2RHPZ
08-31-2005, 05:14 AM
JFK faced India-China dilemma
By Anand Giridharadas International Herald Tribune
FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2005
MUMBAI, India The Kennedy administration in 1963 pondered the feasibility of a nuclear strike against China if it attacked India for a second time, according to newly declassified audio recordings of White House deliberations.
Over the crackle of the decades-old tapes, President John F. Kennedy and his advisers can be heard debating whether and how to prevent India from becoming, in the parlance of the day, another domino to fall under communism.
"Before any substantial commitment to defend India against China is given, we should recognize that in order to carry out that commitment against any substantial Chinese attack, we would have to use nuclear weapons," Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara is heard telling the president on the tapes, which were released Thursday by the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston.
"Any large Chinese Communist attack on any part of that area would require the use of nuclear weapons by the U.S., and this is to be preferred over the introduction of large numbers of U.S. soldiers."
Minutes later, after hearing from McNamara and two other advisers, Kennedy says, "We should defend India, and therefore we will defend India if she were attacked."
It was not clear whether Kennedy was speaking of a nuclear strike or in more general terms.
Stephen Cohen, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington and an expert on India, Pakistan and South Asian security, said Thursday: "The context is that Kennedy was very, very pro-India. He saw India as a natural balance to China. That was not true of his advisers. My guess is that they didn't want to see American ground troops get involved in a war.
...more... (http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/25/news/india.php)
By Anand Giridharadas International Herald Tribune
FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2005
MUMBAI, India The Kennedy administration in 1963 pondered the feasibility of a nuclear strike against China if it attacked India for a second time, according to newly declassified audio recordings of White House deliberations.
Over the crackle of the decades-old tapes, President John F. Kennedy and his advisers can be heard debating whether and how to prevent India from becoming, in the parlance of the day, another domino to fall under communism.
"Before any substantial commitment to defend India against China is given, we should recognize that in order to carry out that commitment against any substantial Chinese attack, we would have to use nuclear weapons," Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara is heard telling the president on the tapes, which were released Thursday by the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston.
"Any large Chinese Communist attack on any part of that area would require the use of nuclear weapons by the U.S., and this is to be preferred over the introduction of large numbers of U.S. soldiers."
Minutes later, after hearing from McNamara and two other advisers, Kennedy says, "We should defend India, and therefore we will defend India if she were attacked."
It was not clear whether Kennedy was speaking of a nuclear strike or in more general terms.
Stephen Cohen, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington and an expert on India, Pakistan and South Asian security, said Thursday: "The context is that Kennedy was very, very pro-India. He saw India as a natural balance to China. That was not true of his advisers. My guess is that they didn't want to see American ground troops get involved in a war.
...more... (http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/25/news/india.php)