THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 12 MARCH 1970

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005977344
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: March 12, 1970

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The President's Daily Brief
12 March 1970
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THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
12 March 1970
PRINCPAL DEVELOPMENTS
Prince Sihanouk has cut short his sojourn abroad
following the anti-Vietnamese demonstrations in
Phnom Penh. (Page 1)
?The North Vietnamese
(Page 2)
We have nothing to confirm press rumors of a chal-
lenge to the leadership of Brezhnev and Kosygin,
although they doubtless must come in for their share
of the blame for the economic ills that have been
troubling the regime. (Page 3)
An important policy statement by Australian Defense
Minister Fraser is assessed on Page 4.
The Panamanians
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CAMBODIA
Prince Sihanouk is returning to Cambodia, pre-
sumably to reassert his authority in the wake of the
anti-Vietnamese demonstrations in Phnom Penh. In
announcing his decision to cut short his sojourn
abroad, Sihanouk said he will call for a referendum
asking the people and the army to choose between him-
self and "those personalities" who organized the at-
tacks on the Vietnamese Communist embassies. He
threatened to step down if he lost the referendum.
Sihanouk has used such threats before to
quiet domestic criticism, but the decision
to come home is a clear sign he interprets
recent events as a strong challenge to his
authority. The Prince and his cabinet have
seemed to be working at cross purposes for
some time. The anti-Vietnamese demonstra-
tions, however, represent the first overt
attempt on the government's part to under-
mine Sihanouk's foreign policy. Although
Sihanouk has criticized Vietnamese Commu-
nist activities in Cambodia, he has taken
some care not to push the Communists too
far.
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VIETNAM
The Communists continue the high priority ship-
ment?of supplies through the Laos panhandle.
We still are inclined to believe that the
Communists' main purpose is to replenish
stockpiles, drawn down because of last sum-
mer's very limited shipments through the
panhandle and because of Cambodia's embargo
on supplies for Communist forces in South
Vietnam. We would expect the Communists
to get as much down to South Vietnam as
they can before the heavy summer rains be-
gin.
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SOVIET UNION
Reuters Vienna cites rumors out of Belgrade and
Prague that Brezhnev and Kosygin have been accused
by three Politburo colleagues--Suslov, Shelepin, and
Mazurov--of failing to meet Russian economic needs
in several key sectors. The accusation is said to
be embodied in a document the three have circulated
for discussion at a forthcoming central committee
meeting.
We have no evidence to confirm or deny this
story. There has clearly been no coup
within the top leadership. Brezhnev still
seems to be exercising the authority of
General Secretary, although he has made
few public appearances of late. At his
most recent appearance on 4 March, he gave
every indication of being in command. Ko-
sygin has also been attending public func-
tions and Suslov has apparently been on
vacation since mid-February. r
While some of the details of this report
present a rather unlikely scenario, there
have been more than the usual signs of
political tensions in the Kremlin recently.
Recriminations over economic shortcomings
appear to be on the rise and critical pol-
icy debates within the leadership are quite
possible.
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AUSTRALIA
Defense Minister Malcolm Fraser, in .a policy
speech to parliament Tuesday, reconfirmed and broad-
ened Australia's commitment to regional defense.
Stressing Australia's responsibility and self-reli-
ance, Fraser said that, within the limits of its re-
sources, Australian military capability must be pre-
pared both for direct defense of Australia and for
deployment in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean.
Fraser described British withdrawal as "irrever-
sible" and expressed understanding and acceptance of
the Nixon doctrine.
He said Australia would strive for compatibility
of weapons and equipment with the US and New Zealand.
This is the most comprehensive defense pol-
icy statement the government has offered
in recent years. In addition to the chang-
ing international scene, there are good
domestic political reasons for the govern-
ment to have taken the stand it has on de-
fense policy. It faces elections, later
this year in the Senate where its majority
depends on the small but strongly anti-
Communist Democratic Labor Party, which
has been advocating greater defense pre-
paredness independent of the American al-
liance. Moreover, defense policy seems
to be the one issue on which the govern-
ment, with Democratic Labor support, may
still be able to defeat the rejuvenated
opposition Labor Party.
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EGYPT- ISRAEL
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NOTES
Panama: General Torrijos is pressuring the US
to obtain the extradition of Hildebrando Nicosia--
top aide of deposed president Arias. Nicosia sought
asylum in the Canal Zone on 28 February after unsuc-
cessfully trying to organize a coup on behalf of
Arias./
Torrijos pur-
ports to regard failure to extradite Nicosia as con-
firmation of his suspicion of US complicity in the
plot.
Guatemala:
Cyprus:
(continued)
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Italy: Former premier Aldo Moro has told Presi-
dent Saragat that he has decided not to try forming
a new government, and it now appears that Saragat
will turn to another former premier, Amintore Fanfani.
Fanfani would presumably try to form an all Christian
Democratic government. His decision whether to ac-
cept such a mandate will probably be heavily influ-
enced by his assessment of what effect this would
have on his chances for the presidency next year.
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