THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 18 APRIL 1969

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005976730
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: April 18, 1969

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The President's Daily Brief
18 April 1969
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FOR THE PRESID1 NT ON LY
19 April 1969
LATE NOTES FOR THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF OF
18 APRIL 1969
MAJOR PROBLEMS
SOVIET AFFAIRS
Czechoslovakia remained quiet through the night.
There is nothing significant to report on Europe, Vietnam,
or the Middle East.
II. OTHER IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS
KOREA
The North Koreans have not yet commented directly on
President Nixon's announcement that reconnaissance flights
will be resumed with adequate protection. A Pyongyang domes-
tic broadcast last night, however, pledged that the Korean
people "will in the future, too, mete out severe punishment
to aggressors who infringe upon the sovereignty of our coun-
try."
We have observed no indications that North Korean forces
are preparing for offensive action.
(ConLral futelligence Bulletin, 39 Apr)
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South Korea has not yet commented officially on the
President's press conference, but the first unofficial re-
actions are mixed.
gence Bulletin, 19 Apr)
\ (Central Intelli-
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MAJOR PROBLEMS
MIDDLE EAST
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EUROPE
Franz-Josef Strauss tried a variation or two on
some old themes in his talk yesterday with the US
charge. The subject was the nonproliferation treaty,
and Strauss warned that Chancellor Kiesinger would be
provoking a crisis in the Grand Coalition if he tried
to force a decision on the signing of the NPT. He
left the charge with the impression that he might re-
sign or otherwise provoke a crisis to prevent the
treaty's signature. Moreover, Strauss added, he did
not think the Nixon administration attached as much
urgency to West German signature of the treaty as its
precedessor had.
The cabinet will meet Wednesday in Bonn, and we
assume the NPT will be one of the topics. Given Kies-
inger's tendency to temporize on any issue when he
lacks a consensus, Strauss probably could indeed
force a further extension of the decision-making
process kkremaining intransigent. And a decision
will be progressively harder to reach as next fall's
elections come closer. One high-ranking German offi-
cial, in fact, told the charge today that he thought
WestGermany? probably would not sign the treaty before
the elections. The thoughts Strauss expressed to the
charge strongly suggest he thinks he has a good hand
on this issue and will play it to the hilt.
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Strauss' comments on the US administration's atti-
tude are something of a comedown from his previous pro-
nouncements. Initially he tried to draw parallels be-
tween his opposition to the treaty and the Nixon ad-
ministration's allegedly reserved attitude. Since the
US Senate's ratification, he has been reduced to an as-
sertion that the administration is lukewarm about West
German adherence.
SOVIET AFFAIRS
Prague has been calm today. Strong security forces,
including some military units, continue to patrol the
city.
Dubcek will become president of the National Assem-
bly. While this announcement obviously, was intended to
take some of the sting out of his demotion, it looks like
another step down the road to political oblivion.
Gustav Husak, the new party first secretary, moved
quickly toward silencing what dissident notes linger in
the press by naming a pro-Soviet conservative as editor-
in-chief of the main party newspaper.
Brezhnev has sent his congratulations to Husak and
Soviet President Podgorny told Ambassador Beam that the
Czechoslovak plenum had "initiated steps" which would be
satisfactory "to the whole world."
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VIETNAM
There are tenuous indications in communications in-
tercepts that the flow of new infiltration groups from
North Vietnam may resume in the near future. Some mes7
sage traffic suggests that a period of refurbishment
within the infiltration pipeline may be drawing
close, and an incomplete
to a
report notes the detec-
the North
tion of a possible new group on the move within
Vietnamese panhandle.
Fragmentary reports intercepted during the past
month have indicated that some of the stations along the
infiltration route in North Vietnam and Laos were being
relocated or were improving their facilities. These re-
locations were relatively minor and were usually de-
scribed as being "within 45 minutes or less"--prespmably
of walking time--from the original site. It is possible
that movements of this sort are undertaken periodically
by infiltration stations for reasons of security, con-
cealment, or sanitation.
Coincident with this possible improvement effort
within the infiltration pipeline has been the absence of
reports indicating that new units were being dispatched
from North Vietnam. No reliable evidence of fresh troop
deployments has been received since 22 March. We think
it unlikely that the Communists have instituted some new
communications system which is masking the formation of
infiltrator groups in North Vietnam.
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The most probable explanation for the failure to
detect any new units in the past four weeks is that the
Communists have temporarily satisfied their troop re-
quirements in the South and have instituted a standdown
in new infiltration in order to refurbish the heavily
used facilities along the trails from North Vietnam. If
the enemy intends to renew large-scale offensive activity
in South Vietnam early this summer, as is suggested by
a growing body of evidence, it is likely that the deploy-
ment of new manpower from North Vietnam will soon be
resumed.
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OTHER IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS
COMMUNIST CHINA
The ninth party congress has now been meeting for
nearly three weeks, but Peking has still divulged precious
little about what is going on. The "interim" communique
issued on 14 April said the first two items on the agenda--
adoption Of a new party constitution and endorsement of a
"political report" by Mao's heir, Lin Piao--had been ap-
proved unanimously. However, no speeches delivered at the
congress were made public.
The communique also announced that discussion of the
third and final item on the agenda, the election of a new
central committee, was to begin on 15 April. This is per-
haps the most important and controversial matter before
the congress. It may well be that the session has bogged
down on the issue. Earlier, there had been numerous signs
that the congress was to have finished its'work before the
middle of the month.
We expect to get a better line on developments at the
congress after it adjourns, when at least some material,
including the new constitution, a version of Lin's speech,
and the new central committee list will amost certainly
be published.
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Top Secret
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