THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 17 APRIL 1972

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005993250
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: April 17, 1972

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/08/08 : CIA-RDP79T00936A010600140001-4
The President's Daily Brief
17 April 1972
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
17 April 1972
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
Initial Soviet and Chinese reactions to the bombings
of Hanoi and Haiphong reflect an apparent desire not
to antagonize the US. (Page 1)
In South Vietnam, meanwhile, fighting was heavy over
the weekend. (Page 3)
Turkish Prime Minister Erim's resignation may be an-
nounced today. (Page 4)
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
USSR - CHINA - NORTH VIETNAM
Moscow. has given its population only scant news
of the US air strikes on Hanoi and Haiphong. Pub-
licly, the Soviets have not acknowledged damage to
their ships at Haiphong, even though they announced,?
without elaboration--that the foreign ministry had
protested the bombings to the US Embassy. Soviet
Deputy Foreign Minister Kovalev indeed had presented
a_protest to Ambassador Beam yesterday that focused
on. the damage done to four Soviet ships at. Haiphong.
The demarche characterized the raids on Haiphong as
a flagrant violation of international law and free-
dom of shipping. It referred to the "possible dan-
gerous conseqUences"-of the .bombing and insisted
that the US prevent "similar provocations" in the
future.
The protest failed to mention the strikes
on Hanoi or anywhere else in North Viet-
nam. Its concentration on the damage to
Soviet ships, its failure to mention any
injury to Soviet personnel, and its deliv-
ery at the relatively low level of deputy
foreign minister indicates the Soviets
did not want to overstress the implica-
tions of the air strikes on US-Soviet re-
lations.
At roughly the same time Kovalev presented the
protest, TASS issued a statement saying that "lead-
ing circles" in the USSR are closely following the
situation in Vietnam. The TASS release made no men-
tion of damage to Soviet ships and drew no connection
between the raids and US-Soviet relations. Maintain-
ing Moscow's recent public reticence about commit-
ments to North Vietnam, the TASS statement merely
noted that the USSR does its international duty by
giving "necessary aid and support to all patriots
of Indochina."
Chinese reaction thus far has been restrained;
regular Peking broadcasts have all but ignored the
air strikes. Premier Chou En-lai, according to the
New China News Agency, met yesterday evening with a
?representative of the Provisional Revolutionary Gov-
ernment of South Vietnam and condemned "Washington's
old track of escalation" but mentioned the bombings
only in passing and without suggesting that the
raids posed?a threat to China or its interests.
Chou's remarks-are little more than a com-
pendium of cliches used by the Chinese
over the past year to describe the war.
(continued)
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
The NCNA account makes no mention of Chi-
nese assistance, of President Nixon, or of
the damage to the Soviet ships.
Hanoi's propagandists are trying to capitalize
on the air strikes, emphasizing the intensity of
the attacks on civilian areas. In an effort to bol-
ster morale, they claimed the downing of 15 US jets,
including a B-52. The party and government also is-
sued a joint appeal to the population to intensify
the fight yesterday. The document expressed the be-
lief that Hanoi's "friends in the world" would
strongly condemn "in time" the US.
This last appears to be yet another call
for greater support from the USSR and
China. In this connection, the North
Vietnamese have been playing up the So-
viet aspect of the raids on Haiphong,
publicizing the damage to a Soviet ship
and claiming that one of its officers
had been wounded. /
In Paris yesterday, Xuan Thuy said that the Com-
munists would "reconsider" the question of resuming
the talks. His statement is the closest the Vietnam-
ese Communists have ever come to a threat to break
off the talks. Late press reports indicate that
Xuan Thuy has scheduled a news conference for today.
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8
Demilitarized Zone
uang Tri
_stogne
t:Da Nang
MR 1
THAILAND
110
16--
Overrun by enemy
Tam Quan
CMB 0 D
Tonle
Sap
QUAcNG
ou
GAM
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TA lr
NINO
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PHONG
'('EN
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gga-
-10
Gulf of
Thailand
GIANG
STIN'N
LONG
CHUONG
THMN
104
?
AN
XUYEN
MR 4
116
Capital Special Zone
MR 2
South
China
Sea
SOUTH VIETNAM
MILES
14 ?
12-
1110
55859 4-72 CIA
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
SOUTH VIETNAM
Heavy fighting took place along the major bat-
tlefronts over the weekend. Government troops lost
a fire support base in Kontum that had been under
severe pressure for several days, and Tam Quan, a
district headquarters.in coastal Binh Dinh Province,
was overrun.- Airlifted reinforcements reached the
besieged city of An Loc, however, and helped fend
off repeated tank and infantry attacks by the North
Vietnamese. At last report, the South Vietnamese
held mostof the city.
The South Vietnamese 3rd Division,,which took
substantial losses in Quang Tri-Province during the
opening days of the offensive, has begun limited
counterattacks against the enemy. : In the Hue area,.
however, North Vietnamese forces maintained pressure
against South Vietnamese troops at Fire Support Base
Bastogne, again preventing resupply of the base.
The enemy also carried out rocket and mortar attacks
against Da Nang and several other coastal towns and
bases as far south as Khanh Hoa Province.
Local Viet Cong forces appear to be playing a
more important'role'in:_the offensive. Such forces
are credited with the destruction of the district
capital in Binh Dinh, and they inflicted serious .
losses on government regional forces in other clashes
in that ptpvince.
There is continuing evidence that heavy fighting
is coming to many areas in the days ahead. On the
Quang Trifront, intercepts indicate that. the North
Vietnamese are having problems getting organized be-
cause of allied air and ground operations, but they
also appear determined to resume offensive thrusts -
in the near future, Although enemy pressure against
An Loc has eased, prisoners and captured documents
show that the North Vietnamese-7th Division has left
Cambodia. to' join the battle. Other enemy units are
getting-into the battle for Route 13, the main. ac-
cess road to An Loc from the Saigon area. Farther
south, two enemy regiments are attempting to move
across the border into the Mekong Delta, but have
been thwarted thus far by South Vietnamese forces
operating in Cambodia.
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
NOTES
Turkey: Public announcement of Prime Minister
Erim's resignation is likely to come today following
the end of President Podgorny's visit. Military
leaders' dissatisfaction with the lack of any ap-
preciable reform legislation lies behind Erim's
departure,/
but they remain reluctant to
assume direct control of the government. Within
a few days President Sunay will probably name as
new prime minister someone who is at least nomi-
nally independent. In the meantime
Defense Minister Melen will
serve on an acting basis.
Uruguay: Congress granted President Borda-
berry's request for the temporary suspension of ,
individual rights and the declaration of a limited
"state of internal war" following ,the killing of
four men by Tupamaro'terrorists on Friday. Con-
gress restricted the declaration to the zone af-
fected by terrorism--principally the Montevideo
area--and limited the duration of the measures to
30 days rather than the 90 requested by the Pres-
ident The most important emergency measures give
the military, the main responsibility in the fight
against the terrorists andauthorize the extended
detention of suspects without trial.,
4
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Top Secret
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