Video: 'Vietnam: A Television History - Vietnamizing the War [7/11]' (Jan. 9, 1970, at 22:32)

(Friday, January 9, 1970; during the Vietnam War, part of the Indochina Wars and the Cold War) — South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu said today that it would be “impossible and impractical” to withdraw all American combat troops from South Vietnam in 1970.

Thieu said at a news conference this morning that further American troop withdrawals would depend on the “crucial question” of whether the United States supplied South Vietnam with adequate equipment and funds to modernize its armed forces.

U.S. President Richard Nixon has indicated that he would like to withdraw most American combat troops from Vietnam by the end of 1970.

Thieu told about 200 foreign newsmen gathered in the ornate ballroom of the Presidential Palace in Saigon that he was drawing up a list of the required equipment and funds in cooperation with the U.S. Embassy and military command.