THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 12 FEBRUARY 1971

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005992475
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: February 12, 1971

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The President's Daily Brief
12 February 1971
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THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
12 February 19/1
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
The Soviets are conducting initial tests of new de-
fensive system components at Sary Shagan. (Page 1)
? In eastern Laos, enemy resistance remains modest,
but strong counterattacks are being planned and ad-
ditional North Vietnamese reinforcements have arrived.
(Page 2)
Cambodia's difficulties in moving surplus rice for
export are worsening. (Page 3)
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The Laotian Government today announced a country-
wide state of emergency. (Page 5)
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USSR
The Soviets are conducting initial tests of new de-
fensive system components at the Sary Shagan missile
test range. Recent satellite photography of one of
the two launch sites at a new ABM facility there
showed burn scars at one launcher and a canister
similar to the one used for the Galosh ABM at an-
other launcher./
New launchers, much
smaller than-those.used..for Galosh,. have been em-
placed -at the Second launch site, but are notyet
in?use.-
Near the second launch site a new radar has been
assembled some time during the last six months.
The new radar has two antennas, and possibly a
third, one of which may be a square phased array.
Its size is sufficient to suggest that it could
track incoming ballistic missile warheads and pro-
vide guidance for ABM interceptors during an en-
gagement.
It is too early to say exactly what kind of system
the Soviets are developing and what its capabili-
ties will be. The Soviets may be developing a sys-
tem having ABM capabilities that does not require
large missile site radars which take years to con-
struct. Whether these new radar and missile com-
ponents will be able to function independently of
Zarge, long-range acquisition and tracking radars
like Dog House or whether they will be integrated
into the Moscow ABM system is not yet known.
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VIETNAM-LAOS
Enemy resistance in eastern Laos is still modest,
but strong counterattacks appear imminent. Accord-
ing to an intercept the North Vietnamese 64th Regi-
ment plans to mount a series of coordinated tank-
infantry attacks on an ARVN concentration about mid-
way between Tchepone and the border. Other Commu-
nist forces evidently will continue to harass ARVN
columns and strongpoints.
Additional North Vietnamese troops have arrived on
the scene. Wednesday. the 88th Regiment of the 308th
Division was located astride the South Vietnam - Laos
border northwest of Khe Sanh; six days earlier it had
been 35 miles to the northeast in North Vietnam. En-
emy units also continue to strengthen their defenses
to the west of Tchepone.
The Communists have continued to move large amounts
of supplies south through the Laotian panhandle and
to combat units in eastern Laos. A unit south of
the Ban Karai Pass reported in mid-week that 75 ve-
hicles, capable of carrying 300 tons of supplies,
had passed through. Binh Tram 33 just south of
Tchepone reported achieving 86 percent of its task--
presumably the "crash" logistics effort that began
in that sector on Sunday. Most resupply has involved
munitions, sometimes double and triple the normal
amount.
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CAMBODIA
Cambodia's difficulties in trying to move its
surplus rice to the ports of Phnom Penh and Kompong
Som (SihanoukVille) are growing worse asthe war
continues. In the northern province of Battambang,
which normally accounts for half of the country's
rice exports, warehouses are overflowing with last
year's crop even as a large new crop is being
gathered. Transport costs from BattaMbang to Phnom
Penh have increased fivefold since March, princi-
pally because of Communist harassment of road and
rail lines, truck shortages, and general insecurity.
Even When the rice reaches the capital, the avail-
ability of shipping has been reduced by Communist -
harassment Along the Mekong.
The Cambodian Government is especially
eager to avoid defaulting on. its export
commitments abroad and thus forfeit badly
needed foreign exchange, as happened last
year. Rice exports in 1970 totaled only
about 180,000 tons, or 40 percent of an-
ticipated sales before the war intensified.
Unless the security of transportation can
be improved substantially, however, the
war's impact on Cambodia's exports this
year will be even more disastrous than in
1970.
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SOUTH VIETNAM
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NOTES
Laos: The government today announced a state
of emergency throughout the country. Its communique
referred to the South Vietnamese penetration in south-
ern Laos, but attributed this to continued North Viet-
namese violations of the Geneva accords. No mention
was made of any general mobilization order, which
the Laotian National Security Council had also recom-
mended to the cabinet as reported in yesterday's
Daily Brief.
Jordan: Steady army pressure to clear Amman
of fedayeen resulted yesterday in an armed clash
near the city's airport and new fighting broke` out
today, according to press reports. In a house-to-
house search for arms public security forces claim
to have found large quantities of explosives and
weapons, including rockets aimed at the airport.
Because of yesterday's incident fedayeen leaders
are said to have reissued weapons collected from
their undisciplined militia following the truce last
month, and gun battles may again occur frequently.
The fedayeen nevertheless seem incapable of any sus-
tained resistance to the army.
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