MEMORANDUM
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
TOP SECRET/NODIS/XGDS
MEMORANDUM OF CONVERSATION
- PARTICIPANTS:
- Dr. Henry A. Kissinger, Secretary of State and Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
James R. Schlesinger, Secretary of Defense
Lt. General Brent Scowcroft, Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs - DATE AND TIME:
- Friday - August 30, 1974
Breakfast meeting, 7:30 a.m. - PLACE:
- The Secretary of Defense's Office
The Pentagon
Schlesinger: General Murray [DAO, Saigon] is disconcerted about South Vietnam.
Kissinger: What country is Martin in?
Schlesinger: They have had to cutback ammunition consumption. They are losing two to one. One bitterness between Martin and Murray is that Murray wanted to cutback last December and Martin said no.
Kissinger: The President said he would go all-out to get the cuts restored.
Schlesinger: The law authorizes $1 billion, but there is no law preventing my asking the committees to permit the transfer of $300 million more. That is hairy stuff.
Scowcroft: There is still an overall ceiling.
Schlesinger: True. We have to get that removed
I want to cut the DAO. We are getting the dregs out there. The DAO pay is charged against MASF.
Kissinger: It depends on how much you cut. The only interest I have is the symbolic one.
TOP SECRET/NODIS/XGDS
