENTII~ L M:CMC7RANDUM F OR H. R. HALDEMAN Fxom: Tom Charles Huston Subject: Bombing Halt Study After an extensive effort to xesolve the question of whether the President wishes a detailed historical sumxr~.ary of the negotiations leadixxg to a Bombing Halt or a detailed analysis from a political perspective, l: have concluded that no one is quite certain. Alex Butterfield advised that you thought the President wanted the former; General. Haig thought he wanted the latter. I will attempt to give him both. The written manuscript which 1 have completed to date, has xeached such a length that I can't. spare my secretary's time to count the pages, and 7 still have a way to go. I have found a rather significant gap in the NSG cable file and they have had to go back to State to get the missing materials. l should have these on Monday. I will then be in a position to complete the narrative history. T doubt if anyone will want to wade through my historical narrative by virtue of its length and detail, but it has served a useful purpose for me in that it has enabledxne to get a firm grip on the problem, to identify the crucial issues and junctures during the negotiating period, acid to understand the relative positions of the various individuals intimately involved in the negotiations. Once the narrative is coz~nlalete, it will. be possible to locate the significant gaps and formulate the crucial questions to which answers are lacking in the present record. No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 CONFIDENTIAL Assuxx~ing you wi11 grant me the time to do so, l intend to da. a much shorter ~ analysis of the ebb and flow of the negotiating process and the implications of the decisions which were taken at each crucial step along the way. This may be what Dr. Kissinger had.in. mind when he referxed to a "politically oriented" document. The final step which T plan t4 take is to put on paper each of~~~~ the important unanswered questions which require answex s if a complete , uzxderstanding of what took place is tv be achieved. I will. also identify ~~~%~ 4.- possible sources for this information and pos.~ible steps which: could be taken to acquire it, along with the risks involved, i. e. , the "ripples" .that might be created. If this plan of work is not satisfactory, or if you think part of it is unnecessary, please let me know. I can ca11 it quits after completing the detailed historical record. There are certain pxoblems which I have encountexed which should be seriously considered before I proceed to examine the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Diem Murder. The three subjects which I have been assigned axe among the five messiest foreign. policy problems of the past eight years (excepting only the Laos Accords of 1962 and the Say of Pigs.) Each of them constituted a "crisis" during the Democratic .A dxxainistrations and they all smell once you strip away the facade of pexfum.e which. the JFK-LBJ propaganda squads sprayed over there. The point which must be xemembered is that the culprits made a determined effort to cover their tracks. The written records which xeally tell the story axe at Cambridge ar Austin and the pevple involved are not talking. A cursory exarninatian of the public recoxd will not tell .the President anything lie doesn't already know and a fear of causing some ripples may pxeclude the type of digging and 'investigation which would be __ necessary to get at the juicy facts. There is also the problem of having the mandate, latitude, and resources to da the type of job necessary to ferret out the facts, I am luxe my difficulties in getting coopexation have not been due to the unwillingness of people to help, but to the fact that they simply CONFll7ENATZAL No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 CONFIDEIVTIA L dan't have time to mess with it anal don't much understand ox care what it is I am about. And I don`t feel free to ga very fax on my own initiative far fear of intruding into someone's domain without a proper authorization. I have been reluctant to raise these problems far fear that at - would appear I was either presurnptuous ar self-serving, ar both. But I have concluded as a result of working on the Bombing Halt that there is no sense trying to maintain the fiction that I axn adequately handling the assignment which I have been given. To do the job effectively, I thank it should be handled at a highex level so that some latitude is available on determining what information to seek and from whom. to seek it. Also, the services of more than one person is required ... assuming that what the Pxesadent xeally wants to know as what LBJ and JFK made such an effort to conceal. My suggestion