THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 22 FEBRUARY 1971

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005992493
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: February 22, 1971

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The President's Daily Brief
22 February 1971
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THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
22 February 1971
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
Weekend developments associated with the South Viet-
namese cross-border operation into Laos are summa-
rized on Page 1.
The military situation in northern Laos is discussed
on Page 2.
North Vietnam's top leaders have become personally
involved in fresh efforts to mobilize more men for
military duty. (Page 3)
The status of Soviet ships in the Caribbean is noted
on Page 6.
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VIETNAM-LAOS
Sustained Communist pressure over several days
has forced a South Vietnamese battalion to withdraw
from a position in the mountainous terrain north of
Route 9 between Tchepone and the South Vietnamese
border. Precise casualty figures from this action
are not yet available, but US aerial observers es-
timate that the North Vietnamese lost more than 600
troops killed.
Several regiments from North Vietnam re-
cently have reinforced the enemy in this
area and the Communists apparently intend
to challenge the right flank of the South
Vietnamese drive toward Tchepone. Over
the weekend there were signs
that elements of yet
regiment from the 308th Division
arrived in this area.
another
may have
Southeast of Tchepone the North Vietnamese
launched a sharp ground attack on 20 February against
South Vietnamese forces who are attempting to ob-
struct the most important routes in the enemy's
Laotian road system.
The North Vietnamese appear to be moving
a forward command post from the 324B Di-
vision into this area to oversee the op-
erations of three recently arrived regi-
ments, and the enemy is likely to inten-
sify its efforts to protect this road
network.
Intercepted messages from North Vietnamese
logistics units covering the period through: 19 Feb-
ruary indicate that supplies were still moving
through the area adjacent to Tchepone, but that
some' difficulties were beginning to develop farther
to the southeast along the key Route 914,-92-922
complex. One message said that North Vietnamese
units near the town of Muong Nong had not. received
needed supplies and anticipated a difficult time
dealing with the "enemy" if the shipment did not
arrive.
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----/Samneu
uang Prabang
Boeam Lon71
go
Sala Pho
Kboun
Muong Soul
Enemy shelli g continues
Corn u?nist Ban Na,?
probes
Sam Tha Tam Bleu
Thofig
(
Xieng'Khouangvill_v NORTH
VIETNAM
I
THAILAND
*Government:held location
0 Communist-held location
THAILAND
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LAOS
The Communists continued to nibble away
over the weekend at government strong-
points commanding the approaches to Long
Tieng.
North Vietnamese forces have overrun four Lao
irregular outposts in the vicinity of Tha Tam Bleung.
The outposts were garrisoned by elements of two guer-
rilla battalions which withdrew to the southwest
after sustaining casualties of eight killed and 25
wounded. The irregular base at Tha Tam Bleung it-
self was subjected to enemy ground probes.
Ban Na, under strong pressure from elements of
the North Vietnamese 312th Division, was shelled on
at least a dozen occasions during the weekend.
Small-scale ground clashes occurred around its de-
fensive perimeter as well as around the nearby base
at Sam Thong. Despite the intensity of enemy shell-
ing, the airstrip at Ban Na has been reopened, and
medical evacuation and resupply missions are once
again under way.
Near Long- Tieng, government irregulars have
beaten back several small-scale ground probes against
outposts within a mile of yang Pao's headquarters.
Intercepts indicate, however, that some elements of
the major Communist-units-threatening Long Tieng--
the NVA 316th Division and NVA 266th Independent
Regiment--edged closer to the base during- the week-
end. Early this morning in Long Tieng, a light:
rocket attack cut main power lines causing a tem-
porary blackout.
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NORTH VIETNAM
The Communist Party central committee has con-
vened a conference to review the regime's efforts
to mobilize more women for tasks on the home front.
A Radio Hanoi announcement of 18 February left a
clear, impression that the mobilization is designed
to free more men for military duty. Party head Le
Duan and Premier Pham Van Dong addressed the meeting.
Gatherings of this kind aimed at mobilizing
the North Vietnamese masses for one purpose
or another are standard fare, but this one
seems more than an ordinary meeting. The
central committee does not usually sponsor
run-of-the-mill conferences, nor do Hanoi's
top leaders, particularly Le Duan, normally
show up at routine affairs. Moreover, this
high-level, public meeting on manpower oc-
curred shortly after the beginning of the
Laotian operation and only a few weeks
after a central committee plenum that al-
most certainly weighed the possibility of
such an allied move.
An accelerated recruitment and conscription
drive has been under way in North Vietnam
for several months. This meeting may sig-
nal a period of even more intense manpower
mobilization for the front lines and for
the home guard.
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CHINA
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CAMBODIA
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NOTES
USSR-Cuba: The Soviet Kresta-class guided-
missile cruiser and the tanker Liepaya arrived yes-
terday in the port of Cienfuegos. The cruiser had
been operating in the Gulf of Mexico since leaving
Havana on 15 February. U-2 photography
shows the Soviet submarine tender and
the N-class nuclear-powered attack submarine still?
moored in the naval basin near Cayo Alcatraz in
Cienfuegos Bay. The two nuclear submarine support
barges are still tied up at the Cuban naval base at
Cienfuegos.
Burma:
6
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