Great summary, Patrick, of these two existential threats.
That low-level proxy war in Vietnam in 1962 obviously later heated up to become a historic conflagration. But less known is how it brought the nuclear option into the mix for two subsequent presidencies.
With the Tet Offensive underway in February 1968, senior US military officers undertook a secret plan to move nukes to South Vietnam so that they could be used on short notice against North Vietnamese troops in case they were "needed" to relieve the siege of US marines at Khe Sanh—if American forces found themselves on the brink of defeat. Code-named “Fracture Jaw,” it was put together by General Westmoreland without presidential authorization. When LBJ caught wind of it, he overruled it due to the fear of “a wider war.”
Then there was the "madman diplomacy" of Richard Nixon. “Operation Duck Hook” threatened a massive shock and awe campaign against North Vietnam that included, according to Wikipedia, "the possible-nuclear bombing of military and economic targets in and around Hanoi, the mining of Haiphong and other ports, air strikes against North Vietnam's northeast line of communications as well as passes and bridges at the Chinese border, and air and ground attacks on other targets throughout Vietnam."
In a secret meeting in Paris in early August 1969, Henry Kissinger presented a US ultimatum intended to leave no doubt in the mind of his North Vietnamese counterpart: "If by November 1 no major progress has been made toward a solution, we will be compelled--with great reluctance--to take measures of the greatest consequence."
Duck Hook was ultimately abandoned by Nixon but the idea was nevertheless to convince Moscow and Hanoi that Nixon might do "anything" to end the war.
Instead, in October 1969, Nixon ordered a worldwide nuclear alert in what is one of the largest secret military operations in US history.
In October 13, the "Joint Chiefs of Staff Readiness Test" ordered a stand-down of training flights of US tactical and strategic air forces in the United States, Europe, and East Asia to raise operational readiness. At the same time, Strategic Air Command (SAC) increased the numbers of bombers and tankers on ground alert while heightening the readiness posture of selected overseas units.
Then, on October 27, SAC undertook "Operation Giant Lance." This involved a squadron of 18 B-52 bombers patrolling the Arctic polar ice caps as a nuclear show of force in order to compel the USSR and North Vietnam to end the Vietnam War on terms favourable to the US. It was top secret even within SAC and intended to be noticed only by Russian intelligence.
The upshot is that when a nuclear-armed power is reckless or desperate or feels cornered, all bets are off. And nuclear brinkmanship (secret or otherwise) leaves way too much to chance.
Aware of some of this. Thanks for the comment. Another point to be added is that the massive peace demonstrations of 1968 convinced Nixon to reject Pentagon proposals for use of nukes in Vietnam, because he was afraid it would set off chaos in the U.S. We don’t have that kind of movement today,
Yes, little was known at the time due to the secrecy. Details have been slowly revealed, notably with Seymour Hersh's book in 1983, The Price Of Power: Kissinger In The Nixon White House, and later with release of declassified documents in 2005.
Nixon was also somewhat obsessed with ongoing anti-war demonstrations including the upcoming Vietnam Moratorium Day on October 15.
There’s certainly nothing like that going on today. I think a main reason is that despite increasing involvement in Ukraine there is no publicly sanctioned, direct involvement of US/NATO forces (though we know who is calling the shots). Due to this lack of public awareness and dissent, the situation is akin to a Cuban Missile Crisis in slow motion with increasing volatility. We can only hope there’s some back channel efforts going on in secret. Without a doubt, “Dark times can crush us, or summon the best in us.”
Daniel Ellsberg in “The Doomsday Machine” confirms that the 1968 demonstrations which saw hundreds of thousands descend on DC convinced Nixon a nuclear strike on Vietnam would cause chaos. I like to think Mayday 1971, when direct action shut down the capital for a week, and in which over 12,000 were arrested, including yours truly, came as a bold underscore. I will address the similarities to Cuba and the 1983 war scare in my presentation today, details at end of piece.
