THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 18 OCTOBER 1967

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005974070
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: October 18, 1967

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The President's Daily Brief
18 October 1967
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DAILY BRIEF
18 OCTOBER 1967
1. South Vietnam
2. Middle East
The new Senate, in office just a
week today, is off to an energetic
start. It has elected temporary pre-
siding officers, named a rules draft-
ing committee, and decided to ask the
executive to grant amnesty to certain
prisoners before the National Day cele-
brations on 1 November.
It is expected to choose its per-
manent chairman within two weeks. Likely
winner is Tran Van Don, a retired gen-
eral and nominal Buddhist, who headed
the front-running slate in the senator-
ial elections. His selection could
ease Buddhist unhappiness over the dis-
proportionately heavy Catholic repre-
sentation in the Senate.
The reluctance of many Catholic
senators to take undue advantage of
their numbers has become evident in
the failure of a Catholic-led political
bloc in the Senate to attract more than
a handful of adherents.
Danger is rising of a new Israeli
retaliatory raid into Jordan or Syria.
The Israelis yesterday were seething
over King Husayn's "evasive" reply to
their request for a meeting between
senior military commanders of both
sides to discuss control of terrorist
infiltration. The Israelis reject Hu-
sayn's claim that he is doing all he
can to stop the infiltrators. They say
he is actually condoning terrorist move-
ment across Jordan.
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3. France
4. Sino-Soviet
Relations
5. Cuba
De Gaulle added last weekend to
the conditions which might cause him
to take France out of the Atlantic
Alliance. He told Secretary General
Brosio that if the Alliance is sub-
jected to "substantial transformation"--
if it becomes a political alliance to
"control and direct East-West relations"--
then France might withdraw. He said
this in reference to the Harmell-Study
on the future tasks of the Alliance,
which is now nearing completion.
De Gaulle went on to say that his
legal view is that the treaty cannot
be denounced until 1969, with withdrawal
taking place in 1970. Only "unforesee-
able and extraordinary" events would 1
raise the question of France's adherence
during 1968.
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6. Cuba ?
?Soviet Union
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SPECIAL DAILY REPORT ON NORTH VIETNAM
FOR THE PRES! DENT'S EYES ONLY
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
18 October 1967
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
? International Control Commission Problem:
the French-owned air-
line that carries the International Control Commis-
sion (ICC) members to Saigon, Phnom Penh, Hanoi, and
Vientiane has canceled future flights into Hanoi until
the Commission pays its bill. The scheduled courier
flight to Hanoi last Friday was, in fact, canceled for
this reason. An earlier press story had stated that
the Commission, which is made up of diplomats from
Canada, India, and Poland, owes the airline over one-
half million dollars.
The ICC has been in financial difficulty for
some time, and although its debt to the airline is
probably exaggerated in the press story, its over-
all debt may well ?be close to 8300,000. Money may
not be the sole motive behind the airline's cancel-
lation, however. Recently the company, its pilots,
and other personnel connected with the flights have
been protesting the dangers related to flying in and
out of Hanoi.
The Hanoi leg of these flights represents the
only non-Communist air link with North Vietnam and
its loss would further weaken the already tenuous
presence of the ICC in the North Vietnamese capital.
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people
than they were
earlier.
the
under greater strain because of the war
a year
a large percentage of
women working in industrial plants and in other non-
military functions. Other evidence ?has also pointed
to some increase in the use of female labor through-
out all segments of the North Vietnamese economy be-
cause of manpower shortages. The percentage of
women in the North Vietnamese economy has always
been high, however.
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II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
.ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
Hanoi Supports Antiwar Drive in US: In an ef-
fort to align itself with the war protest drive in
the US, the Liberation Front on 16 October announced
the founding of a committee to demonstrate "solidar-
ity" with Americans who oppose the war.
According to a Hanoi broadcast yesterday, the
"South Vietnam People's Committee for Solidarity
with the American People" was founded to help the
Americans understand their government's "policy of
aggression" in South Vietnam and to help them join
with the Vietnamese people in demanding that the US
end the war. The broadcast stated that the committee
will establish permanent offices in Prague, Algiers,
and Hanoi in order to contact "the progressive organi-
zations and individuals" in the US.
The new committee also issued an appeal to the
American people, broadcast by Hanoi on 16 October,
calling for a stepped-up-antiwar effort. It claimed
that the US antiwar movement is growing stronger and
has attracted "more and more people of various strata."
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Viet Cong Claim US Deadlocked Over Vietnam: A
clandestine Viet Cong broadcast to South Vietnam on
9 October asserted that in addition to a military
deadlock in Vietnam, the US Government is faced with
increased opposition to its policy at home. The
broadcast claimed that although President Johnson
and Secretary of State Rusk have often tried to argue
that there is no military stalemate, a recent Christian
Science Monitor article admitted that there is a dead-
lock. The broadcast also stated that the antiwar move-
ment in the US has attained its highest level and
noted that tens of thousands of people have demonstrated
against :President Johnson's aggressive policy and the
proposed tax increase. According to the Viet Cong,
many influential congressmen and distinguished intel-
lectuals, writers, and artists in the US have demanded
that the President end the war.
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