Press: Key Dispute Over Memories

Westmoreland's ex-intelligence chief contradicts his old boss

Retired Major General Joseph McChristian looked straight at the jury in a Manhattan federal courtroom last week, recalling a day in May 1967. He had brought to General William Westmoreland a carefully researched proposal to virtually double the official estimate of enemy troops in Viet Nam. "I stood in front of his desk, and I handed it to him," McChristian said. "I gave him a little bit of background on what it was. He read it. He looked up at me and he said, 'If I send that cable to Washington, it will create a political bombshell.' "

With that statement,...

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