THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 10 JUNE 1971

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005992689
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: June 10, 1971

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The President's Daily Brief
10 June 1971
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
10 June 1971
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
A recent article in a North Vietnamese party journal
sheds more light on basic aspects of Hanoi's current
thinking on the conduct of the war. (Page 1)
Xuan Thuy's interview on US prisoners is discussed
on Page 2.
Cambodian forces northeast of Phnom Penh are regroup-
ing following the recent heavy attacks by the Commu-
nists. (Page 3)
The-Soyuz 11 mission evidently will last at least
several more days and probably a week Or longer.
(Page 4)
The parliamentary election in Malta is expected to
be very close. (Page 5)
Pakistan
(Page 6)
France is expected to announce soon that its first
IRBM group is operational. (Page 6)
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NORTH VIETNAM
An article published in the January-February issue
of an authoritative Communist party journal, Tuyen
Huan, sheds more light on two basic aspects of
Hanoi's current thinking on the conduct of the war.
One is the relative priority to be attached to pros-
ecuting the war and to developing the home front in
North Vietnam; the other is the kinds of military
tactics that now are suitable for Communist forces,
especially in South Vietnam.
Discussion and policy decisions about both issues
have surfaced periodically during the past decade.
From late 1968 well into last year, most North Viet-
namese statements of this kind tended to argue that
some balance should be struck in the allocation of
resources and energies to the home front and the
war. This article, however, says categorically that
the war is North Vietnam's first order orbusiness.
In one remarkably candid passage, the article says:
"As the great rear area of the three theaters (Viet-
nam, Laos, and Cambodia), North Vietnam has the
primary duty at the present time to seek to mobilize
manpower and materials in order to meet fully and
promptly all of the requirements of the front line...
irrespective of the situation...."
Similarly, military tactics are addressed in terms
the Vietnamese Communists often have used when they
debate the merits of a long, drawn-out struggle as
against intense, large-scale fighting. The article
not only calls for heavier doses of large-scale
fighting involving conventional forces, but also
for "sudden leap-like developments" aimed at quickly
changing the balance of forces, and cites Communist
offensives during Tet 1968 and the spring of 1965
as examples. To make certain that the examples are
applicable to today's war, the article asserts "the
total defeat of 'Vietnamization'...also involves
large leaps to change the balance of forces to the
point where the enemy will not be able to continue
the war."
These ideas probably were formalized as policy at
the party central committee's 19th plenary session
held around the turn of the year. Their appearance
in a party study journal indicates they reflect
agreed Communist policy. The article indicates
that Hanoi intends to raise the level of fighting
in Indochina in the months ahead.
1
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NORTH VIETNAM
Xuan Thuy, North Vietnam's chief delegate in
Paris, told Chalmers Roberts of the Washington Post
that the Communists might be willing to separate
their military and political demands, and thus not
insist on the removal of the present Saigon govern-
ment as part of the price for American prisoners.
But he made clear that simply setting a date for the
withdrawal of US forces would not bring about their
release. Thuy indicated that prisoners would not be
set free until the US is committed not just to the
withdrawal of US troops from Vietnam, but to pulling
out all American military personnel from Indochina--
including advisers and other noncombatants--and ceas-
ing all American military operations against the Com-
munists. He implied strongly that military aid to
the South Vietnamese Government would have to end
too.
The Thuy interview suggests that Hanoi is
not likely to alter soon its basic posi-
tion on prisoners even for propaganda ef-
fect. Thuy made clear once again that the
Communists insist the prisoner question is
a postwar issue that can only be settled
after the US agrees--either by negotiation
or by ending support for the present Sai-
gon government--to resolve the main issue
of political power in South Vietnam to
Hanoi's satisfaction.
2
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Phnom Penh Area
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
CAMBODIA
Government forces northeast of Phnom Penh are
regrouping following the heavy attacks by the Com-
munists two days ago. Most of the Khmer Krom troops
that were hit on 8 June between Vihear Suor and Kam-
pong Chamlang were able to fight their way back to
their staging base at Vihear Suor.
A Cambodian spokesman says these forces will
make another attempt soon to drive through to hard-
pressed government positions at Kampong Chamlang and
Kamponq Ampil./
i' The commander of the Khmer
Krom units on the northeastern battlefield told the
US defense attache yesterday, however, that he is
unable to retake the initiative now because his
troops are low, on ammunition and in need of replace-
ments. He said his units suffered 26 killed and
126 wounded in the fighting on 8 June, a total sub-
stantially lower than initial reports indicated.
Over-all Khmer Krom losses in the current campaign
total 50 -killed and 246 wounded. The commander said
his men's morale nevertheless remained high because
they killed at least 85- of the enemy in Tuesday's
encounter.
The US defense attache reports that a Vietnam-
ese Communist prisoner captured by the Khmer Krom
has told his interrogators that his unit had moved
out of the Chup plantation area with orders to cap-
ture Kampong Chamlang and Kampong Ampil. The pris-
oner said his unit would eventually attack Phnom
Penh.
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
USSR
The current space mission involving Soyw 11 and
the Salyut orbital station evidently will last at
least several more days and probably a week or longer.
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When.the checkout of Salyut is
completed,. the present crew may be.replaced
by another crew for.a longer mission, al-
though there is no sign at present that an-
other Soyuz spacecraft will be launched.
One important aspect of the current mission
is the opportunity it gives the Soviets to
obtain more data on the effects of prolonged
weightlessness on Soviet space crews. The
cosmonauts involved in the 18-day mission
of Soyuz 9 in June 1970--the longest Soviet
space flight to date--suffered severe debil-
itation and other medical problems for at
least ten days after their return. The
Soviets will want to minimize these prob-
lems before sending cosmonauts on missions
of longer duration.
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
MALTA
In the elections for the 55-seat parliament to
be held from 12 to 14 June, the main contenders are
the conservative Nationalist Party led by Prime Min-
ister Borg-Olivier and the leftist Labor Party under
Dom Mintoff. One development favorable for Labor
has-been the neutral attitude of the local Catholic
church, an attitude which contrasts sharply with
past church policy of warning that a vote for Labor
was a mortal sin.
Pulse-taking in one key electoral district sug-
gests that a pro-Labor trend may be running. Al-
though Nationalist leaders are confidently predicting
victory, most observers see the race as very close,
with a good chance that the Labor Party will win a
slim majority. Labor is expected to win backing
from a large portion of young people voting for the
first time.
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
, VOTES
Pakistan/ 50X1
France: President Pompidou will Visit the IRBM
site.atSt. ChriOtol in southeastern France later.
this month, at which time he is expected to announce
that the first group is operational, according to an
authoritative French aerospace journr
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Top Secret
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