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In a pretrial conference late last week, Burt told Judge Leval that Westmoreland planned to narrow his suit "to make the trial measurably easier." Burt said he will focus primarily on refuting what he claims is CBS's implication that Johnson and the Joint Chiefs had been willfully deceived by the reporting from Viet Nam; Burt then dropped the charge that CBS had libeled Westmoreland by accusing the general of misleading Congress and the public. Boies said that the move showed "the case is beginning to unravel." The trial, which may last as long as four months, is nevertheless expected to reopen old debates about the Viet Nam War. It will also tackle an even more irreconcilable conflict: the need to protect a free and vigorous press vs. the individual's right to redeem his reputation.