THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 3 JANUARY 1970

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005977226
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: January 3, 1970

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Declassified n Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP79T00936A007900020001-8
The President's Daily Brief
3 January 1970
48
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP79T00936A007900020001-8
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
3 January 1970
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
The Chinese road building project in northwestern
Laos has been bombed by Lao Government aircraft for
the first time. (Page 1)
Nationalist Chinese
(Page 2)
Thai Foreign Minister Thanat is voicing Bangkok's
apprehensions over the future US role in Southeast
Asia and questioning the future value of SEATO.
(Page 3)
Israel's raid into Lebanon last night will put
strong pressure on the Lebanese cabinet to remove
what restraints remain on fedayeen activity in the
country. (Page 4)
Some thoughts on a recent theoretical Soviet policy
document released on the occasion of Lenin's 100th
birthday. (Page 5)
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP79T00936A007900020001-8
AREA CHINA
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
LAOS
The Chinese road building project in northwest-
ern Laos has been bombed for the first time. Ambas-
sador Godley reports that two Laotian fighters bombed
a group of trucks yesterday while providing close air,
support for Lao Government guerrillas operating near
the construction activity. The Lao pilots claim they
attacked in retaliation after coming under heavy anti-
aircraft fire. They reported leaving ten trucks burn-
ing.
Prime Minister Souvanna is well aware of
the US opposition to any military operation
against the road building project at this
time; his government and the King have en-
dorsed the US position, but some Lao mili-
tary leaders have been unhappy over this
hands-off policy and may have been respon-
sible for the attack. Up to now Chinese
diplomats have consistently denied any Chi-
nese involvement in the current road con-
struction--a position which will make a
public protest by Peking difficult.
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
NATIONALIST CHINA
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
THAILAND
Foreign Minister Thanat has implied to a number
of Asian and US diplomats that he interprets the re-
cent passage of the Church Amendment to the Defense
Appropriation Bill as virtually the final blow to
Thailand's reliance on SEATO. )
Although some other leaders share Thanat's
pessimism, there apparently is little se-
rious consideration given to reducing
Bangkok's participation in SEATO.
Whatever doubts Thai leaders may have over
the dependability of Washington's reassur-
ances on mutual defense matters, SEATO
provides the only legal basis for the US-
Thai military relationship in Southeast
Asia that Bangkok wants to preserve.
3
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
ISRAEL-LEBANON
. Israel's raid into Lebanon last night and the
taking of 21 Lebanese Army and civilian prisoners
came in the wake of stern new Israeli warnings of
retaliation against Beirut for Lebanon-based fedayeen
activity. The number of incidents along the border
has been increasing despite the Lebanese Government's
efforts to restrain the fedayeen, and Tel Aviv was
particularly incensed by the kidnaping of an Israeli
civilian on 31 December.
Israel's taking of Lebanese rather than
fedayeen prisoners is in Zine with Tel
Aviv's long-standing policy of holding
the host government responsible for acts
occurring on its territory, a policy that
may have legal merit but which has proved
ineffective in curbing fedayeen activity.
The public outcry in Lebanon resulting
from Israel's action will put strong pres-
sure on the Lebanese cabinet to remove
what restraints remain on fedayeen activ-
ity. Moreover, the Lebanese Army, the
main instrument for keeping the fedayeen
in check, may now find it has a common
cause with them.
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP79T00936A007900020001-8
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP79T00936A007900020001-8
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
USSR
Next April marks the 100th birthday of Lenin
and Soviet party theorists are busy preparing the
groundwork for a major celebration. The Centennial
was officially launched on 23 December with the pub-
lication of Soviet party theses that reaffirmed all
Soviet policies since 1917 and reasserted Moscow's
claim to leadership of the world Communist movement.
The document condemned "liberalized socialism" and
nationalism and warned that these deviations from
Communist orthodoxy threaten the basic principles
of Communism. The theses repeated the now standard
formulation that Soviet economic achievements would
have been even greater but for the need "to allocate
great resources for defense." Other domestic con-
cerns were referred to in vaguely optimistic tones
but with little sense of future direction.
Except for brief jabs at "US imperialism" and
"West German revanchism," the theses did not crit-
icize any country by name. Implicitly, however, they
attacked various trends in other Communist countries,
including Yugoslavia's more liberal form of socialism
and China's Maoist policies. On the other hand, ben-
efits to be derived from increasing "political and
economic cohesion" of Communist countries are heavily
emphasized.
The authors of the theses are anonymous,
but it is obviously an ex cathedra perform-
ance. The document offers the orthodoxy
of the past as a guideline to the future
and is intended to provide the ideological
setting for the Centennial.
The implicit criticism of other Communist
parties should not in itself trigger new
polemic exchanges. Moscow's insistence
that all must follow the Soviet pattern,
however, will cause uneasiness in Eastern
Europe and among some of the Western Eu-
ropean Communist parties.
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
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Top Secret
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