New book says Kissinger kept Nixon in the dark

[Up2Late]

Source: Reuters

New book says Kissinger kept Nixon in the dark

Mon Apr 2, 2007 6:29pm ET147

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Newly released documents show that former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger delayed telling President Richard Nixon about the start of the Yom Kippur War in 1973 to keep him from interfering, according to new book excerpted in Vanity Fair on Monday.

"Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power," is by presidential historian Robert Dallek, who spent four years reviewing the Nixon administration's recently opened archives, including 20,000 pages of Kissinger's telephone transcripts and hundreds of hours of Nixon tapes.

The historian says that when Egypt and Syria attacked Israel on October 6, 1973, the Israelis informed Kissinger at 6 a.m., but 3 1/2 hours would pass before he spoke to Nixon.

Dallek, a biographer of Nixon predecessor Lyndon Johnson. also had access to nearly a million pages of national-security records and unpublished parts of the diaries of Nixon's first chief of staff, H. R. Haldeman.

(more at link)

Read more: http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2007-04-02T223729Z_01_N02437934_RTRUKOC_0_US-NIXON-KISSINGER.xml

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I'm not a fan of Nixon or Kissinger, but this does seem like an interesting little tidbit.

[Sherman A1]

1. Agreed

It is very interesting.

[papau]

2. What Nixon reaction could worry him? - other than taking spotlight off Henry n/t

n/t

[pschoeb]

3. October 6th was also Nixon's Birthday

So this could have played a role in when he was informed.

Also the initial attack in the Yom Kippur war was at 2:00 pm October 6th which would be 7:00 am Washington time, so the call at 6:00 am must have been the Israeli's saying they were fairly certain of an attack. The Israeli's started to get suspicious after intelligence received at 12:00 am October 6th but weren't ever completely certain of attack. There would be no reason to inform Nixon, as before 6:00 am Israel had decided against their normal plan of preemptive strike in case of knowing/suspecting an imminent attack. It's possible that Kissinger didn't really believe there would be an attack, despite Israel's assertion, as such troop movements and saber rattling had been taking place since 1972 without much real threat.

[KoKo]

6. Nixon was born on January 9, 1913, Yorba Linda, Ca.

Richard Milhous Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, Calif., on Jan. 9, 1913, to Midwestern-bred parents, Francis A. and Hannah Milhous Nixon, who raised their ...
www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0760621.html - 34k - Cached - Similar pages

[SOS]

4. Nixon was too drunk to function during the crisis

"Five days into the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, with the superpowers on the brink of confrontation, President Richard Nixon was too drunk to discuss the crisis with the British prime minister, according to newly released transcripts of tape recordings."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/08/08/politics/main634636.shtml

[Up2Late]

5. I'd really like to know why this was moved here to GD. Is this NOT News?

I'd never heard any of this stiff, maybe someone else did.:mad:

[Up2Late]

8. Kick n/t

:kick:

[ronnykmarshall]

7. He's like Jr. & mushrooms.

Kept in the dark and fed bullshit.