Richard Nixon Asked If He Regrets Cambodia "Invasion" - Oxford Union 1978 — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00Mr President uh in view of subsequent
2. 0:03events um do you regret your decision to
3. 0:06invade
4. 0:10Cambodia what I regret about my decision
5. 0:12to invade Cambodia was that I didn't do
6. 0:14it
7. 0:15sooner uh let me explain
8. 0:19briefly and I and I I I don't want a
9. 0:22filibuster particularly before a uh
10. 0:24politically sophisticated group because
11. 0:26you'll know what it is but be that as it
12. 0:28may here was the
13. 0:32situation Cambodia at in
14. 0:351970 Cambodia was an
15. 0:39area where there was a whole group of
16. 0:43sanctuaries
17. 0:45socalled in which North
18. 0:48Vietnamese and Viet Kong
19. 0:51troops uh were stationed there were no
20. 0:54cambodians whatever there shanuk whom I
21. 0:57knew I met him back in 53 when he was
22. 1:00still playing the violin but in any
23. 1:02event
24. 1:05shano had
25. 1:06told one of our Representatives that as
26. 1:10far as he was concerned he didn't care
27. 1:11what we did in that part of Cambodia
28. 1:13because no cambodians were there and he
29. 1:15liked to get the North Vietnamese out of
30. 1:17his country now what was happening is
31. 1:21they were in that part of the country
32. 1:23and then they would come across the
33. 1:24border into Vietnam and they were
34. 1:27killing Americans and our South
35. 1:28Vietnamese all wi by the tens of
36. 1:31thousands and then they go back over we
37. 1:33couldn't even pursue them we couldn't do
38. 1:36anything also in that
39. 1:39spring April they were sending great
40. 1:43numbers of troops into Cambodia
41. 1:45preparing for what is called the Tet
42. 1:46Offensive of that year it was to be
43. 1:48shortly after T had we not struck them
44. 1:52then we would have had enormous
45. 1:58casualties so what were we to do let
46. 2:01them have this privileged Sanctuary or
47. 2:03go in there now let me just add one
48. 2:06other
49. 2:07point when we talk about invading
50. 2:11Cambodia may I ask in World War
51. 2:16II when Eisenhower ordered the landing
52. 2:18on Normandy was that invading
53. 2:21France no the purpose of that was to
54. 2:24destroy the German armies that were
55. 2:27occupying France and he was right to do
56. 2:29it
57. 2:30when we went into Cambodia we weren't
58. 2:31invading Cambodia shuk didn't object to
59. 2:34it we were going there for the purpose
60. 2:38of blunting and offensive that would
61. 2:40have killed American men I do it again I
62. 2:43wish I'd done it sooner and the W have
63. 2:44been over
64. 2:46[Applause]
65. 2:56soon