THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 16 OCTOBER 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005976411
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: October 16, 1968

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006500030001-2
The President's Daily Brief
Top Secret 16 October 1968
23
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THE PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF
16 OCTOBER 1968
1. Panama
2. South Vietnam
3. Czechoslovakia -
Soviet Union
? Most members of the new junta are
warming to the idea that Arias' first
vice president, Raul Arango, be ele-
vated to the presidency. Arango is
said to be willing, and other politi-
cians, including members of Arias' co-
alition, are now believed to favor a
"constitutional solution" along these
lines.
The kid glove tactics used by the
National Guard so far have prevented
the outbreak of serious rioting.
Major enemy units still are rest-
ing and refitting in their base areas
getting ready for the next round, which
the Communists are calling their, win-
ter-spring offensive.
In the meantime, unseasonably late
rains in the delta and around Saigon
are flooding out routine guerrilla ac-
tivities of local Communist forces.
Press accounts of a firm agree-
ment on thinning out occupation troops
seem premature. The communiqu?over-
ing the Cernik-Kosygin talks in Moscow
says nothing about a "status-of-forces".
treaty. It just states that the two
sides discussed among other things "the
conditions of a temporary stationing
of Soviet troops."
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4. Arab States The Arabs profess to see nothing
Israel .new in Eban's nine-point peace plan.
They, claim the Israelis still are ig-
noring the Security Council .resolution
of November 1967, especially, the parts
dealing with withdrawal from occupied
territories.
5. Jordan
Meanwhile, Jarring keeps plugging
away trying to generate a substantive
exchange between the two camps./
King Husayn and his government
may find themselves in over their heads
if they seriously enforce new restric-
tions on Palestinian terrorist activi-
ties.
Among the new rules taking effect
yesterday was a requirement that all
terrorist operations must be cleared
with Jordanian military authorities.
Terrorists are also forbidden to wear
uniforms or carry arms in town, and
their vehicles will be subject to
search.
The terrorists, who enjoy, wide
popular support in Jordan, told the
government beforehand that they, would
not go along with the new regulations.
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Top Secret
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As Top Secret
FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
1.) Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
.) North Vietnamese Reflections of U S
Political Attitudes
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16
16 October 1968
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
16 October 1968
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
Vietnam Solidarity Activities Accelerating: Com-
munist front organizations throughout the world are
preparing in earnest to promote various Vietnam soli-
darity activities through the rest of the year.
On 11 October, the headquarters of the interna-
tional students' organization in Prague set mid-Novem-
ber as the date for student demonstrations in both
Free World and Communist countries. The magic day, is
27 October for London, where several left-wing groups
plan two demonstrations, one reported to be targeted
against the American Embassy. The World Peace Coun-
cil is doing its part by sponsoring a Vietnamese dele-
gation tour of a number of west European countries,
the first stop being Brussels on 24 October. In.Paris,
the North Vietnamese have asked the French Communist
Party to prepare another "ship for Vietnam" to be
filled with medical supplies and food.
The Swedish Vietnam committee is sponsoring an
international conference in Stockholm during Decem-
ber to coordinate the "support Vietnam" activities
of a number of groups. According to a TASS dispatch,
this conference will be attended not only by Hanoi
and Liberation Front reptesentatives but by the Alli-
ance as well. This would be the international debut
of the Alliance. The Stockholm conference is in-
tended to be a pretty big show. The Front people who
just arrived in the Swedish capital are already plug-
ging it as a major landmark in international support
for Hanoi.
Le Duc.Tho in Moscow: Press reports indicate
that North Vietnamese politburo member Le Duc Tho,
who arrived in Moscow yesterday en route home from
the Paris talks, met with Soviet Premier Kosygin on
15 October. This is Tho's fourth stopover in Moscow
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since the Paris talks began and his third such meet-
ing with Kosygin. Kosygin was on vacation outside
Moscow during Tho's last visit (10-13 August), and
Tho met with First Deputy Premier Mazurove On past
trips Tho has generally spent two or three days in
Moscow, and if he follows the previous pattern, he
probably will make a shorter stop in Peking before
returning to Hanoi.
North Vietnamese and Front Activities in France:
The combined North Vietnamese and National Liberation
Front delegation which is visiting several European
countries will participate in social events and meet-
ings with workers in the Paris area this week. The
activities have been organized by the French Peace
Movement as "International Week of Solidarity with
Vietnam."
The Communist Party newspaper, Humanite, reports
that meetings will be held all over France in the
coming weeks, culminating on 23 November, to produce
petitions in support of North Vietnam and the Front.
Humanite invites its readers to contribute funds for
quinine urgently needed by North Vietnam and penicil-
lin needed by the Front.
The Front is Being Built Up Internationally:
The Vietnamese Communists are steadily building their
case for presenting the National Liberation Front as
a functioning political entity with some of the
trappings of a legitimate government. Growing Com-
munist claims about the extent of the Front's.ogovern-
ing" role in South Vietnam have been accompanied by
an accelerated effort to expand the Front's diplomatic
representation. In the past two months the Commu-
nists have implemented or moved to implement virtually
all the agreements they have been able to obtain for
setting up permanent Front missions abroad.
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Last August, Front missions were set up almost
simultaneously in Albania, Bulgaria, Mongolia, and
Rumania--the only Communist countries where Front
offices had not been established previously. Last
week two representatives arrived in Paris to head up
a new Front office there, and this week two other
officials arrived in Stockholm to open a similar mis-
sion in Sweden.
The Communists appear to be marshaling all the
assets they can to enhance the status of the Front
and to be ready to put it forward as a principal
party to negotiations involving South Vietnam.
* * *
Doumer Bridge in Bad Condition: A regular
traveler in the Hanoi area reports that in late
September the Paul Doumer Bridge was showing signs
of fatigue under the continuing heavy traffic load.
He says that the vibration of the bridge is extreme-
ly noticeable and the roadbed is badly pitted. He
saw no signs, however, of preparation to make re-
pairs. .The foundations of the bridge were apparently
repaired with more speed than efficiency last spring,
and the recent flooding in the Hanoi area probably
further weakened the main supports.
* * *
II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
Hanoi Gloats Over Komer's Departure: Hanoi Radio
in its domestic broadcast on 14 October took exception-
al delight in reporting the recall of Ambassador Komer.
The report did not reveal that Mr. Komer had been ap-
pointed to a new post as ambassador to Turkey, but
went to great lengths to disparage his efforts to im-
prove the pacification program in South Vietnam.
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San Francisco Rally: In its international serv?
ice on 15 October, Hanoi Radio publicized the antiwar
rally held in San Francisco on 12 October, emphasizing
the role played by service veterans of the Vietnam war.
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???
Top Secret
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