THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 1 MAY 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005975724
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: May 1, 1968

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100010001-8
The President's Daily Brief
Top Set-al 1 May 1968
23
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100010001-8
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100010001,-.Lo
THE PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF
I MAY 1968
1, Vietnam
2. Korea
3, Cuba
Thieu still is not sure how much
support he can muster for a move to
make Tran Van Huong prime minister.
He implied as much to Ambassador Bunker
yesterday when he said structural and
"possibly" personnel changes would be
made in the cabinet when the National
Assembly passes the mobilization law.
Thieu expects this to be done about 10
May. Ky is the leading holdout to
Huong's appointment.
* * *
Viet Cong communications continue
to indicate preparations for a wide-
spread offensive.
North Korean terrorists struck in
downtown Seoul last night. A hand gre-
nade was thrown into a building near
the capitol wounding several civilians;
two unexploded grenades were found else-
where in the city. The government has
increased security measures.
The South Koreans also report a
clash with a North Korean patrol south
of the Demilitarized Zone early this
morning.
Cuba's foreign exchange position
is going to deteriorate this year be-
cause sales of sugar to Free World
countries are lagging. Production is
down and the Cubans are trying to meet
their sugar commitments to Communist
countries. Right now it is difficult
to say just how badly the Cubans will
be hurt.
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100010001-8
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100010001-8 _
o0X1
4. Communist World
If the preparatory meeting in
Budapest was any indication of things
to come, the Soviets must look for-
ward with foreboding to the world Com-
munist conference in November. One
delegate said Vietnam was the only corn-
mon .cause at Budapest.
The Czechs -and East Germans were
at each other's throats, and the Rus-
sians barely kept the Czechs from walk-
ing out. Only seven of the 14 ruling
Communist parties showed up; Moscow
found it necessary to list the parties
of Martinique, Puerto Rico, and obscure
African states in order to reach a re-
spectable count of attendees.
. Poland The power struggle goes On.
Gomulka seems to have taken round one(
6, Soviet Union
The warring camps center around
secret police chief Moczar and provin-
cial party leader Gierek. Their sup-
port is not clearly defined but gener-
ally comes from younger party men
anxious to get power away from Gomulka's
old guard.
Soviet space support ships remain
in the Indian Ocean, This suggests
the Soviets will try another circumlunar
mission when a lunar "window" opens
again around 19-20 May.
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100010001-8
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100010001-8_0x1 ?
7. Soviet Union ? Moscow is not planning any new UN
Middle East
initiatives on behalf of the Arabs.
50X1
50X1
50X1
50X1
50X1
50X1
50X1
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100010001-8
?
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100010001-8
Top Secret
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100010001-8
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100010001-8
Top Secret
FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
.) Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
.) North Vietnamese Reflections of U S
Political Attitudes
Top Secret
16
1 May 1968
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100010001-8
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100010001-8 50x1
Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
I May 1968
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
More Hanoi Propaganda on Site: Yesterday's
prinTITTT-TiTTEUF-EaTIMTETFFT-ETn the problem of
a site for talks was a Nhan Dan editorial broadcast
in English over Hanoi Ra-UTO-'s International Service.
Like all of the commentary of the past two weeks,
it insisted that the US pick up the option on
either Phnom Penh or Warsaw. It criticized William
Bundy's 28 April statement and Secretary Clifford's
request for a reasonable interpretation of "anywhere
any time." Hanoi has never proposed anything un-
reasonable--such as the North Pole--said the news-
paper. The US has recently used Phnom Penh for
high-level consultations with Cambodia, and the US
has an embassy and adequate communications in War-
saw. The newspaper concluded that the US attitude
was not serious and its actions were dishonest.
50X1
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100010001-8
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100010001-8
* * *
The Order of Lenin: Moscow is apparently plan-
ning to confer the Order of Lenin on the Liberation
Front's lady commander, Nguyen Thi.Dinh. She is
deputy commander of the Liberation Army in South
Vietnam and a major publicity prop for the Front at
international conferences. Her present command ap-
pears to be largely honorary, but she probably was
an active guerrilla fighter in the past. She is
probably the first Viet Cong to be singled out for
such an international award.
