THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 18 DECEMBER 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005976519
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: December 18, 1968

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The President's Daily Brief
itc-zfl18 December 1968
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THE PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF
18 DECEMBER 1968
1, South Vietnam
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2. France
3. Brazil
4. Laos
We continue to see signs of a grow-
ing lack of confidence in the Gaullist
regime. Many Frenchmen are skeptical
of the country's economic future, espe-
cially since the financial crisis. The
Czechoslovak affair is widely regarded
as a setback for De Gaulle's detente ef-
fort. Students are still disorderly,
and labor restive.
The government, however, has made
clear it will deal harshly with any stu-
dents who get really out of line. Labor
leaders have called no strikes since
early December--but may be harder to
deal with this spring as rising prices
and unemployment begin to pinch.
Another eruption is of course pos-
sible, but we think it more likely that
antagonisms will simply continue to
fester below the surface.
An air of uncertainty prevails.
Press censorship is keeping the public
in the dark as to who has been arrested,
and why.
The church is encouraging one of
its liberal archbishops to speak out
against the government, even if he lands
in jail. The bishop in fact made a
speech highly criticalof the government
on Sunday. An open challenge by the
church might stir up the now intimidated
students and labor--and probably goad
the military into taking even more re-
pressive measures.
Ban Thateng is still in government
hands despite new enemy assaults.
? Around-the-clock air strikes were in-
strumental in beating off yesterday's
attack by a North Vietnamese force that
may have included two fresh battalions.
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. Israel
6. Soviet Union The Soviets' first solid propel-
lent intercontinental ballistic missile--
the SS-13--probably will be operational
in about six months. There are indica-
tions that testing is entering an ad-
vanced stage, and satellite photography
shows that the first of the new single
silos being built for it will be com-
plete by early 1969. Only 31 of the
new silos have been detected since con-
struction began in mid-1967--a much
slower deployment rate than noted in
earlier Soviet intercontinental ballis-
tic missile programs.
7. Guyana
Burnham appears to have won a
clear majority in Monday's election
and now, for the first time, can gov-
ern without the millstone of a coali-
tion. The public, caught up in the
traditional holiday revelries, is un-
likely to care much about the charges
of rigging from the opposition.
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8.-NorthiCorea
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Top Secret
FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
1.) Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
2.) North Vietnamese Reflections of U S
Political Attitudes
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18 December 1968
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
18 December 1968
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
Infiltration: Intercepted messages so far for
.December continue to show that about one new infil-
trating group a day is entering the pipeline from
North Vietnam
Eight new groups have appeared in rear services
messages since 10 December, bringing the total
groups noted so far this month to 16. The average
strength for each of these groups is about 570,
bringing the month's total so far to at least 9,000
men. The majority of groups detected since late
November is believed to be headed for the III Corps
area of South Vietnam.
Travel of infiltration groups by truck and
train in North Vietnam has resulted in a stream-
lining of the system of commo-liaison stations along
the way. In the past, stations were strung out about
a day's march from each other, Rear services com-
munications for 15 December show that the number of
way stations has been reduced.
* * *
On Prisoners: The North Vietnamese have not an-
nounced the Christmas release of some US pilots as
reported earlier in broadcasts from Japan and Moscow.
On 16 December, Radio Hanoi rebroadcast a statement
first issued on the 13th that captured US pilots
would be permitted to receive Christmas gifts. There
was no mention of an impending pilot release. If
such a gesture had been announced, Hanoi almost cer-
tainly would have repeated it during its broadcast on
the 16th.
Hanoi still may release some of the pilots at
a later date for propaganda advantage and as a ges-
ture in connection with the Paris talks. The Com-
munists probably believe, however, that general re-
patriation of prisoners will have to await agreement
on the broader issues of a Vietnam settlement.
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?.Hanoi Hippies: .Last week a North Vietnamese
diplomat in Laos showed considerable,if confused--
interest in the hippy phenomenon. He was talking to
an American diplomat, and among the questions asked
were the location of US "central hippy headquarters,"
who were the "top officers" in the American hippy
movement, and throUgh what channels they transmitted
.their .commands.. The North Vietnamese. diplomat clear-
ly did not .believe the American when he explained
that such organization was about the last thing
:hippies wanted. .
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II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
day.
There is nothing of significance to report to-
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