THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 15 JUNE 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005976203
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: June 15, 1968

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The President's Daily Brief
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.THE PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF
15 JUNE 1968
1. West Germany
2. SovietUnion
Following UN approval of the draft
nonproliferation treaty and conclusion
of the consular agreement, the Soviet
?Union is attempting to dispel any notion
that it might work more closely with
the US while the Vietnam war continues.
Soviet press reaction to President
Johnson's appeal for more cooperation
has been uniformly unfriendly. Recent
anti-US propaganda, for example the
treatment of Senator Kennedy's assassi-
nation, has become more virulent.
There are many reasons behind this
attitude. For one, the Soviets prob-
ably want to avoid giving Peking any
sign of US-Soviet accommodation. They
may also reckon that any move toward
the US would be read as a weakening of
their support for the North Vietnamese
position in Paris, whereas continued
coolness toward the US would weaken
the US position. Other ingredients are
Soviet anxiety over .trends in Eastern
.Europe and over the impact of "alien
ideas" in the Soviet Union.
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3. Soviet Union -
Czechoslovakia
4. Philippines-
Malaysia
-Pravda yesterday carried an article'
slurriE-F-Czechoslovak party secretary.
This was the first specifically anti-
Czechoslovak article since Kosygin's
visit last month, and the first Soviet
attack on a high-level Czechoslovak per-
sonality since the new leadership came
to power in January.
The thorny problem of the Philip-
pine claim to part of Malaysian Borneo
comes up for discussion in Bangkok this
Monday. We do not see much prospect
of progress. (
/ Hope
that Malaysia would compromise faded
last March following disclosure of
Philippine subversion efforts. Over
the longer run, the interests of both
countries may help to mute the problem.
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5. Soviet Union - The
Vietnam
6. Kenya
that any resumption of bomb-
ing around Hanoi would probably result
in the dispatch of Soviet "volunteer"
air Combat units to North Vietnam.
This particular attach?as long
pursued .a tough line on Vietnam.. He
alluded to the possible arrival of So-
viet combat pilots as long ago as
April 1967. His return to the topic
probably is his way of stressing the
importance the Soviets attach to the
bombing halt. Moscow publicly sup-
ports Hanoi's demands for a total halt,
and few Soviet diplomats have missed
an opportunity to remind us of this.
We would expect more threats of
this type as the press speculates on a
resumption of the bombing.
Kenyatta's failing health is be-
coming more apparent. Since his re-
cent stroke he has increasingly fre-
quent irrational periods and seems
unable to make decisions. Tribal
leaders are already jockeying for po-
sition. As they see Kenyatta fading,
this infighting will grow.
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FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
1.) Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
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16
15 June 1968
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
15 June 1968
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
:Eaton's Thoughts: US industrialist Cyrus Eaton
has been stressing the importance of his recent trip
to Moscow and Paris, but he has given no indication
that he really accomplished anything. According to
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a reliable -FBI source, he informed Soviet Deputy
Foreign Minister Kuznetsov in New York that he had
had a "splendid" time in Moscow and was feted by, .
Kosygin, with whom he swapped unspecified ideas about
the Paris talks. He said he was well received by
Averell Harriman when he stopped off in Paris.
Eaton alleged that Harriman made calls to Washington
to set up appointments for him with such officials
as Clark Clifford. Back in the US, he has been
urging that the US stop the bombing as an act of
good faith, claiming that he had assurances that
movement in the peace talks would follow.
We do not think there is much substance behind
the ideas Eaton peddles. Soviet Ambassador Dobrynin
told Ambassador Thompson recently that if the Soviets
wanted to pass a message to Washington, they would
not use Eaton.
* * *
Hanoi on the Fighting in the South: Hanoi propa-
ganda is portraying the current fighting in South
Vietnamese urban centers as a new "high tide" of the
revolutionary struggle which will hasten the collapse
of the allies. Hanoi's army paper, in an article
broadcast domestically in Vietnamese on 14 June,
claimed that the fighting in urban areas, particu-
larly in Saigon, represented a new development in
guerrilla warfare. It praised the "infinitely re-
sourceful and fruitful activities" of the guerrillas
and claimed that they are "deep rooted" in the south-
ern cities. It said they will play an important
role in forcing the allies,to accept an entirely new
.battlefield. The article claimed that in the cities
the guerrillas represent all strata of society and
have the advantage of surprise and knowledge of the
area. It concluded by predicting that the struggle
in the cities will grow in intensity and "aggravate
the deadly wounds of the US aggressors and their
henchmen." It warned that savage countermeasures
could be expected, but said the allies will not be
able to extricate themselves from their deadlock in
the city battlefield.
Giap Views the Fighting: Defense Minister Giap,
in an interview with an Algerian correspondent broad-
cast by the French Press Agency on 14 June, also made
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favorable reference to the urbah fighting in the
South. He declined to draw a direct parallel be-
tween the current combat and that which preceded
the collapse of the French in 1954, but he did say
that the over-all military situation in the South
is like "one long battle of Dien Bien Phu." He
claimed that the Communists would soon enjoy cer-
tain victory. Giap also denounced US assertions
of peaceful intentions in Vietnam, claiming that
the US was continuing to give evidence of its mili-
tary designs by furnishing the South Vietnamese
with additional supplies and manpower.
* * ?*
,Liberation Front Spokesman on Help from Out-
side: In a press conference on 14 June reported
by Tass, the Liberation Front representative in
Moscow, Nguyen Van Tien, picked up the theme of
Vietnamese nationalism and the right of the North
to help the South. This, of course, has cropped
up more than once in Hanoi's statements, and re-
cently was also reflected in official Front propa-
ganda, Tien stressed that the Vietnamese nation
is united and that the-people of the South have
the right to rely on assistance from their North-
ern compatriots. He went on to endorse the Paris
talks, claiming that the Front "fully supported"
the North Vietnamese position concerning a solu-
tion of the Vietnamese problem.
Appeal's from Viet Cong Radio.: The Viet Cong's
clandestine radio has issued appeals from both the
Viet-Cong army and the Liberation Front itself for
the people of Saigon to rise up and assist the Com-
munists in their attacks in the capital city. The
.army appeal advises the local citizenry to stay
away from military bases, training centers, supply
bases, and "nerve centers" of both US and .South
Vietnamese installations. It also encourages them
to join in the fighting on the side of "the people."
The Liberation Front appeal is more general
but has much the same tone. , It appeals to the
people to join or to help the Communists and devotes
special attention to "officers and men of the arty,
policemen and civil servants ?of .the Saigon govern-
ment" to desert their postsat "this decisive moment.
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Relations with Sweden: Sweden keeps edging
closer to some kind of formal ties with the North
Vietnamese. :According to press reports, Stockholm
has for the first time supplied direct medical as-
sistance to Hanoi. The aid comes in the form of
funds for the construction of a hospital. While
Scandinavian Red Cross societies have in the past
given medical assistance to North Vietnam, none of
the various governments has done so before now.
.Visitors to North Vietnam: The North Vietnam-
ese News Agency has announced that a delegation of
British and Canadian women has completed a two-
week visit to,North Vietnam and has promised to re-
turn home and "step up" agitation against the Viet-
namese war. The only names given were Hetty Worhaus
for the British and Micky Murry for the Canadians.
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