THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 24 AUGUST 1971

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005992821
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: August 24, 1971

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The President's Daily Brief
24 August 1971
46
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
24 August 1971
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
On Page 1:we discuss the probable impact :of . the
preliminary Berlin agreement ori, the movement toward
detente in Europe.
The dollar showed surprising strengthl yesterday in
the reopening of major foreign exchange markets in
Europe. (Page 3)
In southern Laos, the government is mounting a new
assault to retake Paksong on the Bolovens Plateau.
(Page 4)
South Vietnam
-age
/(Page 6
Indo-Soviet
I
Peking
(Page 7).
Bolivia's new regime has reacted harshly toward re-
calcitrant leftist students. (Pages)
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BERLIN-EUROPE
The preliminary Berlin agreement will add powerful
impetus to the movement toward detente in Europe.
AZthough there remains the negotiation of detaiZs
by Bonn and Pankow which may take several months,
Pankow is not likely to be able to hold out against
Soviet insistence upon an agreement. The entire
package must thereafter be approved by the Big Four.
This step will open the way for the Bonn coalition
to present for ratification, well in advance of the
1973 elections, the treaties signed last year with
Moscow and Warsaw.
In a larger context, West Germany will regard the
agreement, which required fewer concessions than
Bonn was ready to make, as a signal victory for its
OstpoZitik. Bonn's success will also increase its
confidence in dealing with its Western allies, in
particular the French, who were not aZways helpful
in the Berlin talks and whose support is less nec-
essary now.
Agreement on Berlin wiZZ also 'satisfy NATO's pre-
requisite for moving toward a Conference on European
Security. Soviet spokesmen are already putting new
steam behind this project. The members of NATO,
some of whom want to give preference to force re-
ductions rather than attend a conference devoted
largely to atmospherics, wiZZ be under pressure to
speed their preparation of .a negotiating position.
The Soviets also see themselves as gainers. They
will view the Berlin agreement, plus the treaties
which Bonn will probably ratify in due course, as
a milestone in their postwar efforts to gain West-
ern acceptance of their primacy in Eastern Europe
and of East Germany's legitimacy as a sovereign
state. With the way cleared for further detente
initiatives, the USSR, while not overlooking oppor-
tunities to play off one West European nation against
another, will target its diplomacy primarily upon the
American presence and role .in Europe.
East Germany, in contrast, looks askance at the
agreement and the prospects that it opens. The
agreement itself voids Pankow's claim to full con-
trol over its own territory, and detente threatens
to weaken East Germany's defenses against Bonn's ef-
forts to normalize relations between the "two states
of the German nation." East Germany will try to
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block any broad inter-German accord--as opposed to
the talks on access--by demanding full diplomatic
recognition and ,admission to the UN, but its campaign
to limit contacts with West Germany to a bare minimum
will tend to isolate it from its allies.
Most other East European states, on the other hand,
will welcome the Berlin agreement. These states will
see it as advancing the trend through which they are
acquiring nationaZ security by eliminating a German
challenge to their present boundaries and as perhaps
allowing greater access to the Western economic tech-
nology and financing they hope to use to achieve do-
mestic tranquillity. Others, particularly Romania,
will see it as abetting the process by which they
hope to loosen Soviet control.
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INTERNATIONAL MONETARY SITUATION
Trading was slow and cautious on the major
European foreign exchange markets that reopened yes-
terday. The dollar declined at the opening in most
markets, but it recovered somewhat and the declines
averaged less than two percent at the close.
The dollar's surprising strength is prob-
ably attributable to demand stemming from
outstanding dollar obligations. Renewed
public statements of uncertainty about
eventual parities, however, may result in
future fluctuations in exchange rates.
Tokyo's foreign exchange market was generally
calm yesterday with the Bank of Japan buying only
about $10 million to maintain the yen-dollar parity.
Japanese stock prices declined by about four percent.
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LAOS: Bo!ovens Plateau Area
BURMA
LAOS VIETNAM
Saravane
THAILANDAREA MAP
an Lao
Ngam
Thateng
hak 6s?
Kout
So/ovens
Plateau
nment
alions
Ban Houei
song ong
CAMBO ? IA
50 miles
551796 8-71 CIA
? Communist-held location
? Government-held location
? ?
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LAOS
The government is mounting a new three-pronged
assault against Paksong on the Bolovens Plateau.
Three battalions of irregulars are moving toward the
town from the northwest, two others have been air-
lifted into positions to the southeast, and three
Lao Army battalions are pushing slowly eastward
along Route 23. Two of the army battalions have
reported continuing contact with the enemy.
Earlier government efforts to recapture
Paksong were repulsed by determined North
Vietnamese resistance. An enemy counter-
attack on 18 August dispersed four Lao
Army battalions and inflicted heavy cas-
ualties. Air observers report that the
enemy is continuing to build up defenses
in and around Paksong.
Military activity elsewhere in Laos remains
relatively light. yang Pao's irregular forces on
the Plaine des Jarres continue to skirmish daily
with Communist units located in an arc to the east
of the Plaine, but little new territory has been
gained or lost.
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SOUTH VIETNAM
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INDIA-USSR
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COMMUNIST CHINA - PAKISTAN
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NOTES
Bolivia: Occasionally heavy small arms fire
continued in parts of La Paz last evening, especially
in the university area which was the scene yesterday
of the only major violence since the ouster of Gen-
eral Torres. The firing on leftist students barri-
caded in they university and the strafing of their
building by an air force plane followed the break-
down of negotiations with the students. Although
the reported casualties from the incident may be
somewhat exaggerated, President Banzer's firmness
toward the students is likely to serve as a warning
to other potential troublemakers still at large--
including leftist miners, workers, and peasants--
that he will deal swiftly with attacks on his new
administration.
Warsaw Pact: A long-rumored joint Warsaw Pact
exercise in Bulgaria apparently is not going to oc-
cur this month; instead, preparations fora Bulgarian
national exercise are now under way. Numerous bloc-
instigated reports of the planned exercise may only
have been intended to generate pressure on Romania.
The relative calm displayed by Bucharest in the face
of this war of nerves suggests that it had a good
reading on the intent of these reports all along.
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Top Secret
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