testimony in 1975, Nixon had stated that "we had threatened to go to nuclear war with the
Russians." [fn 20] These remarks most probably refer to this December 12 meeting, and
the actions it set into motion.
Navy Task Force 74 was ordered to proceed through the Straits of Malacca and into the
Indian Ocean, and it attracted the attention of the world media in so doing the following
day. Task Force 74 was now on wartime alert.
At 11:30 AM local time, Kissinger and Haid sent the Kremlin a message over the Hot
Line. This was the first use of the Hot Line during the Nixon administration, and
apparently the only time it was used during the Nixon years with the exception of the
October 1973 Middle East War. According to Kissinger, this Hot Line message contained
the ultimatum that the Soviets respond to earlier American demands; otherwise Nixon
would order Bush to "set in train certain moves " in the UN Security Council that would
be irreversible. But is this all the message said? Kissinger comments in his memoirs a
few pages later: "Our fleet passed through the Strait of Malacca into the Bay of Bengal
and attracted much media attention. Were we threatening India? Were we seeking to
defend East Pakistan? Had we lost our minds? It was in fact sober calculation. We had
some seventy-two hours to bring the war to a conclusion before West Pakistan would be
swept into the maelstrom. It would take India that long to shift its forces and mount an
assault. Once Pakistan's air force and army were destroyed, its impotence would
guarantee the country's eventual disintegration... We had to give the Soviets a warning
that matters might get out of control on our side too. We had to be ready to back up the
Chinese if at the last moment they came in after all, our UN initiative having failed. [...]
However unlikely an American military move against India, the other side could not be
sure; it might not be willing to accept even the minor risk that we might act irrationally."
[fn 21]
These comments by Kissinger lead to the conclusion that the Hot Line message of
December 12 was part of a calculated exercise in thermonuclear blackmail and
brinksmanship. Kissinger's reference to acting irrationally recalls the infamous RAND
Corporation theories of thermonculear confrontations as chicken games in which it is
useful to hint to the opposition that one is insane. If your adversary thinks you are crazy,
then he is more likely to back down, the argument goes. Whatever threats were made by
Kissinger and Haig that day in their Hot Line message are likely to have been of that
variety. All evidence points to the conclusion that on December 12, 1971, the world was
indeed close to the brink of thermonuclear confrontation.
And where was George? He was acting as the willing mouthpiece for madmen. Late in
the evening December 12, Bush delivered the following remarks to the Security Council,
which are recorded in Kissinger's memoirs:
"The question now arises as to India's further intentions. For example, does India intend
to use the present situation to destroy the Pakistan army in the West? Does India intend to
use as a pretext the Pakistani counterattacks in the West to annex territory in West
Pakistan? Is its aim to take parts of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir contrary to the Security