THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 17 MAY 1972

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005993303
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 15
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: May 17, 1972

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The President's Daily Brief
17 May 1972
47
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
LATE ITEM
- USSR: In what appears from a TASS dispatch
to be a Pravda editorial today, the Soviet leader-
ship reaffirms its support for Hanoi and at the same
time asserts that the improvement of Soviet-US re-
lations is possible and desirable--although not at
the expense of "some third countries." The editorial
declares that the Soviet Union will continue giving
"all necessary assistance" to North Vietnam. The
emphasis of the article, however, appears to be on
the Soviet "peace program" and the solution of prob-
lems by negotiation.
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THE PRESIDENT S DAILY BRIEF
17 May 1972
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
On page 1 we
discuss military
developments in South Vietnam..
We note only a few new groups entering the infiltra-
tion corridor from North Vietnam. Hanoi clearly
anticipated heavy losses in the current offensive
and prepositioned troops infiltrated earlier in the
season to act as replacements, (Page 3)
ECIVPt
(Page 4)
Egypt
Soviet
Israel
(Page 5)
Soviet
(Page 6)
Fatah is planning
further acts of terrorism against US, Israeli, and
European interests. (Page 7)
The vote on the Eastern treaties in the West German
Bundestag comes today and we still expect them to
be approved. (Page 8) -
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Demilitarized Zone
ang Tri
QUA 4G
NGAI
MR 1
Gulf of
Thailand
104
MR 4
R3
Capital Special Zone
176 18
AM
ANH
110
MR 2
South
China
Sea
SOUTH VIETNAM
16-
14-
12-
10--
553079 5-72
110
MILES 1)0
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USSR-VIETNAM
South Vietnamese forces are becoming more ag-
gressive in some sections of the country. North of
Saigon, for instance, they have organized a task
force to relieve the garrison at An Loc. The force
has met with only light resistance while moving to
within eight miles of the town. Another battalion
has been airlifted to a point within five miles of
An Loc and two regiments of the long-stalled 21st
Division have begun to move north to link up with
these advance units.
South Vietnamese units near Hue have made three
forays out of Fire Support Base Bastogne since they
reoccupied the base on Monday. They claim to have
captured seven tons of ammunition in these operations.
Intercepted Communist communications, however, in-
dicate that North Vietnamese units have moved to
within a few miles of Bastogne, suggesting that the
Communists may attempt to dislodge government forces
from the base again.
(continued)
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The Communist forces that have been trying to
get into position for a major assault on Hue have
been taking a heavy pounding from the air and have
been disrupted by recent government forays. Never-
theless, they still appear to be bringing in supplies
and reconnoitering the battlefield. They may be
withholding heavy fire in order to keep their heavy
weapons concealed until they have assembled stocks
of ammunition in forward positions adequate to sup-
port a substantial operation.
In the highlands near Kontum City, too, most
Communist forces are concentrating on reconnaissance
and other preparations./
2
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VIETNAM
This year's "infiltration season" may be ending,
and only a few new groups are now entering the in-
filtration corridor.
Hanoi clearly anticipated heavy losses in
the current offensive and prepositioned
large numbers of replacements in base
areas near the major battlefields before
beginning the campaign. During the lull
after each major assault, the wounded
have been evacuated and replacements
brought in from the nearby base areas.
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USSR-EGYPT
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USSR-EGYPT
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ISRAEL-USSR
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FEDAYEEN
Fatah is planning
further acts of terrorism against American, Israeli,
and European interests over the next month or so.
After the fiasco at Tel Aviv on 8 May, when Israeli
commandos frustrated the hijacking of a Belgian air-
liner, Fatah planners engaged in a series of post-
mortems to analyze their mistakes.
These are just plans, of course, but the
terrorists do have the-ability to strike
scattered individual targets without warn-
ing.
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WEST GERMANY
The vote in the Bundestag
on the
Eastern
trea-
ties is to take place today.
We still
expect
the
treaties will be approved.
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A procedural hitch may have developed that could
delay the Bundesrat vote scheduled for Friday. The
land government of the Saarland is reported to have
lodged an objection to consideration of the treaties
that could put off the vote until the middle of next
week, but it does not affect the outcome.
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NOTE
Egypt-US: Without offering a reason, Cairo has
requested a reduction in the size of the US Interests
Section in Egypt from 20 to ten individuals, the
level that existed following the break in relations
in 1967. The Egyptians also plan to reduce the size
of their representation in Washington. Although no
deadline for the reduction was initially given, the
chief US representative in Cairo was told later that
a month would be satisfactory. His efforts to elicit
an explanation met only the response that the deci-
sion had been made at the "highest level." The ac-
tion seems to have been taken to dramatize Egypt's
dissatisfaction with US policies in the Middle East.
Agreement to expand the size of the US Interests
Section to the present level was reached a year ago,
during a period of relative cordiality in US-Egyptian
ties.
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Top Secret
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