Chapter 1360: It’s not shameful to give in (second update, please subscribe)
The sun is shining brightly in the spring of Washington.
The cherry blossoms are in full bloom. Among the cherry blossoms all over the mountains and plains, tourists from all over the world enjoy the beautiful cherry blossoms.
The cherry blossoms are in front of you, and the obelisk is in the distance.
With the arrival of the Cherry Blossom Festival, even the subway cars are painted with cherry blossoms. In short, at this time of year, cherry blossoms fill the entire Washington. Even the White House is no exception.
Although there is no cherry blossom tree in the White House, there is a photo in the Oval Office, which is a photo of the president's family at this year's Cherry Blossom Festival. However, unlike the smiling face in the photo, Kennedy's expression at this time was very serious.
"Mr. President, we must take into account a realistic issue - in Africa, the Soviet Union-supported agent Mourere in the Congo has occupied large areas of land. In Southeast Asia, in Vietnam, Saigon's rule has been affected by Serious threats, armed personnel infiltrating from the north, are continuously entering the south."
As Secretary of Defense, McNamara pointed to the wall chart and said:
"Mr. President, we. Must arrive now All regions, including the Khmer, are under threat. Penetration from the other side of the Iron Curtain is threatening the entire free world. They have seen our contradictions with NBC, so they are taking advantage of this opportunity to increase their If we do not take decisive action, we will have to face the threat of losing the entire Southeast Asia in the future..."
"Losing the entire Southeast Asia, is NBC just a show-off?"
Although he is the Attorney General, Robert plays the role of the President's staff most of the time. Regardless of whether he is successful in this role, one thing that is certain is that Robert is Kennedy's staunchest supporter. After all, They are brothers.
“NBC will stop their invasion.”
“Mr. President, NBC may, they may not. When their core interests are not threatened, they will choose to remain silent. What's more, now..."
The president who looked at the silent president said:
"Now their power has been weakened in some way, and this weakening comes from the free world. Weakened.”
Although this was not an accusation, it sounded harsh to Kennedy, who knew what the Pentagon meant.
When the White House and the new official residence were in conflict in the Congo, the Pentagon did not stand in support of the White House. In the eyes of those generals, since NBC's attitude was so determined, let's give in.
After all, there is no need to push the helper to the enemy's side.
Those generals have no regard for the White House’s face!
The generals support the "multilateral nuclear plan", but when faced with pressure, those generals immediately give up.
If the White House also gives in, the outside world will only see Kennedy giving in, but not the Pentagon holding back.
Every time he thinks of this, Kennedy's heart is filled with 10,000 Cao Nima.
What does the Pentagon mean now?
Are you accusing him?
Accusing him of weakening NBC?
damn it!
Those guys at the Pentagon are always like this - always hoping that the White House will take the blame.
Just like Cuba!
In fact, after the "Bay of Pigs Incident", Kennedy began to doubt the Pentagon's judgment. After the "Cuban Missile Crisis", he no longer doubted the Pentagon, but did not believe it.
But... sometimes, even if you don't believe it, that's it.
"So what do you think we should do now?"
"Restore aid to NBC, Mr. President."
Restore aid to NBC!
When he heard these words, Kennedy's expression became more and more exciting.
At the end of last year, it was he, Kennedy, who found a few excuses to suspend assistance to NBC. Even the 103 F4 fighter jets promised during the Cuban crisis last year were temporarily terminated by him. .
As for how long this "temporary" lasts, no one knows, but now, only a few months have passed, and the Pentagon is asking to resume assistance. This is simply... a slap in the face!
Kennedy was naturally unhappy with such a slap in the face, because it was not just a slap in the face, it also meant that he had surrendered in front of NBC.
Even putting aside the setbacks of the "multilateral nuclear program", just the experience of being retaliated with in the Congo made Kennedy extremely unhappy.
Not only did we suffer a loss in Congo, we also need to resume the interrupted aid.
How can the leader of the free world lose his face if this kind of thing spreads!
Faced with this suggestion from the Secretary of Defense, before Kennedy could speak, Robert said bluntly:
"If we resume aid to them, will we suffer in vain in the Congo?"
McNamara glanced at Robert. Although his expression did not change at all, he couldn't help but complain in his heart.
"How could you two brothers have suffered a loss in the Congo if you had been a little more decisive? Isn't the reason why you suffered a loss in the Congo just because you couldn't make up your mind?"
If the two of them were to suffer a loss in the Congo? If the brothers are determined, the Pentagon is not determined either. After all, the Pentagon is not crazy.
