THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 9 DECEMBER 1967

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005974163
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: December 9, 1967

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The President's Daily Brief
"TIDP-Se-c-z,a_ 9 December 1967
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DAILY BRIEF
9 DECEMBER 1967
1. Yemen
2. Turkey
The royalists say they have re-
covered the body of a Russian pilot
from the wreckage of a MIG fighter.
The plane, with Yemeni markings, was
shot down during an air strike on
royalist positions last week.
The "siege" of Sana continues.
There is an exodus of foreigners. Many
Soviets have pulled out as has a goodly
proportion of the republican leadership.
There are some disquieting politi-
cal undercurrents in the wake of the
Cyprus crisis. While key political and
public opinion leaders are going along
with the government, there also is
criticism of the decision to settle
peacefully. Most Turks, who consider
Makarios the devil incarnate, feel the
whole scene will have to be played over
in the future.
Perhaps the most-serious potential
threat is from the military. Many of-
ficers are bitter over the failure to
settle the Cyprus issue once and for
all.
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3. Czechoslovakia
Brezhnev's surprise trip to Prague
yesterday is a clear reflection of
Moscow's concern over the Czech situa-
tion. Plagued with mounting economic,
political, and social problems, the
Czech party is divided and Novotny's
authority has been challenged. Breznev
will try to shore him up.
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4. Soviet Union
5. Cyprus
The first Greek withdrawal took
place yesterday morning when about 400
troops were evacuated from Famagusta.
Turkish Cypriots are watching and count-
ing.
Turkey has made some small moves
toward reducing its military alert by
pulling troops back from the invasion
ports.
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6. Arab States
7. Jordan
8. Denmark
Arab foreign ministers meet in
Cairo today to lay the ground for a
proposed Arab summit. The wrangling
in Cairo will be over whether to hold
the summit now or wait until UN special
representative Jarring has appeared on
the scene.
Krag is in trouble. His political
marriage of convenience with the ultra-
left is threatened by discord in the
coalition over how far to support the
prime minister's recent economic moves,
including wage freezes. Some of Krag's
leftist allies are now threatening to
go against him; he has only a two-vote
majority in parliament. The US Embassy,
Copenhagen, believes the tide is run-
ning against Krag and that his future
looks dim.
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Top Secret
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Top Secret
FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
Top Secret
9 December 1967
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
9 December 1967
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* * *
Crop Claims: A Hanoi broadcast yesterday
claims that collective farmers everywhere in North
Vietnam are bringing in a "fairly good winter rice
harvest." Statistics for yield in various localities
are given, but no figure for the national harvest
as a whole.
The modesty of the "fairly good" claim tends to
support estimates that the late 1967 rice crop was
below average, afflicting North Vietnam with the
fourth below-average crop in succession. Imports of
food are continuing at the level established early
this year and will total more than 400,000 tons or
three times the level of 1964, the last pre-bombing
year.
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Conditions in Hanoi:
the population of Hanoi was "quite composed."
North Vietnamese whom he met told him,
without showing fear, that "Hanoi is not a safe
place." Prices of staples, meats, and school sup-
plies were lower than
1966, and department stores were well
stocked with necessities. The purchase of clothing
was controlled under a coupon system, but flimsy
cloth could be bought cheaply on the open market.
foreign businessmen were
well treated by their North Vietnamese hosts.
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* * *
Hanoi Quotes Pravda on Security Council Ses-
sion: A broadcast in Vietnamese to South Vietnam
-517-U December quotes a recent Pravda commentary on
Ambassador Goldberg's statement regarding the US
desire to have the Security Council discuss the
Vietnamese problem. The broadcast quotes Pravda
to the effect that this move "is merely a new de-
ceitful trick aimed at covering up the US imperi-
alists' aggressive acts and at preparing for
escalation and enlarging the war." Hanoi provided
no commentary of its own on the issue.
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NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR :
Liberation Front on McNamara Resignation: A
Front broadcast in Vietnamese on 3 December claimed
that by "kicking out" McNamara, by "holding him
responsible for all mistakes and shortcomings, and
by blaming him for his incompetence, Johnson and
his clique have admitted defeat in the war." The
broadcast continued that McNamara's departure also
reflected "the serious stalemate and collapse" of
the flexible response strategy of the US.
The resignation of the Secretary has not, ac-
cording to the Front, removed the Washington
leaders' problem of finding "a way out of South
Vietnam." This problem, the broadcast asserted, is
"driving Johnson and his clique crazy." The state-
ment also pointed to the "serious internal rift"
that has developed among the US leaders because of
repeated failures in the war. It reported that
some factions urge that the US should "escalate the
war to its last rung by attacking North Vietnam,
China, Laos, and Cambodia." Others, the broadcast
said, suggest that US troops be withdrawn to key
defensive positions and that "puppet" troops be
used to replace them on the frontline to "serve as
cannonfodder." Still other factions advocate pursu-
ing the present "stalemated policy Johnson is fol-
lowing."
The broadcast concluded by stating that the
"only correct way out for the US is to withdraw
troops from South Vietnam and restore independence
to the Vietnamese people, leaving them to settle
their own affairs."
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Top Secret
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