7 5 . ▁Other ▁problems ▁arose ▁because ▁of ▁the ▁H m ong ' s ▁practice ▁of ▁har vest ing ▁po pp ies . ▁ ▁Due ▁to ▁political ▁develop ments , ▁the ▁war ▁ultimately ▁ended ▁badly . ▁Hel ms ▁acknowled ges ▁that ▁after ▁President ▁N ixon , ▁through ▁his ▁agent ▁K iss inger , ▁negoti ated ▁in ▁Paris ▁to ▁end ▁the ▁Vietnam ▁war ▁in ▁ 1 9 7 3 , ▁America ▁failed ▁to ▁continue ▁supporting ▁its ▁al lies ▁and ▁" ab dic ated ▁its ▁role ▁in ▁S out heast ▁Asia ." ▁La os ▁was ▁given ▁up ▁and ▁the ▁H m ong ▁were ▁left ▁in ▁a ▁des perate ▁situation . ▁Hel ms ▁references ▁that ▁eventually ▁ 4 5 0 , 0 0 0 ▁La ot ians ▁including ▁ 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 ▁H m ong ▁em igr ated ▁to ▁America . ▁ ▁As ▁the ▁' secret ▁war ' ▁eventually ▁became ▁public ▁it ▁created ▁a ▁fir est orm ▁in ▁Washington . ▁While ▁this ▁La ot ian ▁struggle ▁continued ▁on ▁the ▁border lands ▁of ▁the ▁Vietnam ▁War , ▁D CI ▁Hel ms ▁was ▁bl inds ided ▁when ▁several ▁sen ators ▁began ▁to ▁comp lain ▁that ▁they ▁had ▁been ▁kept ▁in ▁the ▁dark ▁about ▁" CI A ' s ▁secret ▁war " ▁in ▁La os . ▁Hel ms ▁rec alls ▁that ▁three ▁pres idents , ▁Kennedy , ▁Johnson , ▁and ▁N ixon , ▁had ▁each ▁approved ▁the ▁cover t ▁operation , ▁the ▁" secret ▁war ", ▁and ▁that ▁ 5 0 ▁sen ators ▁had ▁been