THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 20 FEBRUARY 1965

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005967534
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: February 20, 1965

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A003500120001-5
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
THE PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF
20 FEBRUARY 1965
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A003500120001-5 joxi
DAILY BRIEF
20 FEBRUARY 1965
1. South Vietnam
2. Israel
Coup leader Colonel Thao is re-
ported under arrest and others involved
have been ordered to give themselves
up.
While the coup has failed, General
Khanh's status still seems up in the
air. Air Force Chief Ky has told the
press that Khanh is still armed forces
commander but that "in the future we
will talk about it."
There have been no reports of sig-
nificant Viet Cong military moves to
exploit South Vietnamese military dis-
array during the coup effort. An
analysis of recent trends in the fight-
ing is at Annex.
There have been no indications of
recent major deployments of Chinese
Communist or North Vietnamese forces.
There have been several incidents
in the past few days on the always touchy
Israeli-Syrian border. Local UN peace-
keeping officials move as fast as they
can to hold these incidents down, but
the Syrians in particular may be nervous.
Ireports of Israeli
troop call-ups and concentrations. There
is so far no good evidence to support
this Arab concern, however.
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3. Venezuela
4. USSR
5. USSR
There is no information available
to suggest that yesterday's killing of
a US Peace Corps Volunteer in Caracas
by Venezuelan police was other than a
tragic case of mistaken identity. Po-
lice had been alerted to cope with
student riots supporting a taxi strike
and the police involved had earlier
been attacked.
Premier Kosygin is apparently going 50X1
to Leipzig in East Germany during the
first week of March. The annual trade
fair opens there next weekend. The East
Germans so far are not giving this much
public notice. Ulbricht, off on his
trip to Cairo, will not be on hand to
greet Kosygin.
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ANNEX
The Military Situation
in South Vietnam
The past six weeks have been among the most
costly thus far in the civil war for both sides.
During January, government losses ran to over 900
killed. Over 2,200 Viet Cong were killed. These
were among the highest monthly figures on record.
The trend toward high casualties has continued this
month. During the very active week of February 7-13,
290 government soldiers lost their lives. The Viet
Cong lost 628. During this period, while the num-
ber of Communist-instigated attacks and acts of
terrorism was below the 1964 weekly averages, the
size and violence of specific actions was stepped
up considerably.
In the first two weeks of February, Saigon's
forces lost a total of 1,312 weapons, while captur-
ing 279 from the Viet Cong. Among the weapons taken
from the Communists are increasing numbers of recent
Soviet and Chinese make, suggesting that an effort
is being made to standardize on these bloc models.
The weapons are going to arm an increasingly
sophisticated, though still essentially guerrilla,
army. At least 4,700 men were infiltrated into South
Vietnam from the North in the first seven months
of 1964, and in increasing measure these are native
North Vietnamese, many of whom were drafted specifi-
cally for service in South Vietnam. US officials in
South Vietnam now estimate the main force strength
of the Viet Cong at 34,900, with some 60-80,000
irregulars in a backup role.
The government has 246,000 in its regular army
and some 266,000 irregulars. A new recruiting pro-
gram, instituted last summer, is beginning to yield
results. One of the real drawbacks is a continued
high rate of government desertions. Last year some
21,000 regulars deserted, the largest number in any
single year.
In the field, the Viet Cong are getting bolder
and more confident. They are showing an increased
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willingness to engage government regulars over longer
periods of time, more frequently, and in larger units.
So far in February, the Viet Cong, besides di-
recting attacks against American personnel and installa-
tions, have dealt several punishing blows to the
South Vietnamese. For example, a Communist force
administered a series of defeats on government forces
in Binh Dinh Province, which left government control
limited to the immediate vicinity of the major popu-
lation centers.
In the past few days, while there has been
some slackening in the intensity of Viet Cong mili-
tary attacks compared with the week of 7-13 February,
it appears that the Communists are maintaining a rela-
tively high level of terrorism and harassment. It is
too early to determine whether there has been a
change in the pattern of Viet Cong activity as a re-
sult of the air attacks on North Vietnam.
Viet Cong main forces in the northern part of
South Vietnam were strongly reinforced last year and
are considered the best they have. They have not
yet been committed to their full military potential.
Strong government and Communist forces are maneuver-
ing against each other in Phuoc Tuy Province, east
of Saigon. The two Viet Cong regiments, which in-
flicted heavy losses on the government at Binh Gia
in early January, are still there./
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