THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 6 JULY 1972

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005993394
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: July 6, 1972

Declassified in Part.- Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A010900060001-0
The President's Daily Brief
6 July 1972
45
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Exempt from general
declassification schedule of E.O. 11652
exemption category 513(1),(2),(3)
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A010900060001-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A010900060001-0
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
6 July 1972
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
Additional South Vietnamese forces have entered
Quang Tri City. Enemy messages, however, ?are con-
tinuing to call for the defense of "liberated" ter-
ritory and for striking the rear areas of govern-
ment forces. (Page 1)
Vietnan
(Page 2)
Japan's new prime minister is not likely to call
for any radical departures in either foreign or do-
mestic policies. (Page 3)
The new French cabinet, under Prime Minister Pierre
Messmer, will be more Gaullist in character. (Page 4)
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
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108
Demilitarized Zone
ang Tri
Chanh River defense line
MR 1
-10
Gulf of
Thailand
MR 4
104
R3
Capital Special Zone
ANM
110
MR 2
South
China
Sea
SOUTH VIETNAM
MILES
16-
14-
12-
10.-
553312 7-72
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
VIETNAM
Additional government forces have entered Quang
Tri City and are encountering little significant
enemy opposition. The advance paratroop units that
were airlifted into. the town against only token re-
sistance have been joined by additional airborne
and armored elements moving up from the south. Ma-
rine forces are now closing in after beating off two
enemy attacks less than five miles to the south and
east of the town. Some Communist forces are believed
still to be within the citadel area of Quang Tri, but
the majority apparently have pulled back to the north-
west where they may be regrouping.
Despite the enemy's weak showing to date against
the government drive, Communist messages continue to
call for the defense of "liberated" territory and
for striking the rear areas of government forces.
The headquarters of both the North Vietnamese 304th
and 308th divisions are in the foothills southwest
of Quang Tri City, and elements of these divisions
may. strike either the advancing airborne units or
South Vietnamese Army troops now manning the My
Chanh defense line northwest of Hue. Yesterday gov-
ernment troops southwest of Hue recaptured Fire Sup-
port Base Checkmate,. which had fallen on 30 June.
Communist shelling of Hue and its western strongpoints
has continued/
The most recent significant fighting elsewhere
in the country involved a series of clashes in which
South Vietnamese Army troops operating along an in-
filtration corridor near Cai Be district town in
the northern delta took fairly heavy casualties.
1
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
VI ETNAM
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
JAPAN
Kakuei Tanaka Japan's newly elected prime minister,
is not likely to call for any radical departures in
foreign or domestic policies. While Tanaka is dy-
namic and brings to the ruling Liberal Democratic
Party a new image of youth and decisiveness, he is
a moderate who is deeply rooted in the nation's
postwar conservative political tradition.
His colorful and assertive style may nevertheless ac-
celerate various changes already under way in Japan,
including the move toward normalization of relations
with Peking. The new prime minister clearly will
maintain friendly relations with the US in the con-
text of the US-Japan Mutual Security Treaty, and he
also has expressed strong interest in promoting eco-
nomic cooperation with the USSR. Tanaka's inexperi-
ence in foreign affairs may prompt him to delegate
much of the responsibility in this area to the sev-
eral former foreign ministers in the ruling party
who were among his chief supporters.
It is in the fields of economic policy and domestic
welfare programs that Tanaka is likely to be most
active and decisive, having already served effec-
tively as finance minister and as minister of inter-
national trade and industry. His long-standing ex-
pertise in domestic problems is in fact the basis
for his unusually broad popularity. The new prime
minister could have difficulty meeting the expecta-
tions of his youthful supporters, however, in view
of the heavy reliance upon consensus in the Japanese
decision-making process and the strong influence
exerted by the powerful and conservative bureaucracy.
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A010900060001-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A010900060001-0
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
FRANCE
The choice of Pierre Messmer as Prime Minister
Chaban-Delmas' successor is designed to placate old-
line Gaullists and unite bickering factions before
national parliamentary elections are held. The 56-
year-old Messmer, minister of overseas territories
and departments since February 1971, rallied to De
Gaulle and the Free French in 1940. He served al-
most ten years as De Gaulle's defense minister and
presided over France's withdrawal from NATO's in-
tegrated command structure and the buildup of France's
nuclear force.
Messmer's attitude toward the US is highly colored
by his traditional Gaullist views. He heads the
"Presence of Gaullism" movement, created as a watch-
dog after De Gaulle's death to ensure that any suc-
cessor did not stray too far from Gaullist principles.
He is also prominent in the chauvinistic Movement for
the Independence of Europe, which rejects the idea
of a partnership between Europe and the US.
The new cabinet--which is likely to be named to-
morrow?undoubtedly will be more Gaullist in charac-
ter. Defense Minister Debre will remain in his pres-
ent post, and Elysee sources say that Foreign Minis-
ter Schumann, who departed yesterday on an official
visit to Peking, will also be retained.
4
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
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Top Secret
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