At war with NBC?
That is an ally!
Even if there is a fight, it will definitely be with NBC and the Soviet Union. In fact, the Pentagon is very entangled when it comes to NBC. On the one hand, they naturally hope to gain control of NBC's nuclear weapons arsenal. On the other hand, they know very well how naive this idea is, since NBC's attitude is now so determined. So, it would be best to win over this ally as much as possible.
But the Kennedy brothers in front of them were too ambitious. And this kind of impulsive behavior will obviously harm the interests of the Pentagon.
After thinking about it, McNamara said:
"What we need now is to make up for the relationship between the two countries. Mr. President, the previous misunderstanding is over. We need their cooperation on many matters! As for Congo..."
Looking at the president's brother, McKenna Mala said.
"Congo, it's just Africa, and it's just a conflict between the United Nations and local armed forces. What does the United States have to do with it?"
This is just a pretense of confusion. In fact, sometimes in international affairs, you need to pretend to be confused.
It’s rare to be confused!
After expressing the Pentagon's attitude, McNamara turned his attention to Dean.
The Secretary of State also followed suit.
"Mr. President, I think it is necessary to repair our relationship with NBC now. After all, we cannot push NBC into the arms of the Soviet Union."
It's not just NBC. , and the UK.
Facing the Secretary of State's answer, Kennedy's expression became more colorful, and now he finally felt what it meant to shoot himself in the foot.
After a long time, he said:
"Okay, we can resume military aid to NBC, but now NBC is far more economically than many European countries. They even provide assistance to Germany, the Netherlands and other European countries Export fighter jets.
How can such NBC always need our assistance?
Well, our assistance should be used in places where it is more needed, such as Vietnam. ? They don’t need it anymore..."
What is being petty?
What is certain is that Kennedy is definitely being petty.
After the Cuban missile crisis, the director of the CIA was fired directly, and a group of generals in the Pentagon were fired.
When it comes to holding grudges, Kennedy is definitely a man with a small budget!
And I will look through it often to remind myself not to forget.
It is okay to restore the established aid before, but not in the future. It is definitely impossible to give them milk powder from the United States.
As soon as Kennedy finished speaking, Robert on the side continued. "Yes, Mr. President, in the past ten years, they have used American milk powder to raise their children. But Americans themselves cannot enjoy free milk powder. There is no need for us to use American taxpayers' money to raise those foreigners. , it’s time to stop all this.”
I have to say that the cooperation between these two brothers is really good.
After hearing the president’s brother’s decision, Dean’s expression became a little complicated.
He did not speak, but turned his attention to the Vice President aside. The Vice President was still silent as before and did not express any opinions, but from the slight change in his expression. It can be felt that the vice president is also extremely dissatisfied.
The brothers’ current decision is not from the president’s standpoint at all, but from a personal standpoint!
After Dean and McNamara left, Robert looked at the silent president and said:
"John, they didn't take the White House's position into consideration at all. We Concessions to NBC now will be understood as weakness on our part."
"Weakness...is also the weakness of the White House."
Kennedy shook his head.
"What they only care about is the interests of the Pentagon. They... are not trustworthy at all! Robert, all of them... are not trustworthy. If we did not restrain them, they would have been destroyed long ago. All over the world!”
Since the Bay of Pigs incident, Kennedy has been extremely distrustful of the Pentagon and the CIA.
In the "Cuban Missile Crisis", the Pentagon and the CIA concealed intelligence, which made him angry and used the excuse of poor decision-making to carry out a major purge of the two departments. This step worsened the relationship between the two parties.
Now, in Kennedy's view, the disagreement over NBC is simply the Pentagon's counterattack.
“From the beginning to the end, they did not support investing in the Congo. In fact, they were trying to use our failure on the Congo issue to hit us, and use the failure in the Congo to hit my reputation... Now this is just a conspiracy. The beginning, Robert!"
Looking at his brother, Kennedy said:
"The Pentagon, the CIA, and some other departments are very dissatisfied with us. Ever since I rejected their attempt to launch a war, they think we have hindered their plans. NBC... is not important!"
Sitting in that swivel chair, Kennedy frowned He took out a cigarette from the cigarette pack, lit it, took a deep breath, and then said:
"Robert, do you think we can trust that guy Hoover?"
"Hoover..."
Robert thought for a while and said:
"John, you know, that guy threatened us with our photos. He is not a reliable guy!"
Listening to his brother's answer, Kennedy frowned and just smoked silently. , those eyes are full of unwillingness...
(End of this chapter)