Word: laird
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Very Disappointing. In a sharply worded memo, Nixon termed the economizing effort "very disappointing" and ordered another try. A prime target, of course, is the Defense Department. Nixon wants Defense Secretary Melvin Laird to sweat $2 billion out of the $80 billion budget. In his first attempt, Laird managed to cut only $550 million. Nixon told him to try again, and this time Laird brought the reductions up to $1.1 billion, chiefly in "ground munitions," including the anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system, which will take a $34 million...
Most startling, Laird proposed saving $185 million a year by curtailing one of the more effective weapons that the U.S. has in Viet Nam: B-52 raids. Despite what he called a "strong recommendation" from General Creighton Abrams, the U.S. commander in Viet Nam, Laird suggested reducing B-52 sorties by more than 10%, from 1,800 to 1,600 per month. The savings would come chiefly in the planes' 30-ton bomb loads, which cost $42,000. There would be little tactical impact; probably the same number of B-52 missions will be flown as before, but they...
...that the B-52 move was "strictly budgetary." But there was considerable speculation that the cutback, coming at a time when the Communists are pressing an offensive, was intended primarily as a political signal to Hanoi, indicating Washington's eagerness to end the war. Fueling such speculation was Laird's admission that "private"-i.e., secret-talks aimed at a settlement are under way in Paris. In addition, New York Times Columnist James Reston claimed that Nixon may go further, by withdrawing as many as 100,000 troops this year...
...While Laird had seemed to place his faith in keeping up a tough battlefield pressure, Rogers put more trust in negotiations. "If they're serious about peace, if they want to talk about it, we're ready," he declared, adding that previous breakthroughs had come about almost entirely in secret negotiations. "That was where the progress was made," he said. Rogers seemed to imply that such private sessions had not yet begun-though reports of them have surfaced in several places. Later he added: "If you want to have secret talks, you pretend you're not having...
Happier News. In his assertive defense of the controversial ABM system, Laird made what seemed like a startling revelation. The "Safeguard" system was absolutely necessary, he said, because "there is no question" that the Russians are marshaling a first-strike force of giant intercontinental ballistic missiles that could destroy large numbers if not most of the Minuteman U.S. ICBMs. Laird insisted that without Safeguard the U.S. strategy of retaliatory deterrence would be dangerously undermined. Laird's report about the Russian first-strike capacity is still unconfirmed by the White House and doubted by many experts...