JFK Tape Recording Declassified

washington times ^ | Aug 25, 2005 | GLEN JOHNSON

[lunarbicep]

BOSTON (AP) -- Top advisers to President John F. Kennedy warned him in 1963 that if he pledged to defend India against any attack by China, the United States would likely have to use nuclear weapons to enforce the commitment, according to a newly declassified tape recording.

George Ball, undersecretary of state in the Democratic administration, also warned in what today would be considered insensitive language that a nuclear response could subject the United States to charges of racism following the two atomic bombings of Japan that ended World War II.

"If there is a general appearance of a shift in strategy to the dependence on a nuclear defense against the Chinese in the Far East, we are going to inject into this whole world opinion the old bugaboo of being willing to use nuclear weapons against Asians when we are talking about a different kind of strategy in Europe," Ball told the president during a May 9, 1963, national security meeting in the White House. "This is going to create great problems with the Japanese - with all the yellow people."

[Flux Capacitor]

Racial slurs in a Democrat administration. Imagine that.

-Dan

[HawaiianGecko]

	"I think we would be hard pressed to tell our own people why we are doing this with India when even the British won't do it or the Australians won't do it and the Canadians won't do it. We need to have those other flags flying on these joint enterprises." lol, so much for the "multilateral" democrats.

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"I think we would be hard pressed to tell our own people why we are doing this with India when even the British won't do it or the Australians won't do it and the Canadians won't do it. We need to have those other flags flying on these joint enterprises."

lol, so much for the "multilateral" democrats.

[Waco]

Not to mention that the USA will labeled racist or (fill in the blank) no matter how justified it is in defending itself. What a bunch of idiots. They'll get us all killed if they can.

[battlegearboat]

A Glass Lit Parking Lot

[cubreporter]

It's all coming home to roost.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Kennedy, for all his faults, was very much a Cold Warrior president. Of course, liberals don't like to remember that.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Kennedy, for all his faults, was very much a Cold Warrior president. Of course, liberals don't like to remember that.

[Salamander]

I resemble that remark

[tkathy]

Mr. KKK Truman not only dropped the bombs, but started the Korean war with no exit strategery, and set up Israel in a way guaranteed to cause disaster down the line.

[thegreatbeast]

The important thing to note here is the way the JFK Library adheres to a glacial pace of disclosure. The old KGB was more forthcoming than the gatekeepers to Camelot.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Don't forget Johnson, who probably did more to damage our credibility than any president other than Carter.

[ARepublicanForAllReasons]

...damage our credibility...

El BJ was out of his league when it came to international politics. And when he walked away from the war he created, because I can't say he started it, but he escalated and escalated, then escalated some more. After Tet the U.S. had basically won the war. But because the press smeared the entire affair and El BJ could not get re-elected, he just walked away from it.

Walk away, El BJ, walk away... into the sunset

[jamaksin]

Agreed ... however, please note that the release of JFK materials is "speedy" relative to those concerning Pearl Harbor. There are still a myriad of specific documents which are well beyond public inspection even after numerous FOIA requests.

[kjo]

Don't forget that when we walked (or ran) out of Southeast Asia 2 1/2 million died as a result of the vacuum that was left. The Dems don't want to talk about that either.

[Textide]

Truman not only dropped the bombs

I'm all for that decision. The others that you mentioned were all SNAFUs though.

[Righty_McRight]

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