THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 27 MAY 1970

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005977476
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: May 27, 1970

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The President's Daily Brief
27 May 1970
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
27 May 1970
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
The latest military developments in Cambodia are
outlined on Page 1.
The Israelis carried out another "preventive patrol"
into Lebanon yesterday. (Page 3)
French policy in the Mediterranean
Page 4.
In Saigon
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North Vietnamese infiltrators have been ordered to
resume their march to the COSVN region after having
been held up in the Laos panhandle. (Page 6)
The new Chinese aid agreement announced by Hanoi
yesterday probably will not be much different than
last year's. (Page 6)
The Soviets
(Page 6)
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Cambodia: Current Situation
.kttopeu
a
414'attambang
Senmonoro
'iek Kai&
pang Cha
,eL hhlong
Phnom Penh
algon .?
ETNAM
0 Government-controlled location
o Communist-controlled location
Communist-controlled '
///// Contested or under Communist
influence
CHINA SEA
MILES
98658 5-70 CIA
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CAMBODIA
A recent intercept indicates Communist forces
are preparing to attack another provincial capital,
this time Kompong Thom, an important town between
the Mekong River and the rice growing areas to the
west. An unidentified Vietnamese Communist unit
informed a subordinate unit in the message that two
battalions, including a sapper unit, will reconnoiter
and then attack the town. Although no exact date
is given for the attack, the message's recipient is
to join the sapper unit in the southeastern corner
of the province on 28 May.
The Communists have been increasingly ac-
tive in this area over the past two weeks,
attacking a district headquarters some
ten miles from Kompong Thom on 24 and 25
May. Government reinforcements are moving
into the area.
The Communists' thrust toward Kompong Thom
is being mounted from an area near the Prek
Kak rubber plantation in northern Kompong
Cham Province, businessmen who
visited the plantation yesterday reported
seeing a large number of Vietnamese troops
there.
Cambodian Army messages continue to ex-
press concern over Communist infiltration
in Kompong Thom. The government is in-
creasing its patrol activities on the edge
of the Tonle Sap Lake, probably in order
to prevent infiltrators from contacting
large numbers of Vietnamese villagers
there.
In the northeast, the Communists continue to
work toward development of a secure base area. Ele-
ments of a North Vietnamese regiment are now engaged
in supply operations in Stung Treng Province. One
message indicated that Communist troops were driving
supply trucks between Siem Pang and Stung Treng
towns. In Ratanakiri Province, government defenders
at Lomphat reported on 25 May that the local air-
field "is no longer in friendly hands," as the Commu-
nists continue to close in.
(continued)
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In the countryside southeast of Phnom Penh, Com-
munist forces are reported to be regrouping in vil-
lages in the center of Kampot Province, in order to
avoid South Vietnamese border operations. Cambodian
messages assert that villagers have been defecting
to the Communists and are performing supply and in-
telligence-gathering tasks for them.
Earlier reports had suggested that the Com-
munists were making considerable progress
among the population in this area; thus
far, there has been little military action.
There have been reports that Cambodian vil-
lagers in other areas were also helping
the Communists or joining hastily organized
guerrilla bands. It is not clear how wide-
spread such defections have been or whether
they represent more than the accommodation
of villagers to the presence of Communist
troops./
the Vietnamese Commu-
nists are placing considerable emphasis on
building an indigenous Cambodian guerrilla
apparatus.
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ISRAEL-LEBANON
Israeli troops carried out another "preventive
patrol" into Lebanon yesterday. General Gur, the
Israeli commander in this sector, made public Is-
rael's intention to carry out these patrols indefi-
nitely. Gur said this new policing policy not only
would protect Israeli settlements along the border,
but might stop the exodus of Lebanese villagers on
the other side of the frontier.
In Tel Aviv, Israeli officials are taking the
line with our embassy that the patrols will make
only "shallow" penetrations across the border to ob-
serve and to seek out and destroy fedayeen concen-
trations. Israeli forces will not seek clashes with
the Lebanese Army, nor will they interfere with Leb-
anese villagers.
In Lebanon, labor, religious, political, and
Palestinian leaders led a nationwide strike demand-
ing stronger military measures against Israel. The
? strike, proclaimed "98 percent effective" by its
leaders, closed schools and shops, and forced a
three-hour shutdown of Beirut International Airport.
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FRANCE
The French continue to devote consider-
able attention to the Mediterranean, but
they are showing little of their hand to
the US. They rarely discuss the subject
with Amerfican officials.
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SOUTH VIETNAM
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NOTES
North Vietnam: On 25 May, a. major infiltration
station in the Lao panhandle passed a message stating
that "according to orders from headquarters, all
groups going to the COSVN region are to be sent out
immedilately." These orders end a two-week holdup
of groups already in the pipeline, caused by allied
cross-border operations. This delay has affected to
some degree all of the 12,000 North Vietnamese ex-
pected to arrive in the COSVN region during the
months of May, June, and July.
Communist China - North Vietnam: Hanoi an-
nounced a new Chinese aid program yesterday which
probably will not be much different from last year's
$105 million worth of military aid and $90 million
worth of economic aid. The announcement gave no de-
tails, and we are aware of only one new factor: in
the past, the Chinese have satisfied only short-range
economic needs, but recent visits by Chinese techni-
cians to North Vietnam suggest that Peking might be
offering assistance in rebuilding some large indus-
trial projects.
USSR:
Japan-Okinawa: The left is exploiting the ap-
parent delay in removing chemical weapons from Oki-
nawa in an effort to revive its flagging campaign
against renewal of the US-Japan mutual security
treaty. The issue is apt to embarrass the Sato gov-
ernment if further delays are encountered.
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Top Secret
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