THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 13 FEBRUARY 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005974275
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: February 13, 1968

I. Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005800220001-9
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The President's Daily Brief
13 February 1968
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PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
13 FEBRUARY 1968
LATE ITEM
Korea
(as of 6:00 AM Radio Pyongyang has charged
EST) that US troops infiltrated across
the Demilitarized Zone this morn-
ing. There was an exchange of
fire in the area mentioned by
Pyongyang, but Embassy Seoul has
no information concerning any in-
filtration.
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DAILY BRIEF
13 FEBRUARY 1968
1. South Vietnam There have been no significant
(as of 5:30 AM changes in the military situation dur-
EST) ing the night. Enemy activity through-
out the country has, for the last 24
hours, been largely confined to widely
scattered attacks against allied posi-
tions. The rocket barrage on Bien Hoa
Air Base did little damage.
2. Laos
In Hue and Saigon, allied forces
are continuing to clean up pockets of
enemy resistance. Life is beginning
to return to normal in the more secure
areas of Saigon.
a sharp increase in south-
bound truck traffic into Laos through
the Mu Gia Pass during the first week
in February. The number of trucks was
almost double the daily average for
January. Roadwatch teams in Laos said
some of the trucks were carrying troops
and towing artillery instead of moving
the usual fuel, food, and other sup-
plies.
The increased traffic could be
partly in support of the Communist
build-up around Khe Sanh.
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3. Jordan
4. Rumania
5. Communist China
Fears of a serious Israeli attack
in the Jordan valley area are gripping
Amman. After almost daily exchanges of
fire across the river since last Thurs-
day, the Israelis have moved reinforce-
ments into the area
A still suspicious Rumania has de-
cided to send a delegation to the Buda-
pest meeting of Communist parties later
this month. The Rumanians decided to
show up only after extensive consulta-
tions with other parties, including the
Chinese. Peking may regard the pres-
ence of a Rumanian delegation as a use-
ful check on the Soviets.
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will oppose criticism of any Communist
party as well as attempts to conclude
binding agreements. The Rumanians will
also try to get a world conference of
Communist parties (Moscow's ultimate
aim) put off as long as possible.
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6. Thailand
Ambassador Unger notes that Thai
leaders have begun privately to ex-
press concern about US ability to win
a military victory in South Vietnam.
Also, the deputy prime minister has pub-
licly called seizure of the Pueblo a
dramatic example of the "fact" that Com-
munists retain the initiative in Asia.
Thai leaders would like both addi-
tional US military aid and a mutual de-
fense agreement. They can be expected
to speak out loud and clear if their
uneasiness increases.
So far, there have been no indica-
tions that the Thais are planning to
renege on their commitment to supply an
additional 10,000 troops to Vietnam.
The troops are scheduled to arrive by
mid-summer 1968.
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Top Secret
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FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
Top Secret
16
13 February 1968
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
13 February 1968
I, NOTES ON THE SITUATION
Propaganda Roundup; Hanoi propaganda is con-
tinuing to hammer away on the theme that the Viet
Cong offensive has "broken the backbone of the US
war of aggression" and undermined the "puppet army
and administration." An editorial in the Hanoi
party daily yesterday pointed out that numerous al-
lied installations have been destroyed and that the
ability of the US to react to Communist efforts has
been seriously hampered. The broadcast also claimed
that the "current full-scale offensive" has driven
the US into "tighter straits" and promised that such
attacks would continue in order to weaken the al-
lied position and prepare them for the "finishing
blow."
* * *
Hanoi Reports Messages to the American People:
Hanoi on 10 February broadcast the text of a letter
to the American people from one of the front organi-
zations it claims has sprung up in South Vietnam in
the wake of the current fighting. The letter, from
the Front of National Democratic and Peace Alliance
in Hue, rehashes the alleged hardships and indigni-
ties the Vietnamese people have suffered over the
past several years at the hands of the Americans.
This is the first effort of this type that the Com-
munists have attributed to the new political organi-
zations; it marks a further effort to give these
groups permanence and credibility.
On 11 February, the North Vietnamese broadcast
a letter from the Liberation Front's women's organi-
zation to American women. The letter asked Ameri-
can women "to demand an early end to this dirty war
so that your sons and husbands are not forced to go
there and kill South Vietnamese women and children."
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No Special Flight for Prisoners: The Canadians
have informed Embassy Saigon that their efforts to
arrange a special International Control Commission
flight to Hanoi for today, to bring out the three US
pilots, were unsuccessful. The next ICC flight is
expected to go on Friday.
II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
Hanoi and Liberation Front on Robert Kennedy
Speech: Hanoi's initial references to Senator
Robert Kennedy's Chicago speech are contained in
two brief Vietnamese and Thai language broadcasts
yesterday. Both broadcasts quote Kennedy as criti-
cizing the US for "spending hundreds of millions
of dollars to support the corrupt and impotent Sai-
gon government." Neither broadcast contained any
comment on the speech, and no English language or
international broadcasts on it have yet been moni-
tored.
The Liberation Front, in a 12 February Viet-
namese language broadcast, included the same state-
ments Hanoi attributed to Kennedy. It also re-
ported that he said a political settlement is the
only way to restore peace, that the Front should
take part in all negotiations, and that escalation
in Vietnam has reduced US prestige throughout the
world. By way of comment, the Front broadcast
stated that "although still far from the truth,"
Kennedy's words represent "the views of US poli-
tical circles which realize that the US war in
Vietnam and escalation have failed."
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