Path to War Page #6

and interdiction,

force ratios in each

of the tactical corps zones

and enemy casualties

in battles fought

and projected battles

against these added forces.

Mr. Clifford, The President

on Line One.

Old friend, I need you here.

Whatever resources are lost through

bombing or capture,

China and Russia will make up

with resupply,

encouraging a friendly game

of I'm more revolutionary than though

Our intervention

will give them a cause

over which to unite when it is

in our interest to deepen

the breach between them.

Wouldn't we lose credibility

throughout the world

if we give up as you propose?

Wouldn t this be an irreparable

blow, George?

A worse blow, Mr. President,

would be that the mightiest

power in the world is unable to defeat

one of the most backward.

With the seventy-one battalions,

with Westy's plan,

this war is winnable.

I say we go in

and we get the job done.

But can we get the job done?

What if they put their stack in?

What makes you think

if we put in the numbers

you're suggesting that Ho Chi Minh

won't match us man for man?

This means greater bodies of men,

Mr. President,

Which will allow us to cream them.

Their firepower against ours...

Why does anyone think

that they will accommodate us

by fighting our kind of war?

Their tactics are terror,

and sniping they have better

access to intelligence.

Why is this?

It's because the South Vietnamese

government is heavily

infiltrated with Vietcong agents,

Mr. President.

What other road can we go,

negotiations,

stopping the bombing?

These make us look weak,

with cup in hand.

Better to lose now than

after committing 200,000 men.

I disagree. We have to make

a stand here,

and if we fail it

could be chalked up to

any number of things corruption

amongst Saigon's leaders for instance,

then we can get out.

But this government would have stood

up to the Communists.

But we won't get out,

Bob, we will double our bet

and get massacred in the rice paddies

So-so-so-so, what's you're advice,

George? Cut and run?

Mr. President,

no great captain in history

ever hesitated

to make a tactical withdrawal

when conditions were

unfavorable to him.

Does anyone else here agree

with what George is sayin ?

I've asked Clark Clifford to join us.

Clark, you have any comments

at this time?

I, I have a question

for General Wheeler.

Yes, sir.

Good morning, General.

Good morning.

If the President proceeds

with this plan,

what in your view would constitute

a victory?

What is the definition of victory

in this contest?

Yes.

A military victory

in the traditional sense

is not what we are seeking.

To eliminate

every last Vietcong guerilla,

could require as many

as half a million men

and five years...

N-n-no one, no one's considerin

those kinda numbers, no one.

Our objective is to reach

a stalemate whereby

we are attriting the enemy faster

than he can replace his loses,

this is the so-called

cross-over point.

And how many men will this require?

A substantially smaller number.

Depending on how

the North Vietnamese respond.

Well,

might they respond by sending in,

say, 100,000 troops?

We regard this as unlikely.

Well, it's less than half the men

they have under arms.

Well, it's certainly possible,

they already have 50,000 men

down there.

And to achieve the ten

to one superiority?

Which I understand is barely adequate

for conventional forces

in a guerilla situation.

How many troops would be required

to meet this possible threat?

As I said, this would be unlikely.

One million troops,

is that not correct, General?

You see, we would need

one million men in Vietnam.

Excuse me

Clark...

I can't tell you how grateful

I am to finely have an alley

at the barricades.

Well, it's just what makes sense,

George.

Not to Bob McNamara but to me.

A million men was straight-out

of your memo of October last year.

An impressively persuasive document

in my opinion.

All sixty-seven pages of it.

Well...

I haven't shown much restraint

on the subject, it's true.

If he brought you in,

it must be because I'm like

an old broken record now.

Well, then that'd be two of us.

Scratchy and irritating as hell.

Good day, George.

Yeah?

The Vista Volunteers are here

for the pictures, Mr. President.

All right,

tell em I'll be out in a minute.

And tell Goodwin

I wanna see him right after.

I called Marg soon

as I knew you were safe. Cowards.

I really appreciate that,

she was pretty shaken up.

She hates my work

Well, I hate sendin ya.

The whole thing stinks to high heaven

What'd you wanna tell me in private?

I've managed to keep

these Vietnam expenditures

under wraps as you requested,

but if you decide

to move forward with this,

it's going to be impossible to keep up

the guise indefinitely

and I strongly believe

you should present

this bill to the American people.

No, absolutely not.

Mr. President,

I can't continue to hide

these kinds of figures.

Phase I of Westmoreland's

program alone

is going to run us

twelve billion dollars.

Twelve billion!?

I can't ask Congress

for twelve billion dollars!

Mr. President.

Bob, it'll be unshirted hell

if I go to the Hill askin for

that kind of money.

I'll never get another thing

out of em again.

Now how much can you trim off that?

Bob, I've got my ox in a ditch here.

Now, what can you do for me?

If we continue to use

the maximum transfer authority

from other areas,

I could probably

cut these figures in half,

but we'd still

need a big appropriation

to carry us through this year.

But Westmoreland says

if we put the men in,

there's a chance they'll quit

by year's end, right?

Well, that's certainly

what we all hope,

but we can't count on West...

You just do the number countin,

will ya, Bob?

Yeah.

Get as low as you can.

One more.

All right. All right, thank you,

thank you.

Dick,

I need a statement for next week.

I'm not sure yet

if I'm gonna want to use it,

but I need it ready.

All right, Mr. President.

You know, Jack,

I want war like I want polio

the shootin, the bombin goes against

every bone in my body.

You know

that better than almost anyone.

These young people here,

that's what I'm all about.

That was me,

in Cotulla teachin Mexican kids

livin in hovels,

treated worse than you'd treat a dog.

But here I start

a billion dollar bank

for em in Southeast Asia, free money,

and Ho Chi Minh wants no part of it.

I could a turned that place

into the Tennessee Valley.

I read he said he's willin to fight

for twenty years.

I know what he says

and I know what I say

and I know what I must do despite

what I say, damn it!

I want to leave the footprint

of America in Vietnam,

schools, dams, hospitals.

Bomb craters that'll be our footprint

That's what they'll remember me for.

Not civil rights or health care

or education.

No, sir,

it'll be Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam.

Twenty bills I'm tryin to get out

of committee,

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