is that sevexal highly txained investigators fxom the FSI and the intelligence services of the,Arz-x-iy and Navy, along with perhaps one CIA man, be detailed to the White House fox this type of work. These people ao uld have to be carefully screened and selected far political xeliabilaty as well as prafessianal competence, but they would provide the capability to da the extensive digging and interviewing, under apprapriate covers, that is necessary. With a little effort one can locate a great number of prafatable leads, .but they are worthless unless you can follow up on them. Moreover, there are a number of people stall in the govcrnrnent who have first hand knowledge of many of the events which we are interested in. We ought to make an effort to get this information from 1:hem while they are still around. Many would be reluctant to talk of directly approached, but a? approached under a suitable pretext, might give us some important anfoxmation. Others should be required to give us the information we seek.. For example, I fail to understand why Phillip Habib should occupy such an important pasation in this Administration and yet be unwilling to give us some of the information we seek about what took p1aGe in Paris during 196P. O CONFIDENT IA L No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 Ct7NFIDENTIf~ L I have not gone into detail about the. xnyx'iad measures that could be employed to gather this type of information since it is unnecessary i.f the fundamental approach appears to you to be an over-reaction to the problem. 1 don't know the priority the President attached to this type of i.nfarmation. 1 only know what would be required to get it if he really wanted to have it available. X suspect that this type of operation will stralce yQU as highly irxegular as well, perhaps, as totally unnecessary. l will grant the farmer anal only you can. judge the latter. Haw ever, 1 believe that there are probably a great number of areas beside the there assigned to me where the President would like to have sensitive information which is currently unavailable because we don't have the resources available to gather it without a direct, public effort. If this is true, such an operation as that which 1 axn suggesting could have value beyond the scope of the three projects wha.ch x am working on. a~^'' TOM CHARLES HUSTON GONFIDENTIA L No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 z~~E~,~ ~~~1~~~,~ ~ ~.~ THE 'W:~IITE HOUSE December lg, 1g6g MEMOIZA.NDL7M ~'OR. TONS i-iUS'T'ON You are correct i.n assum.irAg that the President wants a complete a.nd comprehez7si.ve xevie?r of all the material at hand with regard to the bombing halt, Cuba.z,. ;Missile Crisis and the Uiem Murder, A re-write job such as your~re indicated would not be adequate, While Y reali2e that your taping an this assigx~rxa.ent independently while xx~axntaining your other duties ,may not be feasible, T would still like you to devote a : ubstan.tial arxiount of time on this in conjunction with tl~e appropriate members of Henry Kissinger's staff. Please proceed with this project as quickly as possible and provide for the President, a brief status report on where the project stands, In addition you xn.ay want to include a statement of any of the probleiris that you're presently havj.vAuY on the pxaject and your suggestion of how we can solve them to make sure that this project is completed in a reasonable amount of tixrxeo cc: Henry Kissinger Jixn Keogh No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 p~ No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 wnsxxxrrasonr x7ecexnbex 3, 1969 MEMORANDUM FOR THE STAFF SECRETARY I have xeceived from Dr. Kissingex's staff a rough draft memorandum relating the sequence of events which led to the bombing halt in November of l9b$. 1 have not received any material on the Cuban Missile Crisis ar the Diem. Murder, although I have asked for this. It was my understanding that the President wanted as cbxnplete a retard as possible of each of these three events. I assumed that ixraplicit in my assignment was the responsibility for deter- mining whether the xx~aterial at hand was an adequate record. However, it may be that all that I am expected to do as to rewxite ,the memaranduxn pxepaxed by the NSC staff. If what the President wants as a simple rewrite job, I can. have that done by the first of next week. However, based an my study of the materials at hand, it is my opinion. that the final result would be a polished but incomplete xepoxt. I believe that someone should go back aver the oxiginal cable traffic and make an. independent assessment of the facts contained in the NSC draft xnexnoxandum and determine whether these are