THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 10 DECEMBER 1971

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005993022
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: December 10, 1971

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/18 : CIA-RDP79T00936A010200100001-2
The President's Daily Brief
10 December 1971
14
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THE PRESIDENT'S DAIVA3RIEF
10 December 1971
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
Indian forces in East Pakistan continue to close in
on Dacca, but there appears to be no major change
in the fighting along the Indian - West Pakistani
border. (Page 1)
,In Cambodia, some Communist forces have moved farther
from Route 6, and government troops have begun new
operations in the Phnom Penh area. (Page 3)
Taipei's recent international setbacks have set off
increased expectations of political reforms at home.
(Page 4)
At Annex
China? and Indochina
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?C0000 Bh
INDIA
Sn! U0050
.Sylhet
EAST PAKISTAN
...Pabna
DAdCA,
Narayanganj
Daudkandi
dhandinar.
Fem
Chittagong*
Indian attack
"A ADT
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ISi
PAKISTAN
552261 12-71 CIA
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INDIA-PAKISTAN
Indian troops in East Pakistan are closing in
on Dacca. The river town of Chandpur and the ferry
crossing at Daudkandi apparently have fallen. The
Dacca radio stopped its broadcasts at 8:15 AM on 10
December (last night at 9:15 PM EST) and has not
been noted to have resumed. The Indian drives else-
where in the province are maintaining their momentum
although Pakistani forces are holding on in a number
of isolated areas. In a radio appeal to Pakistani
troops yesterday, Indian Chief of Staff Manekshaw
urged them to surrender and said they faced "certain
death" if they tried to escape by sea.
If Pakistani forces try to make a stand
at Dacca, they are unlikely to be able to
hold out more than a few days. The com-
mander of India's eastern front has said
that Pakistani troops trying to reach
Dacca or to make their way to various
ports are being attacked from the air.
Orders are out to treat all captured Pak-
istani troops as prisoners of war, but
the commander has admitted that, in areas
where there are no Indian troops and the
Mukti Bahini are in control, there may
have been some "political eliminations."
On the western front, the Indians claim to have
beaten back several Pakistani attacks in Kashmir.
around. Poonch and to have madea slight advance near
Chhamb, the area of the largest Pakistani offensive.
The Indian drive, in the:Sialkot area has been halted,
according to the.Pakistanis, but in the south the
Indians continue to push deeper into Sind Province
with almost no opposition.
The Karachi area was heavily bombarded from
the air again yesterday.- The strikes of the past
two days in the harbor' areahave dealt a major blow
to West Pakistan's POL supply. According to an
Esso official, about. 30 percent of the port's' oil
storage'capacity--some,15 percent of the country's
total--has been destroyed or seriously damaged.
Oil fires pose.a threat. to the remaining storage
areas.
(continued)
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There are now reports that the Indians
are shifting some aircraft from the east-
ern to the western front where opposing
air force strengths are now fairly even.
Most of Pakistan's fighters are based in
the north, where they have been supporting
ground operations and attacking Indian air-
fields. There are fighter squadrons at
Karachi, but they appear to have offered
little opposition to Indian bombers.
On the sea, most of Pakistan's naval units
have now been driven into Karachi port.
Both Indian Foreign Minister Singh and Pakistani
Foreign Minister-designate Bhutto are expected to be
on hand at the UN by today. Pakistan has accepted
and India has now formally rejected the General As-
sembly's call for a cease-fire and troop withdrawal.
There is a growing consensus at the UN that efforts
to stop hostilities will soon have to be shifted
back to the Security Council, although India and
the USSR are likely to continue to block all cease-
fire proposals at least until Dacca has fallen.
2
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i. ?
50
Miles
ompong Thom
s ,10_,ChinIf-
\
) , ' ? Government-held location
*Communist-held location
1 Hq NVA 95C Regt ?
CAMBODIA
(t.-----______.,,......?)
..?--i 11, q 272nd NVA Regt
Elq VC
Rumlong
Tang Kou
Skou
7 271st Regc
Kompong Ch?a44:?
SAIGO
SOUTH VIETN
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552258 12-71 CIA
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CAMBODIA
Radio direction finding shows that the 271st
Regiment of the Vietnamese Communist 9th Division,
which had appeared to be moving toward remaining
government positions on Route 6, has now shifted
farther to the east. A second 9th Division regi-
ment, the 272nd, apparently has left the Rumlong
area of Route 6 and taken up a position near the
west bank of the Mekong River. Current evidence
suggests that only one North Vietnamese regiment,
the 95C, remains within easy striking distance of
government forces at Tang Kouk. An intercept of
6 December indicates that the Communists have been
conducting reconnaissance of the Route 6 area near
Skoun.
Government forces would be ill-prepared
to withstand any determined Communist at-
tacks. At Tang Kouk, for example, the
morale of Cambodian o leers and men is
dan erousZ low.
In the Phnom Penharea, elements of two gov-
ernmentlorigades have linked up with a battalion at
Phnom Baset, 12 miles northwest of the capital.,
They encountered no resistance, but the presence of
the North Vietnamese 101D Regiment near Phnom Baset
may presage heavy fighting. Cambodian-commanders
are no reporting large enemy troop concentrations
in the area.
The Cambodian Army has launched several new
clearing operations around Phnom Penh. The largest,
involving seven predominantly Khmer Krom battalions,
will sweep between Routes 2 and 3 south of the cap-
ital, where several hundred enemy troops are said
to be operating in small units. To the west of the
city, another four battalions will try to maneuver
behind suspected Communist positions.
3
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NATIONALIST CHINA
Taiwan's recent international setbacks are
giving new impetus to proposals for political reor-
ganization and reform, long advocated in various
student and press circles. Some Nationalist offi-
cials are now arguing cautiously for a clearer ex-
pression of Taiwan's "separate identity," and one,
Vice Foreign Minister Yang Hsi-kun, has even pro-
posed that the government system be drastically
overhauled and the country be renamed "Republic of
Taiwan."
With the surfacing of such sentiments among
Nationalists, native Taiwanese are beginning to press
their own aspirations more strongly. In early De-
cember, associates of one local politician passed
the US Embassy a document that calls for an expanded
Taiwanese role in a reorganized government, a reduc-
tion of military forces, and a policy of "political
neutrality."
The government is trying to overcome its
tarnished image and forestall outright
domestic disaffection with talk of a pro-
gram for "rejuvenation." Its plans, how-
ever, involve no curtailment of the power
of Nationalists from the mainland and are
no more than gestures toward the Taiwanese
majority. No major government figure has
endorsed Yang's proposals, and these rep-
resent--as does the Taiwanese document--
mainly trial balloons to test the climate
on Taiwan and in the US for significant
change. The popular expectations aroused
by such talk, however, are likely to in-
crease the pressures on the government
for an adjustment to "post-UN" realities.
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NOTE
Jordan-Fedayeen:
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CHINA AND INDOCHINA
Al
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Top Secret
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