THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 15 NOVEMBER 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005976463
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: November 15, 1968

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006500290001-4
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The President's Daily Brief
6r-e,Q5 November 1968
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:Junl
THE PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF
15 NOVEMBER.. 1968
1. South Vietnam
2. France.
-
There is nothing new at hand to
support the Associated Press story this
morning that Prime Minister Huong has
submitted his resignation to President
Thieu. Reuters says that a spokesman
for Huong has "strongly denied" the re-
port.
The possibility of a forced de-
valuation of the franc is not nearly so
absurd as De Gaulle pretends, but a
lot could happen to save the franc over
the next few weeks. France is suffer-
ing from a classic case of capital
flight at a time when there is the need
for financial pump-priming at home. The
franc is leaving home to purchase the
attractively hard German mark across
the border.
The French, unwilling to dampen
their economic recovery by strong de-
flationary measures, want the Germans
to revalue the mark upwards; this would
take most of the pressure off the franc.
The Germans have been saying "make your
own corrective measures," but have ap-
parently agreed to meet with the French
to discuss the problem.
If the run on the franc continues
at its present rate, De Gaulle will be
forced to sell back large chunks of
his American gold and approve more strin-
gent internal controls. His adamant
views against devaluation suggest that
he is ready to do both.
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3. World Communist Many of the world's Communist par-
Conference ties will meet in Budapest on Sunday
to try, to set a date for the interna-
tional conference. Last spring a pre-
paratory meeting agreed to set 25 Novem-
ber as the date, but it was dropped as
a result of the invasion of Czechoslo-
vakia. Six weeks of intensive Soviet
lobbying followed, and the Soviets will
now try to pin down a new date for the
meeting.
The FrenO Communist Party, which
had been defiant since the invasion,
gave in to severe tongue-lashings dur-
ing talks in Moscow early this month.
Talks between the Soviets and an
Italian party delegation now in Moscow
will probably be equally stormy, al-
though the Italians may be less easy
to win over.
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4. Middle East
. Soviet Union
. Peru
We may well see more and more of
the kind of thing that happened along
the Israeli-Jordanian border on Wednes-
day when a minor small arms exchange
quickly evolved into an extended fire-
fight involving mortars, tanks, and ar-
tillery. Now that the Jarring mission
is stalled, the Israelis have probably
taken off the wraps on retaliation for
border incidents.
Zond -6.
/passed around the moon,
and is now returning to earth.
The probe will reach the earth's atmos-
phere early Sunday morning.
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Top Secret
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006500290001-4
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006500290001-4
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
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15 November 1968
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? Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
15 November 1968
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
Two Administrations in the South?: A Vietnamese
Communist official has hinted strongly, that the Com-
munists may envision a temporary territorial arrange-
ment between Saigon and the Front as part of a process
leading to a political settlement.
Although
Communist propaganda frequently decries continued al-
lied military activity in the South, the Communists
previously have not directly tied the level of mili-
tary activity there to prospects in Paris.
* * *
Hanoi Atmospherics: The North Vietnamese Govern-
ment was slow in informing the citizens of Hanoi about
the US bombing halt,
The diplomatic community and
local citizens got their first information on the US
action on 1 November from broadcasts originating in
other countries. The government did not report it on
the air until 2 November.
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no public demonstrations
or celebrations accompanying the announcement. The
government's proclamation, in fact, called for con-
tinued vigilance and sacrifice, presumably to fore-
stall a general mood of relaxation.
Hanoi was also cautious in announcing its re-
action to the diplomatic corps. Vietnamese officials
reportedly tried to avoid entrapment by foreign dip-
lomats at an Algerian reception on the evening of
1 November. The Vietnamese left the reception dis-
creet' onl a t? 441
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diplomats were
told early on the morning of 2 November. 50X1
Hanoi's statement was finally delivered to for-
eign correspondents and broadcast locally at about
10:00 that morning.
* * *
, Hanoi Protests Alleged US Action in Cambodia;
Hanoi has issued another of its periodic denuncia-
tions of alleged US violations of Cambodian terri-
tory. The foreign ministry statement, carried in a
French language international broadcast on 14 Novem-
ber, charged that US helicopters twice violated
Cambodian airspace on 6 November in areas opposite
South Vietnam's III Corps and fired on Cambodian civ-
ilians.
.The foreign office statement charged the US with
numerous Cambodian border violations since June and,
with righteous indignation, expressed its support of
earlier Cambodian protests and demands that the US
recognize Cambodia's borders.
More of this type of propaganda may be forthcom-
ing as part of an effort by Hanoi to distract atten-
tion from the recent NBC expos?f Viet Cong activity
in Cambodia.
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The depth of the channel into Haiphong harbor,
which was 28 feet at average mean tide when Soviet
dredging equipment was removed for safety in May
1965, now averages about 26 feet. The Soviet dredg-
ing equipment which began operating again last
spring has kept conditions from getting any worse,
but apparently has not yet caught up with the silt-
ing of the previous three years. Large, heavily
laden ships must either wait loran optimum high
tide before entering the harbor or unload a portion
of their cargo into lighters in order to clear the
channel into the port.
* * *
New Missile Site: Photography of 10 November
has disclosed a new surface-to-air missfle site near
Yen Bai airfield, northwest of Hanoi. This is the
first active missile installation seen in this area
for nearly a year. The purpose of the new site re-
mains unclear at the moment, but it is probably in-
tended to play an antireconnaissance role.
* * *
Work Continues on New Airfield: Photography
? also shows that the North Vietnamese are rapidly mov-
ing ahead with construction on the recently discovered
airfield at Duong Suong southwest of Hanoi. The pres-
ence of some ten pieces of construction equipment sug-
gests a fairly high priority has been assigned to
.this project. The construction of Yen Bai airfield
took about two years to complete. Work on Duong
Suong began in early October and could be completed
as early as next summer.
* * *
II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
There is nothing of significance to report.
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Top Secret
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006500290001-4