THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 12 JULY 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005976247
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: July 12, 1968

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The President's Daily Brief
12 July 1968
32
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THE PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF
12 JULY 1968
1. Czechoslovakia
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2. Soviet Union
3. Sweden -
Soviet Union
4. India-Pakistan
Satellite photography shows that
15 to 20 of the Soviets' 57 SA-5 sur-
face-to-air missile complexes are now
operational. The SA-5 is capable of
intercepting high-speed aircraft fly-
ing as far away as 75 miles and as high
as 100,000 feet.
Swedish officials are playing
Kosygin's visit (yesterday through Sat-
urday) in low key. They expect nothing
much to happen. Embassy Stockholm says
it is unable to pinpoint any specific
reason for the trip, but notes that the
Russians probably consider they are do-
ing well in Sweden and that a success-
ful, uncontroversial visit will under-
line Soviet respect for Sweden's "neu-
trality."
New Dehli is badly disturbed by
the news that the Soviet Union is will-
ing to sell arms to Pakistan. The In-
dians have already made a formal pro-
test/
It is not clear what kind of equip-
ment the Soviets are prepared to sell.
Kosygin is quoted as saying that the
arms will be defensive, but acknowledged
that the Pakistanis looked over some
aircraft and equipment for a motorized
brigade during their recent shopping
trip to Moscow. Kosygin expects the ar-
rangements to be buttoned up before the
end of the year.
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5. Central America
6. Philippines
Some summit meeting developments
are beginning to draw counterfire in
Central America.
The Salvadoran-Honduran prisoner
exchange, for instance, is drawing poli-
tical fire in El Salvador. The major
opposition party is demanding that the
amnesty decree, which released prisoners
taken in last year's border clash, be
declared unconstitutional. The same
people are also opposing a new tariff
surcharge that had received a ringing
endorsement at the summit. They could
block congressional ratification.
In Costa Rica, opposition deputies
have protested what they consider insult-
ing treatment during President Johnson's
visit, attacking US security forces for
their alleged infringment of the national
sovereignty. They have introduced a mo-
tion to investigate the Costa Rican se-
curity agency, and university students
have begun to campaign for its elimina-
tion. In a recent press conference,
President Trejos remarked sceptically
that it remains to be seen whether prob-
lems of economic integration can be
overcome.
The Senate deadlock over the $9
million appropriation for the Philippine
contingent in Vietnam seems to have been
broken. Although opponents of Marcos in
the Senate may come up with restrictive
amendments to the bill, prospects are
now rather good that the 1,800-man non-
combatant force will be continued.
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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
_
12 July 1968
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
12 July 1968
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
Vice Premier in Peking: Both the Chinese and
the North Vietnamese are using Vice Premier Le Thanh
Nghi's stop in Peking to play down their differences
and emphasize Sino-Vietnamese unity. At a banquet
on 10 July Nghi responded to his hosts' greetings
with a speech which singled out Mao and the Cultural
Revolution for special praise. In the past, Hanoi
has not disguised its distaste for the excesses of
the Cultural Revolution and Chinese adulation of Mao.
Chinese Vice Premier Li Hsien-nien, in his re-
marks, again warned of US "negotiation plots" and
quoted two-year-old speeches of Ho Chi Minh promis-
ing to persist in "protracted war" until complete
victory is won--a form of oblique criticism which
has become commonplace in Chinese propaganda. Li
pledged, however, that "any attempt to alienate China
and Vietnam" would fail and promised more effective
support. This relatively conciliatory language sug-
gests that Peking, deeply concerned with the even-
tual outcome of the Paris talks, is trying to pre-
serve as much influence in Hanoi as possible
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* * *
More on Internal Security: Last week the Daily
Report mentioned a captured notebook which contained
comments on the security situation in North Vietnam.
A more complete translation gives the following ad-
ditional information, presumably disclosed at a se-
curity conference in North Vietnam last fall. Some
1,500 teenage pickpockets were operating in Hanoi,
most of them children of party members. The children
reportedly commit 30 to 40 percent as many crimes
as professional criminals. As many as 50 criminals
have been arrested in a single night in Hanoi, and
prostitutes apparently abound. Ten of these ladies
of the night were said to frequent European embassies,
including those of Hanoi's Communist allies. The
notes also assert that corruption is the gravest
social problem in North Vietnam and state that the
"majority of cadre are grafters."
These rare glimpses of North Vietnam's dirty
laundry help to balance the usual accounts, often
from sympathetic foreigners-, which portray. North
Vietnam as a nation of efficient and selfless patri-
ots. In assessing the accuracy of these notes, how-
ever, the US Embassy in Saigon aptly comments that
Hanoi's penchant for exaggerating its successes may
be matched by similar exaggeration of deficiencies?
when the purpose is to exhort the rank and file to
do a better job.
?Hanoi Urges Prepations for Floods: A Hanoi
domestic broadcast on 4 July stated that North Viet-
nam was currently in a season of heavy rainfall and
needed to pay more attention to preventing and
checking typhoon and flood damage and to protecting
dams and dikes against "enemy strafing." Many vil-
lages reportedly had not yet organized antiflood
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and antityphoon units and many agricultural coopera-
tives had not yet made the "necessary preparations."
Responsible cadres at the provincial and district
levels were urged to take "adequate control" over
this task.
The Late Show: The North Vietnamese ambassador
to Cairo made a surprise appearance on Zambian TV
the other night. He apparently is in Lusaka on the
usual propaganda mission and was given this chance
to condemn US policies in Vietnam. The US ambassador
raised the visit with a local foreign ministry of-
ficial, who parried a query about the TV show by say-
ing he does not have a set.
The North Vietnamese diplomat apparently had
been pressing for such a visit. He was undeterred
by the fact that the President and foreign minister
were away and said he would talk to anyone. In
stressing that Zambia's nonaligned policy remained
intact, the foreign ministry official offered our
ambassador equal TV time. .
* * *
'II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
There is nothing significant to report today.
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Top Secret
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