THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 10 NOVEMBER 1967

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005974113
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: November 10, 1967

, Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600040001-1
The President's Daily Brief
-"Trrp--Stzc-geL 10 November 1967
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DAILY BRIEF
10 NOVEMBER 1967
1. South Vietnam
2. Hong Kong
3. Israel
The new cabinet appears to be a
competent one. Of the 17 ministers
named, nine have served in the pre-
vious government. All key posts--de-
fense, interior, revolutionary develop-
ment, foreign affairs, and economy--
are held either by generals or those
who served in the Ky government.
The police--the prime targets--
are finding it hard to control terror-
ist violence by militant Communists.
They are particularly handicapped by
the more powerful bombs now being used
and by the difficulty of identifying
hit-and-run bombers,
Moderate Communist leaders, who
still seem committed to their long-
term strategy of wearing down the Brit-
ish through political action, will
probably try to keep the terrorists
under some control. Peking, for its
part, apparently wants to protect its
economic interests in the colony.
US defense attaches who visited
the Suez Canal area this week say the
Israelis are really dug in. Their po-
sitions have been hardened with exten-
sive revetments, additional water pipe-
lines are being constructed, and they
appear ready to stay until the Arabs
agree to negotiate.
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4. Congo
5. Communist China
6. Cuba
7. Panama
The mercenary invasion of Katanga
has fizzled out. In Rwanda, President
Kayibanda, expecting at any moment a
formal Congolese request to extradite
Schramme and his group, is begging the
Red Cross to evacuate them--just any-
where, but fast.
The squabbling over the presiden-
tial nomination within Robles' divided
coalition is getting worse. The presi-
dent has backed off from his first se-
lection and suggested a compromise can-
didate. His proposal has infuriated
powerful National Guard Commandant
Vallarino, who expected to be the com-
promise candidate himself.
Robles may
end up by having to endorse Vallarino,
a staunch member of the oligarchy.
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8. Ghana
The ruling junta may soon have to
do something about one of its more in-
fluential, but impetuous, members. In
a speech at the crowning of Miss Ghana,
he criticized the qualifications of the
contestants, intimating that his grand-
mother could have won over this collec-
tion. The papers quoted him as saying,
"For Christ's sake, don't send any of
them to London" for the Miss World con-
test.
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Top Secret
FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
Top Secret
16
10 November 1967
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
10 November 1967
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
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Ho Misses Celebration: Ho Chi Minh played no
role in the rather elaborate Hanoi ceremonies sur-
rounding the 50th anniversary of the Soviet Revolu-
tion. His only contribution to the occasion was to
write a bland article on the revolution for the So-
viet party paper. Given the importance the Commu-
nists have attached to this anniversary, Ho's absence
from the festivities is unusual and suggests that
illness may have prevented him from attending.
There was no reference to Ho during the festivi-
ties. At meetings and receptions where he would
normally play the key role as head of state or per-
haps more importantly as a living link with the period
of the revolution, his position was filled by the in-
significant and aged Vice President Ton Duc Thanh.
Further evidence of Hanoi's reluctance to associate
Ho with the anniversary is the failure to give any
public notice to his receiving the Order of Lenin
from the Soviets. Presentation of the same award to
Ton Duc Thanh was publicized.
During the past several months, Ho has been re-
ported to be in poor health and resting outside of
Hanoi. His erratic pattern of appearances in the past
nine months has also suggested that he is ailing. He
has made only three public appearances in recent
months--the latest at North Vietnam's national day
on 1 September.
77.)
-2-
(He is
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Despite Ho's inactivity and his apparent aloof-
ness from the political scene, there has been no in-
dication in the past year that his subordinates have
had any difficulty in running the country without his
immediate leadership and direction. The evidence
also suggests that the regime's major policies--par-
ticularly on strategy for the war and on possible
peace negotiations--are the result of collective de-
cision-making and are not dependent on Ho's presence.
* * *
'II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
?Hanoi on Antiwar Activities in US: A Hanoi
Vietnamese language broadcast of 8 November reports
that a group of writers and journalists have signed
a statement expressing their determination not to
pay 23 percent of their taxes as a protest against
the war. The statement reportedly urges the American
people to join in refusing to pay their taxes. The
broadcast also notes that a group of professors at
Iowa University has issued a statement urging the US
to end the "aggressive war" in Vietnam. Hanoi quotes
the Toronto Star as revealing that about 75 American
soldiers have deserted to Canada and that about 6,000
Americans have sought refuge from the draft in Canada.
* * *
? "War Crimes"'Trial: The second_session of the
Bertrand Russell-"War Crimes" tribunal_will be held
from 20-29 November in Roskilde, Denmark, a suburb
of Copenhagen. The tribunal held its first session
in Stockholm earlier this year.
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