THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 25 JULY 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005976269
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: July 25, 1968

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006300060001-1
The President's Daily. Brief
--75JrSTrre4-25 July 1968
23
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006300060001-1
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006300060001-1
THE PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF
25 JULY 1968
1. Soviet Union -
Czechoslovakia
2. Turkey
Official silence veils the subject
of the top level Soviet-Czech meeting.
While we have no evidence that the meet-
ing has begun, we note that the entire
Soviet politburo has been out of sight
since Monday, and the Czech presidium
dropped from public view on Tuesday. If
indeed the meeting is in progress, Czech
hints to the contrary could be in com-
pliance with insistence from Moscow on
tight security precautions.
Yesterday a Czech party spokesman
admitted that some Soviet troops were
still in Czechoslovakia and said, accord-
ing to one account, that they "will re-
main until a communiqu?s published."
Another Czech source said on Tuesday that
some 5,000 to 6,000 Soviet troops were
still on Czech soil.
We have no further details on the
extent and activity of the large military
exercise on Soviet territory announced
by Moscow on Tuesday.
There were further clashes yester-
day between students and police, and more
are probably in the offing. These new
outbreaks were triggered by the death of
a student injured in last week's anti-US
demonstrations.
The public, however, ,seems to be ,turn-
ing against the leftists. In*.additibn, the
Turkish military--which in the 1960 coup
sided with radical students--is said to
be fed up with leftist agitation. It
blames local officials, rather than the
Demirel government, for failure to cope
with these outbreaks.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006300060001-1
50X1
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006300060001-1 50X1
3. Malaysia-
Philippines
We are getting more concerned over
the possibility of a military incident
growing out of the dispute over Sabah.
The Malaysians say that Manila has sev-
eral armed groups, totaling about 1,500
men, standing ready to infiltrate Sabah
from nearby islands.r
If the Filipinos did attempt infil-
tration, Malaysia at the least would be
tempted to stir up secessionist senti-
ments.among .fellowsMoslems in the south-
ern Philippines'.
4. Soviet Union -
.Egypt Soviet naval units in the Mediter-
ranean recently put on a show of amphib-
ious landing operations near Alexandria
for senior 'Egyptian officers. Although
these ships have been in the eastern
Mediterranean since last summer's Arab-
Israeli war, this is the first time we
have detected this sort of activity.
5. Egypt
50X1
50X1
50X11
b0X11
50X1
? Nasir has announced that he is leav-
ing shortly for a two- or three-week visit 50X6
to the Soviet Union for medical treatment.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006300060001-1
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006300060001-1 50X1
6. World Youth
Festival
310 6V
7. Cuba
_As the 2$ July start of the Ninth
World Youth Festival in Sofia draws
closer, its Soviet sponsors and Bulgar-
ian hosts are getting more edgy. .A num-
ber of issues--the Czech situation, ar-
.tistic freedom in the Soviet Union, and
the Cuban and Chinese approach to,Marx-
ism---could become highly volatile in
the present atmosphere-of worldwide'stu-
dent unrest. .The Soviet radio is al-
Teady acknowledging the possibility of
disruptions-by alleging Western efforts
to divide the conference Darticinants.
* * *
CaStro's replacement yesterday of
his interior minister may:be an attempt
to get the reins of security control
more firmly in his own hands. .Fidel has
been worried over increasing acts of
.sabotage since he imposed new austerity
measures inMarch.\
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006300060001-1
50X1
50X1
50X1
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006300060001-1
Top Secret
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006300060001-1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006300060001-1
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 50X1
17
25 July 1968
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006300060001-1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006300060001-1 50)(1
Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
25 July 1968
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
Propaganda on Saigon "Siege": In its usual.el-
liptical fashion, Hanoi has called attention to ?the
lack of attacks on Saigon itself during the past
month by. boasting about the Communists' capability
to conduct them and by playing up recent attacks in
the city's environs. A Hanoi broadcast in English
on 23 July quotes the North Vietnamese Army paper as
saying that recent shellings on the outskirts of the
capital, including those against the US supply base
at Nha Be, belie allied "boasts" of heavy defenses
around Saigon. The paper noted pointedly that Nha
Be was only "six miles from the center of Saigon and
included in the free bombing zone belt around the
city." It described Saigon itself as under an "un-
breakable siege." and Communist forces as able to
move their "big guns very close to the enemy and
strike with devastating blows." A US official was
quoted as saying that "there is nothing you can do
about it."
The paper seems to be trying to signal that the
Communists have a capability to shell Saigon proper
which they are not using at present because of-poli-
tical considerations.
Reconnaissance Report: A high-altitude photo-
graphic mission of 18 July turned up the following
points of interest:
--Nineteen MIG-21s were photographed. Four
more are known from intercepts to have been in the
air at the time of the mission. This is the largest
number of MIG-21s ever noted in North Vietnam.
--There are some signs that the cement plant in
Haiphong is back in limited production.
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006300060001-1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006300060001,-.1x1
--A record number of 41 ships was photographed
in Haiphong harbor and its approaches. The amount
of cargo in open storage ashore, however, has de-
creased, indicating a faster rate of turnover.
--Rail and highway transport is restricted at
several points by flooding.
* * *
Chinese Economic Aid: The North Vietnamese
economic delegation which has been on an extended
visit to Communist China concluded an economic and
technical aid agreement on Tuesday. The announce-
ment of the signing ceremony, broadcast by Radio-Pe-
king's international service, gave no further details
of the agreement.
Peking is the last stop for the traveling mis-
sion from Hanoi, which arrived on 10 July amid re-
ports of serious friction between the two governments
Both sides put up a reasonably good front during the
visit, probably reflecting a mutual desire to scotch
reports, of a serious split.
* * *
Followup to Honolulu Conference: A Foreign
Ministry spokesman in Hanoi on 24 July issued a
bland statement on the Honolulu conference similar
in tone to earlier North Vietnamese press treatment.
The spokesman accused the US of plotting to "in-
tensify" the war and ,of _trying :to "doll up" the Sai-
gon government, but showed little evidence of Com-
munist concern. He contrasted the February 1966
Honolulu Conference with this one by claiming that
after the former the US "frenziedly stepped up the
war," whereas this time the US sought to "hold on
to South Vietnam and maintain the puppet administra-
tion."
* * *
II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
There is nothing of significance to report today.
-2-
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006300060001-1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006300060001-1
? ? _
Top Secret
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006300060001-1