Throughout 1969 the Nixon Administration planned
Operation Duck Hook.
The proposed military operation would see the Americans bombard numerous economic and military targets across North Vietnam, primarily around Hanoi and the port city of Haiphong. The Nixon Administration hoped that had the military operation been launched in early 1970, that it would force the North Vietnamese to the Peace Table. However, due to pressure from Secretary of State William Rogers, Secretary of Defence Melvin Laird and even President Nixon's close confidant National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger, President Nixon was forced to abandon such plans in November 1969.
However what if President Nixon had never abandoned Operation Duck Hook in November 1969 and the Operation was indeed launched in early 1970? Would the President's plan to bring North Vietnam to the Peace Table via the use of increased military escalation work? Would the Vietnam War end differently, possibly via the use of nuclear weapons as proposed by Kissinger, even President Nixon himself? The questions regarding Operation Duck Hook are endless, but interesting nonetheless.
Discuss.