not gaps in the record which should and could be filled. This would be atime-consuming jab and fox me to do it in conjunction with zny ether duties would require sevexal weeks rrzinimum. Someone else could conceivably do the task an a shoxter period. Since I have been. unable to secure any xnatexial on the othex two~itexns which I was to look into, I cannot make an assessment of the time required to do either a rewrite or an independent analysis. I would appreciate it if you would advise whether a rewxite of the NSC :kx~emoranduzn an. the Bombing Halt will meat the Presiden.t's xequirement, or whether some thing more substantial is required. TUM C1~4RLES HLTSTON No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 M No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 wnszzzxcroza Octok~er 2Q, 1969 r~',i,I~01?AIdDUT?I l~'OP. KEtd COLE 1 rnet taclay ~~ri.th Colonel I:aig to discuss t}~e reports the President requested an ~hc: Bomb IIa1t, the Cuban PTissile Crisis and tt~e Diem Plunder. Colonel Ilaig has ac~rec~d to provide me wit}~ the in~orm~~ta_on the DISC presently ]ias avai]_ak~le on tiiF~se supa jc:cts. 1 ta~.ll review this material axtd detexz~ine whether additional inyormation is required. 1 will su}~mit another interim zeport on my progress after I have had an opport.t~nity to review this material.. TOrt CF'~RLES IIUSTON No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 October lb, 1969 MEMOR.AN]~UM FOR 'S`OM HUSTC.~TV "VVauld you please get together with the appropriate rrs.erx~.ber of Henry Kissinger's staff in regard to working out a report for the President on the barx~lZing halt glue same additional, assign- xnEnts on the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Diem, murder. ~Ie~ary received a mexx-orandum from the President regoesting that he develop a report an these subjects and in turn, that 'S'am Huston be assigned to work with Henry's staff on developing the xeport. I believe Plenty's staff has already done some work. vn this issue so it may k~e a question of organizing the date. into the mast usable form for the President. Thank you very much, H. R. HALI7EMA.N HRH: LH: pm bc: Tizn Keogh No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 M~MOii~Nll u M TI~~ WIiITIa. HOUSIa CONFIDENTIAL MEMOIi.ANDUM FOR BOB HALDEMAN ~... / ~_ FROM; Henry A. Kissinger I ,"! C .October 13, 19b9 SUBJECT: President's Request that You Assign a Staff Member to Develop a Report on the Bomb Halt, Cuban. Ma.ssile Crisis and the Diem Murder By memorandum of September 22, 1969, the President asked for a complete report on the bomb .halt from all vantage points, as well as whatever data we could get on the Cuban missile crisis and the Diem murder. Attached is the correspondence on this matter, together with your covering note in which you recommend th~.t Ton- Huston be used for this purpose. You should be aware that we completed for the President a thorough research of all the records dealing with the bombing halt. They are available if you decide to put Tom Huston. on this job. I fear we will have somewhat mare difficulty with the Cuban missile crisis and the Diem murder, but I would like to designate a member of my staff to work with Huston in: a. Converting the research data already completed on the bomb halt to a more politically oriented document responsive to the President's desire. b. Obtaining from State, Defense and CIA that data which is available on the Cuban missile crisis and the Diern murder. If you would ask Huston to contact me, I will insure that the project ,gets started.in response to the President's directive. CONFIDENTIAL No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2012/07/16 : LOC-HAK-3-7-1-9 ~~T ~.3 i4'~~3 ,. .. ~F.~?~NIUi'~ i~tUU~iI ?:'~JT~ ~~OS3 ~?.AI~7~~:,ArL~.N .., SU~:;J;~C7:': _ Pxe.~ider_t'c~ ??eri:.te:~t that You 1~.~si~n ~~ Stry~a ~~ierx"Zber to L'evc~Iop :x ?t~.y qa?i on t'~M ~o..xb ~Za.1i, Guiawn A,Ii.~~ilw Ciii.`>1? ar~;~ tia.^ L?ie~. M~ixder " Ey xxlexz~c,;~~.iaclulyz o~ ~eni:e-r:~.ber ??, 19b9, tihY Preszc;ent ~ slcetl ~nr a cozxa. 1:: c.~~ x?ej~n:~.~l ~rJ1 tae bo:~~"s.a ~zL!lt irnz-x1 ~?? v~Znt~..Ue paint;;, as ~~~~?3. ~ ~ tivlz .~ev~:r c1u~a eve caul~~ c,c4 0~. ti1~ Cii:;~:r. r ; ~silti cxisi.a axed the r Paerxa m4t:~ :?~z?. .F~.LSt~Cha:d xr the C'J'x?~;::r~1C721C'[:I1CC' G'i2 thi, Il'1'3~:~i,vx, tO~~C-it.I' ~=Jl~y(1 yGllr cov~l~i.ny S"1G~u in ~v.~iuh you x~:;.'oz~.~~;x~rt1 $i~`:t Torn ~!d ~":oz1 b us: d fog t:r~iw p~}??,r~o~o. Yc+.t Ss~GV.?d bc, x ~,-~~.xe that ti~'e ec~r_i ?cw ~-d nor tiz~ Presi~ze:~t t tn.,x?a~:,a re~.~,.-:c,iz a:i all tizo reepx?us d~.-':?:in v~ith t.a bozZZ~.~an;~ h-z?t. Th^y ~ ra ~ ;,?s:?I b?~ iz yc~u d~czd~ to ; ~!t '?'o~ H~i~~,~n Owl ti,1;3 ~G'J. 1 ~f]