THE 'VICTORY' WESTMORELAND LOST

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-01601R000300360133-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 17, 2000
• Sequence Number: 133
• Publication Date: March 15, 1971
• Content Type: MAGAZINE

STATINTL
Approved For Release 20 P80-01601?
THE, 'V1C OiRY, 1-0,53T
A 'confidential Pentagon paper details the plan
the military had three years ago to cud the Viet-
nam war. Con. William Westmoreland, then top
man in Saigon, and Gen. Earle Wheeler, then
chairman of the joint Chiefs, worked. it out ch-- "
ill,- the height of Hanoi's Tot offensive in 1968.
Westmoreland read Tot as a shift to all-out war.
by Ilanoi and wanted to match it. Ile also viewed.
it. as a last gasp that would leave North Viet-
nam's army badly mauled. His plan called for
206,000 more men (a total of 731,000) and moves
on. all fronts-stopping anticipated assaults from
the north., seizing sanctuaries in Laos and Cam-
bodia, blocking the Ito -Chi Minh Trail complex
in-those countries, ir'tvadiug North Vietnam and
bombing the "port of Haiphong.
On Feb. 12, the proposals were discussed at
a White House meeting involving L13J, Dean
Rusk, Robert McNamara, CIA chief Richard
helms; Gen. Maxwell Taylor, Clark Clifford, Walt
?Rostow and Wheeler. On Feb. 23, W heeler met
Westmoreland in Saigon and after three clays
brought details- of the plan back to Washington.
Shortly afterward, the 206,000-man request was
revealed in a Pentagon "leak"- a move, West-
moreland. says, designecl to "prejudice the Presi-
clont's' appraisal." On March 24, Wheeler met
Westmoreland privately in 'Manila. The word:
"bobing, no invasions, no 731,000 men.
no new m
The only thing Wheeler could not tell his field
'command'er was something lie did not know him-
self-that on March 31, L13J was bowing out of
the war and out of the White House.
lrlgIS 'U. O B1TS ~1Pe0`l"{l~l: fZil ltiMl~
The Soviet Union seems about to write a new
chapter in manned spaceflight-but no one knows
it will reveal. In November and December
month, the U.S.S.R. fired Off three
and again last
shots that all looked like tests Of a now manned
vehicle. The first two satellites evidently carried
recorded voices; they executed mar cuvers that
outdid any by previous manned satellites. U.S.
experts say they don't quite fit a program for a
manned space station (which the Russians are
working on) nor a _mooii shot. Beyond that, the
exports are baffled.
1 ROt1 Hl.C: ON THE WELCOME MAT
Chile's new 'Marxist government faces a delicate
problem in its efforts to forge new, friendly links
to Reel China. After ]'resident Salvador Allende
granted. Peking diplomatic recognition, the Na-
tionalist. Chinese envoy left but gave the Chinese.
Embassy (bought by China before WVorld War II )
to Chile's League Against Cancer for use as a
hospital. Peking's atilbassaclor wants it back, and
Allende's opponents in the Chilean Congress
have vowed to block the move.
MOSCOW [DROPS A HINT
For the first time in memory, a Soviet radio
broadcast this week listed all Russian vessels
moving to and from North Vietnam. (Except for a
tanker, all carried non-military cargo. ) The rea-
son, U.S. analysts think, is that Mloscow', fearing
that the U.S. may resume full-scale bombing in
North Vietnam, 'is hinting at immunity for its
ships from American aircraft.
Approved. For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80-01601 R000300360133-6