THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 8 JULY 1966

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005968408
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: July 8, 1966

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004600070001-9
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
THE PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF
8 JULY 1966
23
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DAILY BRIEF
8 JULY 1966
1. North Vietnam
2. Communist China
s We now have a-report on Sainteny's
visit to Hanoi, albeit second hand from
the French ambassador in Laos, with whom
Sainteny breakfasted this morning before
going on to Cambodia.
The ambassador said the atmosphere
of the visit was of the utmost cordial-
ity, and that Sainteny did in fact have
lengthy conversations with Ho and Dong.
On substance, however, Sainteny was
said to be greatly discouraged. All
leaders with whom he talked showed an
"unshakeable will to resist," and total
lack of interest in a standdown of mili-
tary operations, ceasefire, or negotia-
tions. .He was said to feel that their
position may have hardened since the bomb-
ing of the POL facilities.
Sainteny felt that civilian morale
remains high. There was ?an atmosphere
of tension, but he is said to have seen
no signs of desperation or panic. Evacua-
tion of Hanoi was proceeding in orderly
fashion.
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Severe flooding in southern China,
especially in Kwangtung Province, is
threatening the early rice crop. The ex-
tent of the damage is not yet known, but
this province alone usually accounts for
about 35 percent of the early, rice crop,
or. about 5 percent of the country's -total
grain harvest.
With the wheat areas in the north
suffering from drought, the over-all
picture looks grim unless growing condi-
tions are much above average during the
last half of the year.
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3. South Vietnam
4. Rhodesia
General Thi is
"increasingly? amenable"
to some assignment that will take him
outside of South Vietnam.
This sudden interest probably stems
from ominous handwriting he is beginning
to see on the wall. What to do about
him and the other four generals charged
with aiding the struggle is shaping up
as a major issue in the infighting that
appears to be reviving within the di-
rectorate, and Thi probably fears he
may become a pawn in the feuding.
Plans for a special council of some
20 generals to interrogate Thi on Satur-
day concerning the "struggle" movement--
and then decide whether he should be
court-martialed--apparently still hold.
Furthermore, Ky may not be willing to show
much moderation on the issue of Thi's
future lest any such stand in turn be
used to undermine his own position. 50X1
the
question of concessions to the British.
Smith and most of his ministers are ap-
parently becoming somewhat more flexi-
ble on this issue; at the lower levels,
however, many of the party militants are
more uncompromising than ever.
So far, Smith's popular support
seems to be unaffected.by this cleavage
and he could probably survive minor con-
cessions so long as the decisions on the
future of white political control are
left to the white Rhodesians. Even
Smith, however, is said to believe that
Britain is more anxious to reach ,a solu-
tion soon than is Rhodesia.
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5. Soviet Union
6. United Nations
7. Cuba
The following are a few bits and
pieces on the Soviet leaders which were
picked up during De Gaulle's visit and
passed to Ambassador Kohler by his
French counterpart in Moscow.
During the talks with De Gaulle,
party secretary Brezhnev, as expected,
was clearly the number one Soviet spokes-
man. In the discussions, Brezhnev was
described as "somewhat heavy in his ap-
proach."
Brezhnev also tended to get flustered
when he went beyond party-line material
and on these occasions would turn to Pre-
mier Kosygin for prompting. Brezhnev was
summed up as "a man of good sense but not
a real brain."
As for Podgorny, the Soviet titular
head of state, "it was as though he were
not present at all."
The French ambassador in Moscow
also says that De Gaulle and the Soviet
leaders were in agreement during theii-
talks that they would support U Thant's
re-election.
Thant, however, has been dropping
hints again that he is against 'a second
term. In this connection, he recently.
mentioned his distress over the failure
of the Soviets to make their financial
contributions to the UN and the US bomb-
ing of North Vietnam.
Western newsmen who have seen Castro
several times during the past few days say
that hp is in very good physical shape
and behaving just as omnipotently as
ever.
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