national security advisers that he did not know what U.S. policy was on Laos. He underlined his disdain by adding that he knew what the president had said, but “the military had been unable to back up the President’s statements.”[39] At another meeting, General Lemnitzer provoked deeper questions in Kennedy about the Joint Chiefs by outlining a strategy of unlimited escalation in Southeast Asia, concluding, “If we are given the right to use nuclear weapons, we can guarantee victory.”[40] The president looked at him, said nothing, and dismissed the meeting. Later he commented, “Since he
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