At another point, when a member of the group asked why the Administration was "manipulating public opinion" on the question of American prisoners of war held in North Vietnam, Kissinger glanced at his watch and announced that he was due at a meeting and could not stay to answer more questions.
However, before ending the session, he answered two questions about the U. S.- Soviet Strategic Arms Limitation Talks.
He then left the room, which was guarded by White House guards in gaudy uniforms.
"Before the meeting, a lot of people had been talking about putting him on the spot by asking really good questions," one student said. "But, once it started, a lot of us felt as if we were talking to a professor. Some were unwilling to ask unpleasant questions or to interrupt him and try to pin him down. As a result, a lot of people asked very easy questions-questions that made it very easy for him to give long, meaningless answers. And a lot of the really serious questions were asked in a deferential way that made it really easy for him to get off the hook.
"By the end of the meeting I was convinced that he was deceiving himself and lying to us," the student said. "The Nixon policy does not mean an end to the war against the people of Southeast Asia."