THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 6 MARCH 1969

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005976655
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 16
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: March 6, 1969

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The President's Daily Brief
6 March 1969
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
7 March 1969
LATE NOTES FOR THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF OF
6 MARCH 1969
I. MAJOR PROBLEMS
MIDDLE EAST
There is nothing significant to report.
EUROPE
There is nothing significant to report.
SOVIET AFFAIRS
The major Soviet newspapers carried a TASS item on
Thursday summarizing President Nixon's press conference
of 4 March. The article quotes the President on "new
confidence and faith" between the US and its European
allies, appending the President's disclaimer about ex-
pecting major results from exchanges of diplomatic
niceties at the highest level. President Nixon's
stress on US support for NATO was also brought out.
On US-Soviet relations, TASS paraphrases the Presi-
dent's statement that possibilities exist for bilateral
negotiations limiting strategic weapons as well as on
other problems. The article also notes the President's
comment that the European trip was in preparation for an
East-West summit meeting.
Embassy Moscow comments that while Soviet coverage
of the press conference is highly selective, treatment
of those portions presented is factual, continuing the
neutral trend of Soviet reporting of the President's for-
eign policy pronouncements. Moscow is undoubtedly pleased
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
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to be able to show that, although the President reaffirmed
US support for NATO, another reason for his trip was to
prepare the groundwork for a top-level meeting with the
Soviets.,
The Helmstedt-Berlin autobahn has been open since
1200 EST yesterday.
VIETNAM
Reports overnight say that enemy military action con-
tinues at a relatively low level.
II. OTHER IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS
There is nothing significant to report.
2
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I. MAJOR PROBLEMS
MIDDLE EAST
We understand that the student body at the Hebrew
University in Jerusalem has .a very high percentage of
army veterans. This is yet another reason why the gov-
ernment will feel obliged to take some kind of retalia-
tory action for today's bombing in the university cafe-
teria. Israeli tempers are also getting short once
again because of persistent Egyptian sniping along the
Suez Canal. For a variety of reasons--including Ebants
visit to the US--the Israeli Government however, may
find it politic to postpone any retaliatory measures a
bit longer.
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EUROPE
The French trade union representatives walked out
of the talks with management today., The fear of a p
riod of labOr unrest will distress, already worried
French speculators, and more pressure on the franc
is certain to result.
Gold prices had already risen to record levels in
London and Paris because of fears that the talks would
produce inflationary settlement. The London closing
price today was $43.25 an ounce; in Paris, gold reached
$47.74 an ounce. Despite the existence of extensive
exchange controls, money has been finding its way out
of France, with one report stating that as much as 75
percent of the demand for gold in London comes from
France.
Before the walkout, labor leaders had already
called a general strike for next Tuesday. They learned
the lesson of too much caution last May and are consult-
ing with the rank and file about the extent and duration
of the strike. Some wildcat walkouts have already b
gun.
' Our embassy in Bonn feels that the election yesterday
of Gustav Heinemann as West Germany's next president will
have a beneficial effect on its relations and reputation
abroad. Heinemann's anti-Nazi reputation and his electicin
over, the opposition of the rightist National Democratic
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Party are plusses. The victory actually is a gain in pres-
tige for the entire SPD and should mean votes in the Bunde-
stag elections in September. Finally, Heinemann was sup-
ported throughout the three ballots by the bulk of the Free
Democratic Party electors, which makes a coalition between
the SPD and FDP following the fall election more of a pos-
sibility.
SOVIET AFFAIRS
The excitement in Berlin is probably about oyer. The
military "exercises" that served as a pretext for autobahn
closures seem to be coming to an end. Some Soviet units
which have operated along and across the autobahns west of
Berlin since the first of the week are returning to their
garrisons. Their movements were used again today to justify
intermittent autobahn closures.
Soviet air activity was also considerably reduced.
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In their propaganda output this morning,
neither the East Germans nor the Soviets hinted at any fur-
ther countermeasures in the Berlin area.
In a post-mortem on the activities of the last week,
our mission in Berlin concluded that the East Germans obvi-
ously favored taking stronger action but that Moscow appar-
ently decided its interest in talks with the US took prece-
dence over pleasing Ulbricht.
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VIETNAM
The Communists' speeches in Paris today continued the
theme that their military action in South Vietnam is a re-
sponse to allied military pressure and justified on the
basis of "self-defense." The Communists do not say so ex-
but they obviously are trying to leave an impres-
that they are ready to
plicitly,
sion
bargain on the
Madame Binh is
issue of mutual de-escalation. The Front's
quoted by the Western press as saying that
the Front has sought to "de-escalate" the war but that the
US was only intensifying it. This may be a distorted ver-
sion of her remarks, but the idea is implicit in many other
recent Communist statements.
Whether this talk of de-escalation becomes a full-blown
campaign depends in part on how the US moves next and, more
importantly, on what results the Communists can produce
through their military offensive over the next Several weeks.
The current drive could culminate in a "peace campaign" em-
phasizing political action against the Saigon government
and diplomatic pressure on the US to curb allied military
operations.
The Communists will probably stop short of calling
for a cease-fire, but they may well become bolder in sug-
gesting a readiness to scale down their military activity
in return for similar action by the US.
Communist mortar crews in the southern half of the De-
militarized Zone lightly shelled South Vietnamese positions
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106
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in northeastern Quang Tri Province for the fifth straight
day on 5 March. No allied casualties were reported. In
the area just below the central DMZ, captured enemy docu-
ments tend to confirm that elements of the 246th NVA Regiment
are operating south of the zone. It is not clear when or
how the 246th returned to South Vietnam after pulling back
into North Vietnam last summer, although we presume it
crossed over the DMZ. The documents show that the 246th
took part in the heavy attacks on two US Marine bases in
north-central Quang Tri Province on 25 February. Other
North Vietnamese units noted south of the DMZ recently are
the 27th and 138th regiments.
With the exception of the early morning rocket attack
on Saigon, enemy initiated activity on 6 March continued
at the same reduced level as the past few days.
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II. OTHER MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS
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CAMBODIA
Sihanouk made his first public references today
to President Nixon's letter and the possibility of a
rapprochement with the US. Although he did not go into
details on the recent exchange at his press conference
in Phnom Penh, it is clear from his remarks that Sihanouk
has not yet received the President's follow-up to the
letter. He offered, however, to release four recently
captured US military officers if asked to do so by the
President.
7
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Otherwise the tone of Sihanouk's remarks were clearly
defensive and suspicious. He once again accused the US
of mounting daily attacks across the Cambodian border. In
doing so, Sihanouk made his most explicit public admission
that North Vietnamese units are based in northeast Cambodia.
He denied, however, as he has in the past, that the Duck
Bill region in the southeast and other areas, which he said.
were regularly bombed by US planes, were sanctuaries of the
Viet Cong.
8
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Top Secret
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