THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 27 NOVEMBER 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005976483
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: November 27, 1968

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The President's Daily Brief
7s4e2 7 November 1968
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THE PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF
27 NOVEMBER 1968
1. Communist China
2. North Korea
3. Jordan
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Satellite photography of mid-
November produced some "best ever"
coverage of China. There was much
action and some new construction at
the plant near Peking which we believe
is to produce strategic missiles.
China's only G-class ballistic
missile submarine was at a naval dock-
yard. Some work, the significance of
which is not clear, was going on
around missile tube hatches and cowl-
ings.
In the ten months since the seiz-
ure of the Pueblo, Pyongyang has sharp-
ly improved its air defense system,
especially for detection and tracking.
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4. Okinawa
5. Philippines
6_ Congo
(Brazzaville)
Okinawans are so inflamed over
last week's B-52 accident that,an,ag-
gresSive antibase campaign may be in
the offing. The extreme left is no
longer alone in its opposition to US
base operations. .Moderates, formerly
opposed only to
B.752s, now want the bases closed.'
Even the conservatives who dominate
the legislature are pressing for re-
moval of the bombers.
The tamer regime that installed
itself in early September is now
making noises about ?how pleased it
would be to see the US Embassy, closed
since August 1965, open again. The
prime minister is said to feel this
would counterbalance Soviet influence=.
andhelp the place out of its economic
slump. But, he added, Brazzaville is
"not in a position" to take the first
step.
Incidentally, the French claim
the Cuban advisers?nearly 1,000 were
once in Brazzaville--thave all gone
home.
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Top Secret
FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
1.) Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
2.) North Vietnamese Reflections of US
Political Attitudes
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16
27 November 1968
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Special Daily Report .on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
27 November 1968
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
Hanoi? Propaganda: Hanoi is still building a head
of steam in its propaganda reaction to recent shoot..
downs of three US aircraft over North Vietnam and to
alleged US military :actions in the Demilitarized Zone.
The Communists are clearly laying a case in which they
could Use these issues to stall progress in Paris; in
statements on 26 November they came -close to, but stop-
ped justshort of, explicit threats along ?these lines,
A North Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesman on
26 November charged that the US had bombed and strafed
North Vietnamese territory following two shootdowns
the day before. His statement said that these actions
"grossly violated the sovereignty and security" of
North Vietnam, and he lumped them with alleged US
shellings north of the Demilitarized Zone. He called
them "proof" that the US was not acting in accordance
with President Johnson's order to end all bombardments
of North Vietnam, ?
A French press account indicates that the North
Vietnamese spokesman in Paris went even further at a
news conference the same day. He said that both re-
connaissance and "bombing raids' Connected with pilot
rescue efforts constitute "acts of war." These activi-
ties, he said, "are contrary. to" US commitments to
stop the bombing and acts "related to the use of force."
He warned that such actions "jeopardize the search for
peace," but by again calling on the US to "hold a four.-
power conference immediately," he indicated that Hanoi
is not making them a roadblock to opening the next
stage of talks in Paris.
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Conditions in Hanoi: A Western traveler who was
in Hanoi late last week was told by a resident that
the Hanoi police have been having trouble recently in
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enforcing the prescribed procedures during air ?raid
alerts. The people are less disciplined since the
end of the bombing, and a slowdown in the pace of
work has become noticeable. These problems were
probably behind Ho Chi Minh's recent communique di-
recting ?the people to maintain discipline and vigi-
lance and to work harder.
* * *
1-1anoi's Public Attitude Toward Saigon:
?For years the government leaders in
Saigon had been dismissed only as ,''American puppets
?and lackeys." Suddenly, on 2 November, the South
Vietnamese government was elevated to the status of
"the Saigon administration" in an official declara-
tion by Hanoi. .Despite this promotion, however, the
Saigon government was described later in- the same
document as "an instrument of the US imperialist
aggressors."
Two days later, the Hanoi propagandists felt
obliged to face up to the quandary posed by Presi-
dent Thieu's refusal to come to Paris. %Nhan Dan
solved the problem this way: "No acts by?TEF puppet
clique to give pretense of 'opposition' to its mas-
ters, the US aggressors, can deceive anybody."
* * *
Hanoi's Industrial Planning: Hanoi's policy
of dispersing large industries and encouraging
smaller local industries under regional control is
to be continued in the government's plans for post-
war reconstruction and development. Last month the
Council of Ministers formally reaffirmed the policy
--
originally necessitated by the US bombing--as a de-
sirable system for the indefinite future.
the Council of. Ministers action vas.an.adma-
sion that the government had previously made a mis-
take by concentrating factories in the Hanoi and
Haiphong areas, where some were far from their sources
of raw materials or their markets.
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Hanoi-Moscow Aid Agreements Signed: Moscow
showed its support for North Vietnam's present course
of action on Monday by signing a new set of agreements
on military aid with Hanoi. The agreements appear to
have been negotiated rapidly and harmoniously.
Hanoi's chief aid negotiator, Le Thanh Nghi, arrived 50X1
in Moscow on the 21st and departed yesterday.
II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
There is nothing of significance to report today.
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