THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 11 JANUARY 1969

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005976557
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: January 11, 1969

- Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006700070001-6
The President's Daily Brief
11 January 1969
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THE PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF
11 JANUARY 1969
1. France-Israel
2. Soviet Union
We have taken a comprehensive
look at the military and political ef-
fect De Gaulle's embargo on arms ship-
ments will have on Israel. We conclude
that:
--Israel's fighting capabilities
will not be materially reduced over the
next few months.
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the
Israeli air-
almost every-
except jet
craft industry
thing the air
can
force
produce
needs
engines.
--De Gaulle probably hopes the
embargo will force Israel into a more
flexible posture. This it will almost
certainly not accomplish.
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the much-publicized flight 50X1
by the boviet supersonic transport on
31 December was its second. We do not
know why the Soviets did not announce
the first flight on 17 December, but we
can only speculate that they did not
want to compete with the upcoming Apollo
8 flight for media coverage.
At Annex we discuss the design and
performance problems the plane is encoun-
tering.
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3. Middle East -
Soviet Union
4. Philippines
A pro-Nasir newspaper in Beirut
has published the full text of, the So-
viet proposal.
On 2 ?January, Marcos sent his po-
lice back against the Huks after a two-
month standdown. Last Thursday the po-
lice killed 17 insurgents who apparently
were assembled for a top-level meeting.
Among the dead was the third-ranking
Huk leader. This could be the worst set-
back in over a decade for the Huks, who
were already suffering from some internal
disarray.
Marcos apparently gave the:stand-
down order in an effort to,win the'sup-.
port of politicos who have ties with
.the-Huks, but the recent increase in in-
surgent depredations left him no choice
but to go back into the field.
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5. Dominican Republic General Wessin,a key leader of
the regular military during the 1965
revolt who has been in.exile in-the
US for over three years, is planning
to return to the Dominican Republic to-
morrow. -Although the government has
banned .any mass demonstration, Wessin's
supporters have Called for. "a: large,
enthusiastic .and orderly Welcome."
Wessin, who claims he 'will not engage
in conspiratorial activity,:will pose
no immediate danger to President Balaguer, but some of his backers seem
sure to try to involve him in intrigue.
6. Venezuela
Bickering is on the rise in Caracas
as the high command hunts for scapegoats
for the Guyana insurrection fiasco.
Along with the inauguration of a new
president in March, this could produce
a major shakeup in the military hierarchy.
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ANNEX
Soviet SST Has Problems
By getting their supersonic transport into
the air first, the Soviets have stolen a propaganda
march on the West. We doubt that buyers will be
flocking to Moscow, however, and the plane could
turn out to be a real lemon.
suggests that its
range will probably be no greater than 2,500 miles,
rather than the 3,500 miles claimed by the Soviets.
This means it cannot fly the major transatlantic
routes. It could reach European capitals from Mos-
cow, but only if sonic-boom problems are ignored
or somehow alleviated. Thus there is a possibility
that the plane will be restricted to flights in the
Soviet Union and to international routes,which do
not touch countries that have stringent noise and
safety regulations.
Like the Anglo-French Concorde, which it re-
sembles, the Soviet aircraft has run into weight
and wing-design problems. Because of these and
other difficulties, one Soviet scientist recently
admitted that it would probably not go into service
before 1972 or 1973, notwithstanding Moscow's claim
of 1970 or 1971.
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FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
1.) Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
2.) North Vietnamese Reflections of US
Political Attitudes
Top Secret
16
11 January 1969
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
11 January 1969
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
Notes from Hanoi: In a late December summary
--Ho Chi Minh was looking older when observed
by a Frenchman at the 20 December National Libera-
tion Front anniversary meeting. However, he per-
formed his Uncle Ho act, placing his arms around
the young fighters from the South who were intro-
duced to the meeting. On Army Day, two days later,
he appeared to tire and left the proceedings short-
ly after presenting two flowers from a bouquet to
Giap and the remainder to the conductor of the band.
--Groups of the People's Defense militia
paraded in Hanoi on Army Day and, despite a week's
marching practice, the results were unimpressive.
One section of about 12 persons was armed with rifles
or submachine guns; true to Vietnamese feminist tra-
dition, most of this belligerent section were women.
The other sections had fairly primitive equipment.
The rescuers carried long wooden ladders, the fire-
fighters a red painted tin bathtub, homemade buckets
and stirrup pumps, and the first aid persons little
but a folding stretcher. According to a local Viet-
namese source, these groups are organized in each
district and factory, and there are 100 to 200 such
groups in Hanoi.
--Plowing for the winter-spring rice crop is
behind schedule, according to the local press. A
French observer on a recent trip to the western
Tonkin Delta was surprised to see no plowing going
on. Another problem, according to the press, is
that 'unseasonably warm weather has made the young
rice grow too rapidly, thus reaching the optimum
size for setting out in the fields before the ground
can be prepared.
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--Christmas Eve in Hanoi .saw .a filled cathedral
for the midnight mass; the square in front was
thronged with people. The number of people in the
streets, which normally would be deserted after 11 P.m.,
was also striking.
.Views of Vietnamese Communist Representatives:
The two Vietnamese Communist representatives in Al-
geria--Hanoi's ambassador and the Liberation Front
Both stated
representative--took a hard line on negotiations___
categorically that the present Saigon government
would have to go before any progress could be made in
Paris. They also voiced the.hope that the US would
move to replace the Thieu government with individuals
outside Saigon military circles. Like other Commu-
nist ?spokesmen, the Vietnamese indicated that Hanoi
intended to ask for reparations for bomb damage to
help rebuild the country.
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Shipping:
an East German ship will be loaded
in Gdynia and depart for Haiphong in February. It
is owned by an East German shipping line reported
to be starting a shipping service to the Far East.
This will be the first ?East German merchant ship
in the Far East since 1965.
II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
There is nothing of significance to report today.
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Top Secret
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