Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger uses the telephone in Deputy National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft's office to get the latest information on the situation in South Vietnam, 29 April 1975: photo by White House Photographic Office; image scanned by Tom, 27 November 2008 (National Archives and Records Administration)
The amoeba is mountainous Hank!
It dwarfs yr think tanks you neoid!
So jack off my octopus!
I don't care if you did make it with Barbara Walters of the Today Show!
Hit the deck 4 eyes!
The meat train won't be late for the grave and you're on it!
Jelly arms are coming for you across the black glyphs!
The cellophane is crinkling!
Earmuffs won't be enuf!
You big donkey made out of orlon!
Spirochetes et yr Mom!
Ach Nein!
When the storm of time movies hits the protein sources
Popeye'll take you one-on-one you shell of Frankenstein!
You'll climb off the food chain soon enuf anyhow Henry!
The gods of death live in yr shoes!
5 November 1972
Doodle from Breakfast Comix #1: Tom Raworth
As National Security Adviser to President Richard M. Nixon, Henry Kissinger played a key role in a secret bombing campaign in Cambodia.
Doodle from Breakfast Comix #1: Tom Raworth
The American bombing of Cambodia killed an estimated 40,000 combatants and civilians.
Doodle from Breakfast Comix #2: Tom Raworth
In his diary in March 1969, Nixon’s chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, noted that the final decision to carpet bomb Cambodia ‘was made at a meeting in the Oval Office Sunday afternoon, after the church service’.
Doodle from Breakfast Comix #7: Tom Raworth
In his diary on 17 March 1969, Haldeman wrote:
Historic day. K[issinger]’s “Operation Breakfast” finally came off at 2:00 pm our time. K really excited, as is P[resident].
Doodle from Breakfast Comix #7: Tom Raworth
And the next day:
K’s “Operation Breakfast” a great success. He came beaming in with the report, very productive. A lot more secondaries than had been expected. Confirmed early intelligence. Probably no reaction for a few days, if ever.
Doodle from Breakfast Comix #17: Tom Raworth
The bombing began on the night of 18 March with a raid by 60 B-52 Stratofortress bombers, based at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. The target was Base Area 353, the supposed location of COSVN in the Fishhook. Although the aircrews were briefed that their mission was to take place in South Vietnam, 48 of the bombers were diverted across the Cambodian border and dropped 2,400 tons of bombs. The mission was designated Breakfast, after the morning Pentagon planning session at which it was devised.
Doodle from Breakfast Comix #17: Tom Raworth
Breakfast was so successful (in US terms) that General Abrams provided a list of 15 more known Base Areas for targeting. During the next 14 months the operation continued. The five remaining missions that made up the operation and their targets were: Lunch (Base Area 609), Snack (Base Area 351), Dinner (Base Area 352), Supper (Base Area 740), and Dessert (Base Area 350). SAC flew 3,800 B-52 sorties against these targets, and dropped 108,823 tons of ordnance during the missions. Due to the continued reference to gastronomic situations in the codenames, the entire series of missions was referred to as Operation Menu. Assessment of bomb damage to the targets was difficult to obtain, due to the covert nature of the operation. Instead of utilizing Air Force aircraft for the missions, SOG forward air controllers were tasked with obtaining intelligence on target damage.
Nixon and Kissinger went to great lengths to keep the missions secret. The expansion of the US effort into "neutral" Cambodia was sure to cause serious debate in the US Congress, provoke negative criticism in the media, and spark anti-war protests on US college campuses. In order to prevent this, an elaborate dual reporting system covering the missions had been formulated.
National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger, aboard Air Force One. expresses happiness at being chosen TIME Magazine's "Man of the Year," along with President Richard Nixon. 1972: White House office photo from H.R. Haldeman: The Ends of Power (1978); image scanned by Happyme22, 30 September 2011
In 1973 Kissinger received the Nobel Peace Prize, and was appointed Secretary of State of the United States.
President Ronald Reagan meeting with Henry Kissinger in the White House residence, 10 June 1981: White House office photo, scanned by Happyme22, 10 August 2008
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