THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 19 NOVEMBER 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005976469
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: November 19, 1968

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006500320001-0
The President's Daily Brief
---TOT-Sr)t94a__19 November 1968
23
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006500320001-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006500320001-0
LAOS: Current Situation
(
BURMA:
.41
1:12 .
CHINA
CHINA
?
. ?
ORTI4
0.,*;
VI TNAM
..f.?:-.--....:.y, _S,
HANOI*
,,
----?--: c - N
i- /;-)
r iz?
,
- '
/ ...N.,,
v........:f--......,1
ir--40
, Rt. 7- f? .
eyil ;,4.0, -.41, lowr' P.rabang .
?64 cv----??-\,..
Plarne4es j-- ,L_Muong
..arres r -, c:7 - Sen
Muong -r v?.
Ngan
---"--Nam Mci7 ??-,
?? VailiV
? ? ".....,
(/ ) t,.../ ',...... A/ I ENJIA N E
c, i -.or
e /.3.
THAILAND
?
I .1
Road construction
Government-held location
Communist-controlled territory
/ A Contested territory
59 75 100 Miles
0 f75 50 75 160 Kilometers
NiUong
APhalane ..
,:, i ,.
i
..., 3,, /??,.., .
\? \fi
'\ \?-, Touam2eyan ;c
v . ,...\-::::\;Th
k.....
../
- i
\..... Sar;-"vane ('SOUTH
?.> \ VIETNAM
, ?
?
%..
*Ban ?
< .....-,
-ha.teng 1
Bo'llige&, I.
\z,:, MIZSreir r.-.:
..?
r
....:.ii
...". '
.1
? .....??? f
''
(
'-'4....i? ?f 1
?.,
I
C A M B 0 D 1 , A
f
?I?
G
o F
T'ONKIN
2
18-
j_ee e,Demarcation Line
?
li-68 CIA
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006500320001-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006500320001-0
TRE,PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF
19 NOVEMBER 1968
2. France
3. Soviet Union
The military situation is beating
up as the Communists beginto put on
the pressure in northern Laos, North
Vietnamese and Pathet Lao troops have
captured a number of outlying defensive
positions insouthwestern Luang :Prabang
Province. The Communists are also:dem-
onstrating new interest in government
guerrilla positions near the North Viet-
namese border south of Route 7. Three
North Vietnamese battalions have.re-
cently deployed:intol,aos in this area.
In the south, the enemy is still
active near.Muong:Phalane, but recent
heavy casualties seem to have slowed
their efforts.
Government forces are moving to
clear enemy forces east of Ban Thateng
as part of a longer range effort to
ease the Communist threat in the Bolo-
yens Plateau area. The North Vietnam-
ese are extremely sensitive to encroach-
ments into the vital infiltration cor-
ridor, however, and a sharp rebuff to
government plans will probably not be
long in coming.
De Gaulle has told Couve to ride
out the wave of speculation against
the franc, but some deflationary meas-
ures are being ordered up nonetheless.
The size of the crunch will be known
when Couve goes before the National As-
sembly today.
The Soviets' recent purchase of
color television technology and equip-
ment in the US should permit them to
begin mass production of color sets by
1970. By 1975 they, will likely turn
out 1 to 1.5 million color sets a year.
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006500320001-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006500320001-0
'-'LI,' I
4. Soviet Union
5. Nigeria ?
Communist China
Zond-6 landed in the Soviet Union
on Sunday and was probably picked up
after an extensive 50X1
search,
50X1
50X1
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006500320001-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006500320601-0
Top Secret
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006500320001-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006500320001-0
Z.14,
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
16
19 November 1968
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006500320001-0
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006500320001-0
Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
19 November 1968
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
.Propaganda: Hanoi's propaganda handling-of
issues surrounding the bombing halt has been ex-
tremely cautious. The .North,Vietnamese publicly
:acknowledge only one "understanding"--the agree-
ment to expand the talks. Any other conditions or
understandings are ignored or brushed off With the
assertion that the US "unconditional" bombing halt
met basic Communist demands for progress in.Paris.
Hanoi's moves since 1 November suggest an intent
to continue denying any commitment to military re-
straint,while keeping Communist military activi-
ties limited enough to avoid US retaliation and at
least temporarily within the bounds of What was
agreed to in'Paris.
The most recent instance of this approach came
in Hanoi's response to a State Department protest
of 13 November over North Vietnamese abuse of the
Demilitarized Zone. Hanoi answered the charges on
16 November in .a foreign ministry statement which
avoided any implication of mutual commitments to
restraint by saying that the US was trying to make
the world believe that Hanoi had accepted conditions
for a bombing halt. Turning the accusations around,
the statement said the US was attacking the Demili-
tarized Zone in violation of the 1954 Geneva Agree-
ments. It made no mention, of course, of any under-
standings in Paris.
Ha Van Lau Comments on Timing of Cease-fire
Discussions: Ha Van Lau has suggested an agenda for
the expanded talks in Paris which includes first
the withdrawal of US troops, then consideration of a
political settlement in South Vietnam, and finally a
cease-fire. In an interview with a French magazine
this past weekend, Lau gave the usual exposition of
Hanoi's line on terms for a settlement, but he went
out of his way to lay to rest the rumor that the
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006500320001-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006500320001-0
Communists intend to work for an immediate cease-fire
in the next round of negotiations. He was quite spe-
cific in his timing, saying that 'acease-fire was
"unrealistic" before the issues of withdrawal or a
political settlement have been resolved.
"New""North Vietnamese Missile?: On 6-November
the Special Report noted the possibility that the
North Vietnamese may: be employing a new antiaircraft
missile. Furthei':analygis of this "new" missile's
performance, as reported by the North Vietnamese
themselves in intercepted communications, suggests
that the "new" missile's range and velocity do not
differ significantly from those of the standard So-
viet missiles long in use in North Vietnam. .It
ap-
pears that the "new" aspect may be a modified .fuzing
and-warhead system.
Relations with Sweden: Sweden has decided to.
grant diplomatic recognition to Hanoi but will await
developments in Paris before taking definite action,
according to an assessment by the US Embassy in
Stockholm. An aide to the Swedish foreign minister
told an embassy official that recognition was neces-
sary to allow Scandinavian participation in Vietnam's
postwar economic development. Recognition at this
time would embarrass the US in Paris, he acknowledged,
but he said that when the talks seem to be heading
toward a settlement, Sweden will go ahead with its
plans:
The aide reported that Stockholm has expressed
to Hanoi and the Front the view that disparate ele-
ments, including the Front, Alliance, and right-wing
Catholics in South Vietnam, should have a voice in a
postwar settlement.
II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
day.
?There is nothing of significance to report to-
-2-
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006500320001-0
,
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006500320001-0
Top Secret
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006500320001-0