The Watergate Connection

Even though Watergate had some incredibly far-reaching ramifications, it nonetheless comes as a surprise to learn that the scandal played a significant role in the course of the Viet Nam War as well. In April 1973, less than three months after the Paris agreement was signed, the Nixon Administration decided to end the truce by resuming U.S. bombing raids against North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces. Reason: scarcely had the treaty gone into effect when Hanoi began violating it. According to a secret report to the White House, the North Vietnamese began installing surface-to-air missiles around Khe Sanh in the northern tier of South Viet Nam. Hanoi also was deliberately slow in freeing American prisoners and refused to supply information about U.S. personnel missing in action. As a result, President Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger decided to resume bombing raids against the Khe Sanh missiles and possibly against the North. The raids were to have been more intense than the Christmas 1972 bombings.

After Nixon had given his final, formal approval to resume the bombing, however, he learned that his counsel John Dean had begun to talk to the Watergate prosecutors. Nixon knew that the renewed bombing would spur violent criticism in Congress, in the country at large and all over the world. He also knew that Dean's testimony was going to make life difficult for him. Loath to deal with simultaneous severe criticism on two major fronts, he rescinded his approval of the raids. The North Vietnamese infringements continued unchecked.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.