KISSINGER OPPOSED

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33815, 11 April 1975, Page 9

KISSINGER OPPOSED

(By

MORTON KONDRACKE,

'■ of the "Chicago Sun-Times," through N.Z.P.A.)

WASHINGTON, April 10.

A White House revolt against the foreign policy domination of the Secretary of State (Dr Henry Kissinger) is under way, President Ford being urged by key advisers to chart a course on Vietnam that veers from the wreckage of the past.

Whether Mr Ford takes the advice may become known tonight when he announces in his State of the World message to Congress the amount of military aid he thinks the United States should supply to the Saigon Government.

Dr Kissinger is reported to have recommended SUS7OO million, while Mr Ford’s political advisers urged a merely symbolic renewal of the Administration’s previous request of SUS3OO million.

Mr Ford is being urged to become more forceful and confident in running his own foreign policy and to reduce his dependence on Dr Kissinger, who is portrayed as seeking to salvage the discredited policies of the Administration of the former President Mr Richard Nixon. Mr Ford has been told that he should cut himself loose from the Nixon-Kissin-ger policies that wedded the United States to the ; fortunes of the South Viet-j namese President, Mr Ngu-; yen Van Thieu, and to make! a new Indo-China policy of! his own.

The new „ policy contemplates a minimal effort to furnish more aid to Mr Thieu without creating a divisive climate in the United States.

Should Congress fail to appropriate more funds and should Mr Thieu fall, the United States would take the Posture of putting the past behind it and dealing afresh with whatever regime sue-: ceeded him. Mr Ford alreadv has de-

cided that a hallmark of his: State of the World address! will be an appeal to Con-! gress for a new bipartisan-! ship in foreign policy, a de-; tente after the friction of the past. Mr Ford is expected to promise —- as he did to Congressional leaders yesterday — that there will be. no finger-pointing if the Saigon Government falls.

i In the current wrestling I for Mr Ford’s mind within I the White House, a counsellor, Mr Robert Hartmann, is reported to have been urging the President to avoid being tarnished by past Vietnam policies. Administration officials who side with Dr Kissinger also accuse the Press Secretary, Mr Ron Nessen, of conspiring against the Secretary of State. There have been conflicting reports about the role of the chief White House coordinator, Mr Donald Rumsfeld, although none of them places him squarely in Dr i Kissinger’s camp. Dr Kissinger’s allies in the Administration refer to the contest as one between Ford’s political advisers and professionals in foreign policy. By some accounts, the ultimate aim is to force Dr Kissinger’s departure from the Administration, which Dr Kissinger’s allies say could occur if Dr Kissinger’s prestige suffered a major public set-back. Such a set-back would occur if Mr Ford decided to replace Dr Kissinger as White House National; Security Adviser, but Mr! Ford lias been reported as refusing to take advice that 'he do so. In the past, President Ford has gone out of his (way to express support for Dr Kissinger. I However. Dr Kissinger (now is being accused of seeking to protect his own reputation, salvage his past policies and prolong the decent interval of Saigon’s survival, rather than devoting himself primarily to the good of President Ford.