THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 2 JANUARY 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005974202
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: January 2, 1968

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The President's Daily Brief
Top Secfrei 2 january 1968
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DAILY BRIEF
2 JANUARY 1968
1. North Vietnam
2. Cambodia
Speaking at a reception on Satur-
day, Foreign Minister Nguyen Duy Trinh
said Hanoi "will" talk with the US if
the bombing and "all other acts of war"
against North Vietnam are ended "uncon-
ditionally." North Vietnamese spokes-
men in the past have said only that
there "could be talks" once Hanoi's
conditions are met. Trinh's statement
has been broadcast in English by Hanoi.
On the same day Trinh spoke, the
North Vietnamese consul in New Delhi
said categorically that an end to the
bombing "would" lead to negotiations.
In neither instance did the North
Vietnamese hint that Hanoi would cur-
tail its own military activity or be
prepared to talk about anything other
than US - North Vietnamese relations.
The apparent modification in North
Vietnam's position may stem from the
belief that Hanoi can increase interna-
tional pressure for an end to the air
attacks if it seems less rigid.
Sihanouk appears to have confirmed
his Washington Post interview. At a
press conference -Sunday night, the Prince
said again that he would receive an en-
voy from President Johnson "not to nego-
tiate, but to palaver." He also said
he "could not fight" US troops entering
Cambodia if they were not detected. He
insisted, however, that hot pursuit op-
erations in populated areas would be
met with force.
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3. Dahomey
4. Yemen
Politically unstable Dahomey faces
new trouble when word gets out that
France has cut off all direct budgetary
support effective 1 January.
In any event, the
coffers will be empty in a few days.
The three Arab nations trying to
mediate the Yemen war have proposed
that republican and royalist represen-
tatives meet in Beirut on 12 January
to begin preliminary negotiations.
Neither the republicans nor the royal-
ists have responded to the proposal yet.
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The fighting, meanwhile, continues. 50X1
5. Greece The King is eager to return, but
the junta is in no hurry.
Constantine sent an emissary to
Athens last week to discuss his return
with Prime Minister Papadopoulos.
While Papadopoulos said he would do his
best to make things easy for Constantine
to come back, he would not be pinned
down on timing. Papadopoulos, in fact,
remarked it might be best if the King
waited until elections were held.
Papadopoulos has agreed to keep 1
paying the royal allowances and to send
the King one or two of his cars.
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Top Secret
FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
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2 January 1968
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
2 January 1968
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
* * *
West Germans Aid Hanoi: A West German news
agency has announced that a complete field hospital
for the treatment of bombing casualties was shipped
recently to North Vietnam. The hospital, equipped
with 60 beds and assorted technical facilities, rep-
resents the joint action of many private donors who
pooled their contributions to the International Com-
mittee of the Red Cross in Geneva. The US Embassy
in Bonn was told by the Federal Government that it
had no official knowledge of the matter, but that it
would not interfere.
Medical facilities of all types have long been
accepted from the Free World by the North Vietnam-
ese. This is one of the few areas in which Hanoi has
consented to deal with the West, and to actively seek
assistance. North Vietnamese officials in the past
year have visited France, Scandinavia, and several
other European countries seeking medical assistance.
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* * *
II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
Hanoi on the Post-Dispatch: Hanoi, in an English
language broadcast on 31 December, reported and dis-
cussed a recent editorial in the St. Louis Post-Dis-
patch. As seen in Hanoi, the editorial was "strongly
against the Johnson administration's plea for its Viet-
nam policy." The broadcast quoted the editorial as
"laying waste point by point a statement by Assistant
Secretary Bundy." The paper reportedly claimed that
Saigon is being defeated by "South Vietnamese revolu-
tionaries" and that South Vietnam was never a sover-
eign state "except by American fiat."
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