The Laos Invasion—Tchepone, the Hasty South Vietnamese Retreat, Rout Stories and Bad Press, the PR Offensive, Upbeat Military Reports, and Whistling in the Dark; Kissinger’s Meeting with the Kidnapping Plotters, Cover Stories, and Lies; and Another Round of Bombing of North Vietnam and “Protective Reaction” Claims

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>This chapter centers on the invasion of Laos, including the panicky retreats of South Vietnamese troops under enemy fire, news stories on their flights, the political problem these stories posed in Washington, upbeat internal reports contradicting the stories, the Nixon administration’s PR offensive to counter the bad press, efforts to see a silver lining, and Kissinger’s great frustrations with the South Vietnamese and U.S. military. It also discusses more heavy bombing of North Vietnam falsely portrayed as “protective reaction.” Plus it takes up Kissinger’s meeting with three of the antiwar activists who had been named as co-conspirators in the alleged plot to kidnap him, and Kissinger’s lies to colleagues about who he’d thought he was meeting with. And it discusses the U.S.-supported Pakistani dictatorship’s massacre in East Pakistan (later Bangladesh) in response to a Bengali nationalist uprising. It also discusses a deadly enemy sapper attack on U.S. troops in South Vietnam.</jats:p>