Great summary, Patrick, of these two existential threats.
That low-level proxy war in Vietnam in 1962 obviously later heated up to become a historic conflagration. But less known is how it brought the nuclear option into the mix for two subsequent presidencies.
With the Tet Offensive underway in February 1968, senior US military officers undertook a secret plan to move nukes to South Vietnam so that they could be used on short notice against North Vietnamese troops in case they were "needed" to relieve the siege of US marines at Khe Sanh—if American forces found themselves on the brink of defeat. Code-named “Fracture Jaw,” it was put together by General Westmoreland without presidential authorization. When LBJ caught wind of it, he overruled it due to the fear of “a wider war.”
Then there was the "madman diplomacy" of Richard Nixon. “Operation Duck Hook” threatened a massive shock and awe campaign against North Vietnam that included, according to Wikipedia, "the possible-nuclear bombing of military and economic targets in and around Hanoi, the mining of Haiphong and other ports, air strikes against North Vietnam's northeast line of communications as well as passes and bridges at the Chinese border, and air and ground attacks on other targets throughout Vietnam."
In a secret meeting in Paris in early August 1969, Henry Kissinger presented a US ultimatum intended to leave no doubt in the mind of his North Vietnamese counterpart: "If by November 1 no major progress has been made toward a solution, we will be compelled--with great reluctance--to take measures of the greatest consequence."
Duck Hook was ultimately abandoned by Nixon but the idea was nevertheless to convince Moscow and Hanoi that Nixon might do "anything" to end the war.
Instead, in October 1969, Nixon ordered a worldwide nuclear alert in what is one of the largest secret military operations in US history.
In October 13, the "Joint Chiefs of Staff Readiness Test" ordered a stand-down of training flights of US tactical and strategic air forces in the United States, Europe, and East Asia to raise operational readiness. At the same time, Strategic Air Command (SAC) increased the numbers of bombers and tankers on ground alert while heightening the readiness posture of selected overseas units.
Then, on October 27, SAC undertook "Operation Giant Lance." This involved a squadron of 18 B-52 bombers patrolling the Arctic polar ice caps as a nuclear show of force in order to compel the USSR and North Vietnam to end the Vietnam War on terms favourable to the US. It was top secret even within SAC and intended to be noticed only by Russian intelligence.
The upshot is that when a nuclear-armed power is reckless or desperate or feels cornered, all bets are off. And nuclear brinkmanship (secret or otherwise) leaves way too much to chance.
(Apologies if you knew all these details).
Aware of some of this. Thanks for the comment. Another point to be added is that the massive peace demonstrations of 1968 convinced Nixon to reject Pentagon proposals for use of nukes in Vietnam, because he was afraid it would set off chaos in the U.S. We don’t have that kind of movement today,
Yes, little was known at the time due to the secrecy. Details have been slowly revealed, notably with Seymour Hersh's book in 1983, The Price Of Power: Kissinger In The Nixon White House, and later with release of declassified documents in 2005.
Nixon was also somewhat obsessed with ongoing anti-war demonstrations including the upcoming Vietnam Moratorium Day on October 15.
There’s certainly nothing like that going on today. I think a main reason is that despite increasing involvement in Ukraine there is no publicly sanctioned, direct involvement of US/NATO forces (though we know who is calling the shots). Due to this lack of public awareness and dissent, the situation is akin to a Cuban Missile Crisis in slow motion with increasing volatility. We can only hope there’s some back channel efforts going on in secret. Without a doubt, “Dark times can crush us, or summon the best in us.”
Daniel Ellsberg in “The Doomsday Machine” confirms that the 1968 demonstrations which saw hundreds of thousands descend on DC convinced Nixon a nuclear strike on Vietnam would cause chaos. I like to think Mayday 1971, when direct action shut down the capital for a week, and in which over 12,000 were arrested, including yours truly, came as a bold underscore. I will address the similarities to Cuba and the 1983 war scare in my presentation today, details at end of piece.