171. Backchannel Message From the Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (Haig) to William Hood, Washington, December 22, 19721 2
Message Delivered to North Vietnamese December 22, 1972
The U.S. side wants to take the occasion of Vice Minister Thach’s remarks at the December 20 experts meeting to state the following:
The DRV Side’s references to the past record concerning U.S. military actions contain distortions based on quotations taken out of context, a practice that the DRV side has resorted to with increasing frequency at recent meetings. As the DRV side well knows, the U.S. side unilaterally accepted some restrictions on its military actions so long as an agreement seemed imminent and the DRV side was negotiating in good faith. The U.S. side has repeatedly emphasized that these restrictions would be impossible to maintain if the negotiations no longer reflected a serious attitude by the DRV side. As its message of December 18, 1972 made clear, the U.S. side came to the conclusion that the DRV side was deliberately and frivolously delaying the talks during the session of December 4-13.
Both governments now confront a very grave decision. The choice is whether to slide into a continuation of the conflict or to make a serious final effort to reach a settlement at a time when agreement is so near. The U.S. side, preferring the latter course, proposes a meeting between Special Adviser Le Duc Tho and Dr. Kissinger January 3, 1973 in Paris on the basis of the U.S. message of December 18, 1972. Dr. Kissinger could set aside three days for the purpose of concluding the settlement.
If the DRV agrees to this meeting, the U.S., as a sign of its good will, will again suspend its bombing north of the 20th parallel starting as of midnight December 31 and lasting for the duration of the negotiating sessions. If an agreement is reached, this restriction will continue. The U.S. side reaffirms that it will stop all bombing and shelling against the territory of Democratic Republic of Vietnam within 48 hours of an agreement in Paris.
In the meantime the technical experts should at last start serious negotiations on the protocols associated with the agreement with a view to reaching agreement on these documents in time for a settlement during the meeting between Dr. Kissinger and Special Adviser Le Duc Tho.
[Page 2]BY WIRE
December 22, 1972
FROM: Haig
TO: Hood
The following two paragraphs are a replacement for the first paragraph sent earlier. The full message should include the following two paragraphs and the text of the message entitled, “Message Delivered to North Vietnamese December 22, 1972.”
Begin text:
The President would like to bring to the personal attention of the Chinese leadership the latest US proposal to the DRV. The US side wishes again to reiterate its readiness to settle rapidly and it conviction that this is a major contribution to easing tensions all over Asia.
The US side will be sending to the Chinese side later in the day the transcripts of the last two meetings between Dr. Kissinger and the North Vietnamese representatives so that the Chinese side can judge for itself who was serious in these discussions.
End text.
- Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 850, President’s File-China Trip, China Exchanges, Oct 24, 1972-Dec 31, 1972. Top Secret; Sensitive; Exclusively Eyes Only. The time of transmission is not indicated on the backchannel message.↩
- Haig transmitted a copy of a message entitled “Message Delivered to North Vietnamese, December 22, 1972,” and provided additional text.↩