* * *
-2-
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100010001-8
50X1
50X1
50X1
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100010001-8
_....-----,---
-22
1C2 104
CHINA 4, ,
.
? N.:
N.?
?? Lai Chau
106 108
t..., CHINA
? Cao Bang
Lao Cai
,
ing.ming
22
_,4
\ .
(
? \..
..
Samneua
?.....,....;NI
.,
n Bai Thai Lang Son
guyen "%.,%../?????"".?.,
'w u 4Pir o ?
-..- .? ? :'?
Sit .
Hanoi * *AN to,
%. ?
Song 1..0
?...........
"
?.1% Ninh Binh ?
NORTH'
o
102
I, q
? LAOS
"......,
. - -
4;?,t?
VIENTIANE
,.._
ED

/ ? ..) Bai Thuong Th nh Hoa
f.?...:.--..N../
) VIETNAM
0 3
GULF
. . Vinh OF
. 'TONKIN
A s-,
? a Tinh
.
o
? ' " THAILAND
?
.i 18?
Siong Hoi
ceg
l:1
. nh Linh
.LAOS ....... 6 DEMILITARIZED ZONE
?
Chepone
'...,..,
H
SOUTH
c.;i. ' "\......_... .. . VIETNAM
.
30 APRIL
25 . 50 75 Miles
1 16?
e
W6 108
0 25 5b 75 Kilometers
104
90465 4-68 CIA
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100010001-8
50X1
50X1
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100010001-8
* * *
Resumption of MIG Activity in Southern North
Vietnam: Signals intelligence shows that three or
four North Vietnamese MIG fighter-interceptors flew
to the area of Vinh on 28 April. These southward
flights--the first by MIGs to North Vietnam's pan-
handle region in six weeks--involved one or two MIG-
17s and two MIG-21s. The movement coincides with an
increase in fighter aircraft training and may sig-
nal attempts by North Vietnamese MIGs to engage US
aircraft south of the 20th parallel. The MIG-21s
were apparently piloted by two of North Vietnam's
most proficient and experienced airmen.
The present location and status of these air-
craft is unknown. They could still be on the ground
in the Vinh area. Recent aerial photographs show
that the Vinh airfield, like the nearby one at Bai
Thuong, includes an undamaged earthen strip of suf-
ficient length to support MIG aircraft.
-3-
50X1
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100010001-8
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100010001-8
* * *
II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
Attack on President Johnson: The principal
Hanoi daily, Nhan Dan, issued a blistering personal
attack on PrehT?Johnson in its edition of 30
April. It called his administration a "declining
regime" and a "falling royal court" which was being
deserted en masse by aides in all fields. The com-
mentary was keyed to Ambassador Goldberg's recent
resignation but went much further back. Douglas
Dillon, John Connor, Robert McNamara, Lawrence
O'Brien, and Bill Moyers were specifically named.
The paper also made a list of what it called "promi-
nent figures" who had served President Johnson with
their "best efforts" only to see their political
careers "end pitifully." This group included individ-
uals associated with Vietnam policy--Henry Cabot
Lodge, Maxwell Taylor, McNamara, and General Westmore-
land.
The newspaper went on to impune the President's
motives in his speech of 31 March. While he aspired
to be another Lincoln or another Roosevelt, said the
journal, his pursuit of militarist policies in Viet-
nam would give him a place in history only in the
company of the "American capitalists." In describing
his decision not to seek re-election, the Hanoi press
said that undoubtedly it was a very painful decision
but that it had failed to take him out of his "isola-
tion at home and abroad."
-4-
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100010001-8
50X1
50X1
50X1
11
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A0061000100011xi
The broadcast referred briefly to Vice Presi-
dent Humphrey, saying only that he "wants to be a
successor to Johnson and a defender of all his
policies of the more than four past years."
The diatribe was broadcast over Hanoi Radio's
International Service in English and is one of the
strongest personal attacks on the US President in
many months.
-5-
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100010001-8
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100010001-8
Top Secret
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100010001-8