THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 9 APRIL 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005974371
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: April 9, 1968

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The President's Daily Brief
--Top--5-6c-geL 9 April 1968
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DAILY BRIEF
9 APRIL .1968
1. North Vietnam
2. South Vietnam
3. Israel-Jordan
* * *
Intercepts reveal the movement of
some 18 additional "groups," about
10,000 men, along the infiltration cor-
ridor within North Vietnam during the
first week of April.
The North Vietnamese are evidently
preparing for a major military campaign
in Kontum Province. Intercepts and
aerial reconnaissance point to a high
level of logistical activity in this
area. Intercepts also disclose that
the Communists intend to use 105-mm.
howitzers in southwestern Kontum.
The border situation has been quiet
since yesterday morning when the Israelis
crossed into Jordan, allegedly in "hot
pursuit" of Arab terrorists.
The Israelis used troop-carrying
helicopters in the operation, which
lasted less than two hours. The Is-
raelis claim they killed a number of
saboteurs and destroyed a house at a
commando base six miles inside Jordan;
they listed no casualties of their own.
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4. South Korea
5. Cyprus
6. Canada
The word from Nicosia is that the
question of venue is the only remaining
snag in plans for talks between repre-
sentatives of the Greek and Turkish com-
munities. There is considerable hope
that the two sides will agree on a com-
promise--initial talks in Geneva and
subsequent sessions on Cyprus. Some of-
ficials are mentioning 17 April as the
likely starting date.
We do not expect Pierre Trudeau to
make any quick changes in Canadian poli-
cy. He holds few of Pearson's foreign
and domestic policies sacrosanct, but he
will probably be cautious and deliberate
in making changes.
Trudeau has promised a thorough re-
view of Canada's defense ties, in part
because he admits a lack of familiarity
with them. Some further cuts in Canadian
force contributions to NATO and UN peace-
keeping operations could result from such
a review, but a change in basic policy is
much less likely.
Domestic problems, particularly the
conciliation of Quebec, will be the first
order of business.
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Top Secret
FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
.) Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
Top Secret
16
9 April 1968
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
9 April 1968
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
Trinh/Collingwood Interview; Hanoi has published
its version of Foreign Minister Nguyen Duy Trinh's
interview with CBS newscaster Charles Collingwood.
According to Hanoi, the foreign minister was
questioned about the Tet offensive, President John-
son's offer to limit the bombing of North Vietnam,
the possibilities for talks between Hanoi and Wash-
ington, and the future of South Vietnam. He replied
that the Tet offensive had convinced the "Pentagon"
that military victory in Vietnam was not possible;
he added that the President's restriction of the
bombing met neither the demands of Hanoi nor those
of world opinion. He said the US must "prove by
words and deeds that it really wants serious con-
tacts and talks." To do so it must unconditionally
stop the bombing "and all other acts of war over all
the territory of North Vietnam."
On the issue of reciprocity, Trinh said that
the US demand for North Vietnamese "restraint" was
"pure nonsense." Like North Vietnamese propaganda
since the regime's 3 April statement, Trinh did not
specifically rule out reciprocity, but he said this
US condition was nothing but a "trick."
As Collingwood reported earlier, Trinh sug-
gested "contacts" in Phnom Penh at the ambassadorial
level.
Trinh voiced confidence that the Saigon govern-
ment would collapse without US support, and said
that the program of the Liberation Front spelled out
the Communist notion of a coalition government. He
closed the interview with a message to the American
people asking for their support in "thwarting the un-
just policy of the Washington warmongers."
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Other Comment; Other Hanoi radio commentary on
the proposed "contacts for talks" has not been exten-
sive. It continues to spend most of its time cata-
loguing US violations of President Johnson's an-
nounced bombing restriction. The leading non-Commu-
nist front in North Vietnam--the Fatherland Front--
issued a statement of support on 7 April which added
little to charges already catalogued. The statement
said that the US plans to continue "reconnaissance
and provocative acts" over two coastal provinces just
north of the 20th parallel and that US warships were
continuing the shelling of "a number of coastal vil-
lages." It pointed to announced US troop build-ups
in South Vietnam and US refusal to meet "completely
the legitimate demands of the Vietnamese people,"
and concluded with a pledge of determination to fight
till final victory.
Liberation radio commentary continues to play
President Johnson's offer as an admission of defeat
on the part of the US. The President's decision not
to run for re-election is interpreted in the same
way; it is called a "dangerous card played by John-
son in the hope that the American people will ask
him to change his mind." The President is called an
"old fox" and his 31 March offer a "perfidious plot."
The "only path to peace," says Liberation radio,
must include an unconditional end to the bombings
and the withdrawal of all US troops from the South.
* * *
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* * *
More Americans to Hanoi: Five representatives
of American antiwar groups who were scheduled to go
to Hanoi late this month are now slated to make the
trip on 10 May.
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