April 24-30, 1970: Nixon Orders Invasion of Cambodia; Kissinger Staffers Resign Rather than Participate in Coordination
On April 24, President Nixon orders US and South Vietnamese troops to secretly invade the “Parrot’s Beak” region of Cambodia, thought to be a Viet Cong stronghold. The decision is controversial. Nixon knows that many senior military officials, as well as his Secretary of Defense, Melvin Laird, will oppose the operation, so he carefully keeps Laird ignorant of the invasion plans. National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger privately alerts Laird to some of the less controversial elements of the operation (but not the use of US forces in the invasion), and Laird recommends advising Congress of the imminent military action. Kissinger says Nixon will handle that himself. (Nixon only tells one Congressman, Senator John Stennis (D-MS), the hawkish chairman of the Armed Services Committee.) As the evening wears on, Nixon repeatedly calls Kissinger’s office, barking out contradictory orders and hanging up, as he flip-flops on whether to actually go through with the plan. “Our peerless leader has flipped out,” Kissinger tells his staff. Nixon calls Kissinger with further orders and tells him, in a slurred, perhaps inebriated voice, “Wait a minute, Bebe has something to say to you.” Charles “Bebe” Rebozo, Nixon’s longtime friend and millionaire political and personal financier (who has been thoroughly informed of the operation when many senior government and officials have not), takes the phone and says, “The president wants you to know that if this doesn’t work, Henry, it’s your ass.”
Staffers Resign – Kissinger, who has himself kept his staff ignorant of the invasion, tells one staffer, William Watts, to coordinate the National Security Council’s work on the invasion. But Watts, outraged at the secret invasion of a neutral nation, refuses. “Your views represent the cowardice of the Eastern establishment,” Kissinger snaps. Watts comes towards Kissinger as if to strike him, then turns and walks out of the office. Watts resigns his position minutes later. Kissinger’s military aide, Alexander Haig: tells Watts: “You can’t resign.… You’ve just had an order from your commander in chief.” Watts retorts, “F_ck you, Al, I just did.” Two other Kissinger staffers, Anthony Lake and Roger Morris, also resign over the invasion.
Others Informed – The plans are finalized by Nixon and Kissinger, with Rebozo sitting in on the discussion. Only on the evening of April 26 do Laird, Secretary of State William Rogers, and other Cabinet officials learn of the plans to invade Cambodia. Rogers is horrified; Laird is ambivalent, but furious that he was left out of the decision-making process. The invasion takes place on April 28. Congress and the press learn of the invasion on April 30. [Reeves, 2001, pp. 199-206]
Entity Tags: Melvin Laird, Anthony Lake, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., Charles ‘Bebe’ Rebozo, John Stennis, Roger Morris, William Watts, National Security Council, Richard Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, William P. Rogers
Timeline Tags: Nixon and Watergate
| I was a Naval Operations Center watchstander for River Division 552 in Tra Cu, Vietnam in 1969/70 – I was only 18 at the time. Another lifetime ago. I was stationed in Tra Cu for 9 months. I was transfered to support the PBR Mobile Base 2 in Tan An for 2 months and then to Headquarters of operation Giant Slingshot in Ben Luc for a month. |  |
Riv Div 552 was part of Operation Giant SlingShot
Operation Giant Sling Shot was primarily a U.S.Navy Operation to cut off supplies coming down from the Parrot’s Beak region of Cambodia towards Saigon. This operation stationed half a dozen PBR divisions on the Vam Co Tay and Vam Co Dong Rivers. These PBR divisions monitored traffic on the river. Tra Cu was situated on a canal running off of the Vam Co Dong River.
The base was little more than a few hootches and sandbaged bunkers a few feet above sea level. The other half of Tra Cu was occupied by a Green Beret forward camp attached to an ARVN unit. I had forgotten but was reminded that the navy seals and the 9th Infantry Division also periodically staged operations out of Tra Cu
Cambodian History: 1950s-1980s 