THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 13 APRIL 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005974379
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: April 13, 1968

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The President's Daily Brief
--"T"orSec-r-ea_13 April 1968
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West Germany
LATE ITEM
The wire services report serious
clashes in six major West German cities
and West Berlin early today between
police and the followers of the leftist
student leader shot in Berlin on Thurs-
day. More violence is expected through-
out the weekend.
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DAILY BRIEF
13 APRIL 1968
1. South Vietnam
2. Laos
3. Austria
There are signs of increasing alarm
in militantly anti-Communist Catholic
circles at the prospect of US - North
Vietnamese talks, which they fear may
portend a Communist take-over. Several
Catholic communities near Saigon are
talking of protest demonstrations, but
their leaders claim that no early action
is planned. Other Catholic leaders are
talking of reconstituting the Can Lao
party, the political instrument of the
Diem regime, which is anathema to the
Buddhists.
Communist forces yesterday launched
their first ground assault against gov-
ernment positions at Attopeu since late
February. At last report, Attopeu was
still in government hands. This may
have been little more than a probe.
There is a great deal of specula-
tion inside the government, however,
that the Communists will celebrate the
Laotian New Year--today through Monday--
with an offensive in the Bolovens Pla-
teau area. There have been signs that
North Vietnamese troops are preparing
for a new push at government positions
on the eastern rim of the Bolovens and
at the town of Lao Ngam.
The situation in northern Laos re-
mains quiet.
Chancellor Klaus' visit to the US--
and especially his meeting with the
President--has been given unusually
heavy and positive coverage by the Aus-
trian press, TV, and radio.
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4. West Berlin
Rioting, triggered by the shoot-
ing of the student leader Rudi Dutschke,
took on an anti-American character yes-
terday. Crowds estimated at 6,000-
10,000 clashed with police in the down-
town area. "De-Americanization" of the
radio station in the American sector
(RIAS) was one of the more prominent
"demands" of the demonstrators. The
crowds also chanted slogans condemning
US policy in Vietnam.
Dutschke's assailant is said to be
a would-be Nazi. The police quote him
as saying he was "influenced by the mur-
der of Martin Luther King."
5. Nonproliferation Sentiment for delay on the nonpro-
Treaty liferation treaty is gaining at the UN.
A majority of the Latin American Aele-
gations are said to favor postponing
any UN action. The French-speaking
African delegations are thinking along
the same lines.
6. France
Continuation of this trend could
imperil the treaty's chances at the
General Assembly session resuming on
the 24th.
Several American journalists in
Paris--including representatives of
the Washington Post and Time--have told
the embassy that they have hadword
from the Quai and the Elysee Palace
that Vietnam developments have opened
the possibility for a breakthrough in
US-French relations. These newsmen
say they see a number of signs that
the French Government is beginning to
adjust its anti-American image, at
least in the public domain. This ad-
justment, they believe, is likely to
increase with the arrival of Ambassador
Shriver.
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7. Chile
8. Panama
9. Pakistan
President Frei now has a rather
good chance of getting Senate apprdval
for a trip to the US. (The Senate
vetoed such a visit in January 1967.)
Frei has long hoped to make the trip;
he has recently accepted an invitation
to go to the Soviet Union.
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Top Secret
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?
Top Secret
FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
1.) Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
2.) North Vietnamese Reflections of U S
Political Attitudes
Top Secret
16
13 April 1968
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
13 April 1968
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
Pham Van Dong Interview: In an interview with
a Japanese novelist on 4 April, the North Vietnamese
premier said his country's 3 April statement "had
successfully foiled the US attempt to gain propagan-
da advantage" in the peace talk dialogue. He also
suggested that it might have prevented a US escala-
tion of the war. This interview has not been pub-
lished by Hanoi, but it has been run in several ver-
sions in the Japanese press.
The premier, according to his Japanese inter-
viewer, was very outspoken on the issue of reciprocity.
He said Hanoi stood pat on its conditions for talks
and for a settlement, and that the US must abandon
the San Antonio formula.
On a settlement of the war, he said Hanoi still
insisted on withdrawal of US troops from the South
and permanent and unconditional cessation of the war
against the North. "We will not recognize any com-
promise of these points," Pham Van Dong is quoted as
saying. There is no reference here to the role of
the Liberation Front, but it could be an omission on
the part of the Japanese interviewer rather than the
North Vietnamese premier.
Most of the interview is a plausible expansion
of known views. Until--and unless--Hanoi publishes
its version, however, the interview probably should
be taken in terms of the tone the premier was trying
to convey rather than as a final position statement.
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* * *
North Vietnamese Hospital in Cambodia:
a rather extensive North Vietnam-
ese hospital complex in Cambodia.
the hospital was for casualties
from Communist forces in the central highlands.
The complex consisted of a 3,000-bed hospital
and four smaller hospitals. Two of these latter
were mobile units operating with the troops. All
five hospitals had surgical capability, but serious
cases were sent from the mobile units back to the
main hospital in Cambodia.
one mobile unit received 173 casualties in
three hours.
The main hospital was reasonably well equipped.
It had an ear, eye, nose and throat department as
well as X-ray and pharmaceutical sections. All drugs
and equipment come from North Viet-
nam.
*
May Day Gifts: The Soviets have announced a
ship will soon sail from Vladivostok for Haiphong
with 10,000 May Day gift parcels.
* * *
Repairs to Installations: Photography of 16
March showed extensive repair work on one of Hai-
phong's two power plants and the cement plant. No
repair work had been done on either since they were
hit in April 1967.
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Hanoi on US Military Changes in Vietnam: Hanoi
continues to disparage US leadership and to single
out US military commanders for their alleged "fail-
ure" in Vietnam. In a 12 April broadcast to South
Vietnam, Hanoi reported the recent changes in US
commands in South Vietnam and in the Pacific area.
It claimed that these decisions resulted from a .
series of high-level Washington conferences-follow-
ing the "discharge of Westmoreland" and pointed out
that they will not improve the "ever worsening" US
position in Vietnam.
* * *
II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
There is nothing of significance to report.
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Top Secret
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