THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 19 JUNE 1971

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005992705
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: June 19, 1971

Declassified in Part- Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00-9-36A-659600170001-3
The President's Daily Brief
19 June 1971
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THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
19 June 1971
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
The Viet Cong are said to be planning to support al-
most any candidate in the upcoming South Vietnamese
Lower House elections who speaks out ?against the gov-
ernment. (Page 1) In the developing campaign ?for
the South Vietnamese presidency, Ky has made addi-
tional strongly worded speeches criticizing Thieu.
(Page 2)
Israeli and Egyptian spokesmen have been issuing
gloomy statements on prospects for reopening the Suez
Canal. (Page 3)
Ambassador MacArthur senses growing anti-British sen-
timent in Iran. (Page 5)
The Soviets are interested in acquiring US equipment
for developing Siberian oil and gas fields. (Page 6)
IChileal
I (Page 7)
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SOUTH VIETNAM
the
Viet Cong plan to work in support of almost any can-
didate in the Lower House elections this August who
speaks out against the government or shows sympathy
for Communist objectives. Their agents living in
government areas are already forming political action
teams to assess potential candidates and organize
support for certain ones, once selected. Agents also
will try to join legally established parties and
social organizations and to maneuver inside these
groups on behalf of chosen candidates. In areas
where government control is too tight to permit this
type of political action, the Communists will resort
to selective terrorism, including assassinations of
government-sponsored candidates and sabotage of poll-
ing places.
The Communists probably are not strong
enough in most areas to tip the balance in
favor of opposition candidates who do not
already have strong local support. Many
opposition candidates, moreover, are likely
to be chary about receiving any Communist
backing, especially of an overt nature.
Nonetheless, behind-the-scenes Communist
activity could result in placing more anti-
government spokesmen in the Lower House in
August, and perhaps in encouraging a
greater opposition vote in the presidential
elections in October.
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SOUTH VIETNAM
Vice President Ky, in a recent speech to sup-
porters of his presidential candidacy in the city
of Nha Trang, declared that he would seize power
if the coming presidential elections in October
were not fair,
Ky also strongly criticized
the government's? tolerance of nepotism, corruption,
a servience to Americans, 50X1
and said that if he were elected president, bUAl
he would end the war through negotiations with
North Vietnam. Ky delivered another hard-hitting
speech along similar lines in Cholon on 17 June.
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Yesterday, the Thieu government confiscated
15 of Saigon's 30-odd daily newspapers for printing
articles containing statements by Ky which were
claimed to be "harmful to national security and the
fighting spirit of the armed forces."
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"Big" Minh said that Ky has been "able to buy" the
necessary 100 provincial council members to endorse
Ky's candidacy at a cost Minh claims was between
US $4,000 and $6,000 each. Minh also acknowledged
that he himself now has two more than the needed
40 endorsements from national assemblymen.
Ky 's attacks on the government, if accu-
rately reported, are among his strongest
yet. Although his talk of a coup is old
hat and is not to be taken seriously at
this time, his position as vice president
lends weight to some of his charges about
corrupt government practices. Moreover,
his latest statements indicate that he
is likely to continue to provoke Thieu into
actions--such as those against the press--
that may be politically embarrassing for
the incumbent administration.
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EGYPT-ISRAEL
Spokesmen in both countries are issuing gloomy
public statements on prospects for reopening the
Suez Canal:
--Israeli cabinet minister Yisrael Galili said
yesterday in a newspaper interview that as long
as Egypt's conditions for reopening the canal
remain unchanged, hope for an agreement is un-
realistic. He doubted that the Soviets would
encourage what they must view as a hopeless
Egyptian attack across the canal, but he esti-
mated that Egypt might embark on another war of
attrition, relying on "new weapons" received
from the USSR.
--In a similar statement, Defense Minister Dayan
has said that because of the gap between the
positions of the two sides, there is "no pros-
pect" for an interim settlement.
--Egypt's semiofficial newspaper Al Ahram re-
ported yesterday that Cairo has desp-ina. of
US efforts to work out a Middle East settlement.
Al Ahram's editor predicted that the approach
of the 1972 presidential elections in the US
will end any chance of American pressure on
Israel. He warned that "no one" expects the
tense cease-fire to last much longer, even
though no one could predict when it would end.
--Egyptian Foreign Minister Riyad, in an inter-
view in Paris on 17 June, dismissed US-initiated
negotiations on opening the canal as a propa-
ganda trick to prolong the Middle East cease-
fire.
(continued)
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Israeli newspapers, meanwhile, are saying that
the government is seriously concerned over reports
that the US is planning to present its own proposal
on '.a Suez agreement. According to the press, "Is-
raeli sources" have commented that any such plan
will probably cause a deadlock in the negotiations
for an interim settlement, just as Jarring's pro-
posals earlier created a deadlock in negotiations
toward an overall settlement.
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IRAN
In recent discussions with Iranian officials,
Ambassador MacArthur has sensed that latent anti-
British sentiment--a residue of Britain's harsh
treatment of Iranians during the imperialist past--
is being brought to the surface by the protracted
dispute over sovereignty of three small islands in
the Persian Gulf(
//The ambassador is
concerned that Iranian distrust of the British may
develop into real hostility, with Iran seeking some
form of retaliation. The foreign minister, who ad-
mits he is anti-British, has even hinted darkly
about possible withdrawal from CENTO.
The Iranians could be expected to talk
tough in order, to gain as much diplomatic
leverage as possible in support of their
claim to sovereignty over the Gulf islands.
Their suspicion that the British are plotting
with such disparate partners as Kuwait, Iraq,
and Egypt to undermine Iran's interests in
the area has added all the more heat to the
issue. Important economic and commercial
ties between the two countries, however,
would make the Shah weigh carefully the
consequences of any drastic action.
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USSR-US
A Soviet geophysical delegation recently in the
US emphasized Moscow's interest in acquiring US drill-
ing tools and other equipment, even at premium prices,
for use in developing the USSR's west Siberian oil
and gas fields. The Soviets admitted that extensive
imports of such items, which are subject to US ex-
port controls, will be necessary if the USSR is to
meet its oil and gas targets for 1975. The Soviet
spokesmen added the US would be the preferred sup-
plier, replacing several countries in western Europe
that now fill this role.
This overture is similar to the one made
last month by a high-level Soviet delega-
tion for a relaxation of US export controls
on equipment sought by the USSR to manu-
facture trucks and other vehicles.
In a related development, Moscow and Bonn are
negotiating a second major contract involving the
exchange of Soviet natural gas for German large-
diameter pipe and pipeline equipment.
Large diameter pipe has been a chronic
headache for the Soviets. They are not
able to manufacture enough equipment to
build pipelines for the amounts of oil
and gas they hope to be producing in west-
ern Siberia by 1975.
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CHILE
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