THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 21 FEBRUARY 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005974289
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: February 21, 1968

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005900010001-1
The President's Daily Brief
21 February 1968
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DAILY BRIEF
21 FEBRUARY 1968
1. Vietnam
2. South Vietnam
3. Pakistan
The situation in Saigon has been
relatively quiet, but sharp skirmishes
continue on the Outskirts. The enemy
could be using the lull to infiltrate
additional manpower into the city.
Should Saigon's security situation de-
teriorate, the Communists might well
try to move in with their substantial
main force elements which are still
within striking distance..
In other areas, no major new at-
tacks have been reported.
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4. Soviet Union
5. Cambodia
6. Greece
Embassy Moscow learns that the So-
viet authorities have been making wide-
spread arrests to combat private circu-
lation of literature which the state is
unwilling to publish. Trials .of writers,
similar to those recently held in Moscow
and Leningrad, have been reported in a
number of cities throughout the country.
These developments can only mean that
the .conflict between the regime and the
intellectual community is getting
steadily worse.
The junta is passing the word that
it will produce a draft constitution
ready for a popular vote "before July."
The government now ,is said to be work-
ing on articles concerning the composi-
tion of the parliament and the council
of ministers, as well as the powers of
the King. Nothing yet has been said
about a date for parliamentary elections.
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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 Secret5oxl
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21 February 1968
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OUAI
Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
21 February 1968
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
North Vietnamese Diplomatic Offensive: North
Vietnamese representatives abroad continue to press
Hanoi's views on negotiations and to stress Commu-
nist willingness to engage in talks if the US makes
the first move by stopping the bombing. In the past
three weeks the North Vietnamese have taken the
initiative to state their case to a whole series of
non-Communist countries.
Chemical Warfare Defenses: The French Press
Agency reported from Hanoi on 15 February that the
North Vietnamese government council ordered a
strengthening of organizations for defensive meas-
ures against .chemical and bacteriological warfare
"at every level" throughout the country. At the
same time, the council ordered dissemination of in-
formation on protective methods, stepped up train-
ing of "sanitary cadre" and a nationwide anti.-
insect and anti-vermin campaign.
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* * *
II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
Hanoi Says US has Post-Tet Difficulties: An
unsigned article in the North Vietnamese army journal
broadcast on 19 February, portrayed the "difficult
position" in which the US is now finding itself fol-
lowing the Tet offensive. It forecast a "gloomy
picture" for Mr. Clifford's takeover at the Depart-
ment of Defense and cited a series of present US
"setbacks" which would contribute to the bleak situ-
ation. The Pueblo incident, the fall of Nam Bac,
and the loss of the Special Forces camp at Lang Vei
were listed. The article went on with a series of
questions related to the future conduct of the war
and claimed that the American leaders would not be
able to answer them. They must realize, it said,
that the military front recently opened in the urban
areas of the South "will last a long time and will
totally reverse US strategies and tactics, which
have been very bad." Measures such as sending an
additional 10,000 men into Vietnam, the broadcast
concluded, were like putting a handful of salt in
the sea.
-2-
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Top Secret
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