THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 7 MARCH 1969

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005976657
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 23
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: March 7, 1969

Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/18 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006900040001-7
The President's Daily Brief
7 March 1969
14
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
8 March 1969
LATE NOTES FOR THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF OF
7 MARCH 1969
I. MAJOR PROBLEMS
MIDDLE EAST
Tel Aviv announced today that four Egyptian MIGs overflew
the Sinai Peninsula this morning and that one of them had been
shot down.
EUROPE
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FOR THE PRESIDEN'T ONLY
SOVIET AFFAIRS
There is nothing significant to report.
VIETNAM
Communist forces attacked US positions in Tay Ninh and
Binh Long provinces north and northwest of Saigon during the
night of 7-8 March. (
Indications of impend-
ing Communist action in other areas continue to accumulate.
II. OTHER IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS
SOVIET UNION - COMMUNIST CHINA
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MAJOR PROBLEMS
MIDDLE EAST
The police chief in Jerusalem told the press Wednes-
day that the Israelis have rounded up about 80 suspected
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. .
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
terrorists. All of them, he said, are residents of Is-
raeli-occupied territory, including Gaza and Jerusalem.
He also showed the reporters enough munitions "to blow
up half of Jerusalem."
When the Israelis uncover a ring such as this, the
main sufferers usually are the relatives of those ar-
rested. The press indicates that Israeli authorities
have in fact begun the destruction of the suspects' houses.
EUROPE
Kurt Birrenbach, the highly respected leader of West
German public opinion, sought out Chara Fessenden Thurs-
day to reiterate his belief that there is no alternative
for Europe other than integration and that President de
Gaulle's views are anathema to European unity. He fears
that even French policy toward the Middle East is really
designed to further the general's European theories by
building up France as the spokesman for continental Europe
among "the big four."
SOVIET AFFAIRS
Most of the Soviet troops deployed west of Berlin have
returned to their garrisons. These moves caused a further
2
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?
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
closing of the Berlin-Helmstedt autobahn for three hours
today. When an American officer protested to the Soviet
checkpoint commander, the latter commented that the auto-
bahn "will not be closed long. Over-all it won't be go-
ing on much longer."
VIETNAM
President Thieu's reflections on Communist intentions
in his conversation with Ambassador. Bunker on 6 March
seem both realistic and persuasive. In particular, we
agree with his suggestion that the Communists may be try-
ing to erode the basis of the "understanding" on the bomb-
ing halt in the hope of some further horse-trading which
might curb US military operations in South Vietnam.
It would be a crude maneuver for the Communists to
attempt to trade off a cessation of attacks on cities for
a halt to some specific US military actions, such as B-52
raids. Nonetheless, this may well be the direction in
which they are heading. The Front's press spokesman in
Paris came close to making this point yesterday when he
said, in response to questions about Communist shellings
and terrorist attacks, that "no agreement was reached with
the US to end the war."
A North Vietnamese spokesman in Paris addressed him-
self today to the possibility of retaliatory air strikes
against North Vietnam. He told the press that the Communists
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