THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 25 JULY 1972

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005993429
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: July 25, 1972

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The President's Daily Brief
25 July 1972
45
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Exempt from general
declassification schedule of E.O. 11652
exemption category 513(1 )d21(3)
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
25 July 1972
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
The Soviets continue to withdraw from Egypt. Pres-
ident Sadat spoke for four hours yesterday, empha-
sizing his disappointment with Moscow's failures to
meet its commitments to Cairo. (Page 1)
Egyptian air defense forces yesterday launched sev-
eral missiles against Israeli fighters along the
Suez Canal. (Page 3)
Fighting in South Vietnam
and Binh Dinh ?rovinces.
is heaviest in Quang Tri
(Page 4)
The latest satellite photography shows that the
Soviets are still building a very large ship with
a flight deck of at least 400 feet. (Page 5)
Japan and China have begun official contacts with
a view toward restoration of normal relations.
(Page 6)
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
EGYPT-USSR
President Sadat spoke for four hours yesterday,
without clarifying the causes of the Soviet with-
drawal from Egypt. Sadat, frequently rambling and
repeating himself, said, however, that the failure
of the USSR to honor commitments to Egypt during
1971 had led to the present state of Soviet-Egyptian
relations.
Without going into detail, Sadat reported that
differences of view became apparent during his trip
to Moscow in March 1971, but at the time he had been
hopeful that the disagreements were between friends,
and that the gaps could be bridged. A few months
later, he said, when Soviet President Podgorny came
to Cairo to sign a treaty of friendship, he was as-
sured by the Soviets that the main differences be-
tween them would ?be resolved within four days of
Podgorny's return home. In October, Sadat said, he
was given yet another promise that a "definite agree-
ment" would be implemented. The year 1971 passed,
and with it Sadat's "year of decision," but the dis-
agreement continued and ultimately led to the depar-
ture of the Soviets.
(continued)
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The Egyptian President never said ex-
plicitly that he had been looking for
offensive weapons, and he never specified
the nature of the differences nor of the
Soviet commitment. To do so, he said,
would play into the hands of Egypt's en-
emies. Instead, he made frequent refer-
ences to the firm US military, political,
and economic aid to Israel, and contrasted
such aid with the limited Soviet response
to Egypt's pleas for help.
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
EGYPT-ISRAEL
Egyptian air defense forces yesterday launched
several surface-to-air missiles at Israeli fighters
along the Suez Canal.
President Sadat and a large political and
military entourage visited frontline areas
on Sunday. It has been implicit in Sadat's
speeches and in Muhammad Haykal's political
columns in al-Ahram that Egypt must recreate
a credible threat of military action against
Israel so as to induce some movement toward
a settlement of the Middle East stalemate.
Even an isolated aerial clash over the
cease-fire lines would serve Sadat's pur-
pose by raising international fears of new
hostilities.
Israeli political leaders may be restrained
from retaliating for fear of the effect
such an action could have on the Soviet
evacuation. In the past, however, Israeli
doctrine has been to discourage Egyptian
attacks by direct retaliation.
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Demilitarized Zone
any Tri
am Quan
A16'
ai Nhon English
BINH
DINH
Capital Special Zone
?10 10?
South
China
Sea
12-
Gulf of
Thailand
? 194
553373 7-72
ir
SOUTH VIETNAM
190
MILES
e,_ 44, e-1
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VIETNAM
?Fighting is heavy in Quang Tri City, where en-
emy troops entrenched inside the citadel area con-
tinue to hold off government assaults. South Viet-
namese paratroops so far have been unable to enter
the fortress through cuts in the, wall?made by allied
air strikes. South Vietnamese Marine and Airborne
units north, south, and east of the city continue
to be harassed by enemy shelling and occasional
ground attacks.
Route 1 between Quang Tri City and Hue is open,
but a North Vietnamese regiment remains west of the
highway and in position to close the road again.
Government defenses west of Hue are still under en-
emy pressure; more than 2,000 shells were fired at
Fire Support Base Bastogne and nearby troop concen-
trations on Sunday. Units from the South Vietnamese
1st Division have begun to move onto the high ground
on both sides of Route 547 near Bastogne in an ef-
fort to force the Communists to move their artillery
out of range of Hue.
, In the government's counteroffensive in coastal
Binh Dinh Province,-Landing Zone English and the
district capital of Tam Quan have been recaptured.
Army units near the district capital of Hoai Nhon.
continue to consolidate their recent gains despite
enemy shelling. ?
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Two additional Chinese freighters arrived late
yesterday at the Hon Nieu anchorage serving Vinh,
North Vietnam, joining the three other Chinese
freighters already there. A sixth Chinese freighter
remains at Hon La, 75 miles to the south.
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Ship Under Construction at Nikolayev
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USSR
The latest satellite photography provides new
information on the large ship under construction
at Nikolayev on the Black Sea. When completed,
it will be the largest ship in the Soviet Navy,
some 800 feet long. Construction has not progressed
far enough to allow us to discern a superstructure
similar to the "island" on US aircraft carriers,
but it is now apparent that the new ship will have
a flight deck of at least 400 feet.
A flight deck of this length means that
the ship will carry either helicopters
with an antisubmarine mission, or high-
performance short take-off and landing
(V/STOL) interceptors and reconnaissance
aircraft.
The new ship, begun in mid-1970, is being
built at the same shipyard that produced
the two Moskva-class helicopter carriers.
It will not be operational for two or
three years.
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JAPAN-CHINA
Foreign Minister Ohira's meeting on 22 July
with two Chinese officials is the most significant
Sino-Japanese move to date toward regularized of-
ficial contacts. Ohira later announced that For-
eign Ministry representatives might have continu-
ing direct contacts with the Chinese Trade Office
in Tokyo.
Following Ohira's talks, the ruling Liberal
Democratic Party formally inaugurated a council
to foster a party consensus for normalization.
Prime Minister Tanaka presented to the council a
ten-point statement of principles for relations
with Peking, emphasizing a "full understanding"
of Peking's long-standing principles for normaliza-
tion. Tanaka's attendance at the meeting indicates
the importance he assigns to achieving party unity
as well as Tokyo's desire to move ahead rapidly.
These developments are the latest in a
series of increasingly friendly Sino-
Japanese exchanges since Tanaka assumed
office on 6 July. The new government
has conveyed--both publicly and pri-
vately?its determination to improve
relations, and Peking's response has
been both prompt and positive. Premier
Chou En-Zai has welcomed formation of
the Tanaka cabinet and, through a visit-
ing Japanese Socialist, last week ex-
tended an informal invitation for Tanaka
to visit Peking. No date has been set
for such a trip, but Tanaka undoubtedly
would like to go to the mainland before
he calls general elections late this
year or early next.
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NOTE
.France-China: The French Foreign Ministry is
extremely pleased with Foreign Minister Schumann's
recent visit to China., A Quai official character-
ized the visit as a reaffirmation of France's "spe-
cial position" as the only government besides the
US engaged in dialogue designed to "bring out" the
Chinese. The only concrete result of the talks,
however, -seems to have been Foreign Minister Chi
Peng-fei's acceptance of an open-dated invitation
to visit.France. Although agreement was reached
on closer Contacts in many areas, no regular con-
sultations, such as France holds with the USSR,
were planned.
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