WEEKLY SUMMARY - 1968/01/05

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Tet Declassified
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 03172623
• Document Creation Date: July 27, 2018

Approved for Release: 2018/07/26 C03172623
'DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
WEEKLY SUMMARY
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5 January 1968
No. 0001/68
47),- 111
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3.5(c)
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CONTENTS
(Information as of noon EST, 4 January 1968)
Far East
THE WEEK IN PERSPECTIVE
Page
1
VIETNAM 3
Communist military forces violated the New Year's
cease-fire with a record number of incidents and two
major attacks. In Saigon, President Thieu and the
cabinet are wrestling with budgetary and land reform
problems. Hanoi this week strengthened its commit-
ment to talk with the US in exchange for a bombing
cessation.
ET
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5 Jan 68
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Now
FAR EAST
Hanoi has issued a less ambiguous statement
of its position regarding talks following a cessa-
tion of bombing in an effort to stimulate greater
international and domestic pressure for US conces-
sions. Foreign Minister Trinh's statement that
Hanoi "will hold talks" with the US after an un-
conditional halt in bombing and other "acts of war"
against North Vietnam may have been timed to encour-
age efforts to extend the cease-fire during the lu-
nar new year in late January. North Vietnam's terms
for a negotiated settlement remain unchanged. Chi-
nese displeasure over Hanoi's move to appear more
flexible on negotiations was evident in Peking's
silence on Trinh's statement.
Page 1
SE
WEEKLY SUMMARY 5 Jan 68
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Nor,
VIETNAM
The allied New Year's cease-
fire was punctuated by a record
170 Communist-initiated incidents
and two large-scale enemy attacks,
resulting in heavy casualties on
both sides. Most losses were
suffered during a major Commu-
nist attack on a US artillery po-
sition in northern Tay Ninh Prov-
ince.
The multibattalion enemy
attack in Tay Ninh was launched
on the night of 1-2 January, well
before the end of either the
Communist or allied cease-fire
periods. Two regiments of the
Viet Cong 9th Division--the 271st
and 272nd--struck a newly con-
structed US artillery position
just eight miles below the Cam-
bodian border with mortar bar-
rages followed by several unsuc-
cessful attempts to overrun the
site. More than 380 enemy troops
were killed and American losses
totaled 23 killed and 153
wounded.
Both Communist units in-
volved had suffered heavy losses
last October, but have been suf-
ficiently reinforced, probably
with North Vietnamese infiltra-
tors, to mount an attack of this
scope. It is possible that the
attack was also designed to di-
vert allied attention from a
current movement of men and sup-
plies along nearby infiltration
routes.
The second major enemy vio-
lation of the cease-fire occurred
in southern Dinh Tuong Province
in the Mekong Delta where elements
of two Viet Cong battalions--
identified as the 261st and 263rd--
shelled a South Vietnamese base
camp. The intense enemy mortar
and rocket bombardment was fol-
lowed by ground assaults on the
garrison. Before they were
routed, the attackers lost 60
killed, reportedly including a
battalion commander, while
friendly losses in the action came
to 19 killed and 48 wounded.
As in the Christmas cease-
fire period a week earlier, Com-
munist forces in both North and
South Vietnam were observed tak-
ing advantage of the New Year's
stand-down. Heavy truck traffic
was noted above the Demilitarized
Zone.
Since the end of the holiday
respite and the resumption of ma-
jor allied search-and-destroy op-
erations in Communist-dominated
territory, contact with the enemy
has been sporadic.
3.3(h)(2)
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Hanoi on a Cessation
Of Bombing
Hanoi has publicly committed
itself to begin talks with the
US in return for an end to the
bombing of North Vietnam, but
shows no sign of modifying its
hard-line terms for a negotiated
settlement.
In a speech at a diplomats'
reception last week, Foreign Min-
ister Nguyen Duy Trinh declared
that his government "will" hold
talks with Washington "about
questions concerned" if the US
unconditionally terminates the
bombing and all other "acts of
war" against North Vietnam. Ha-
noi's previous position had been
based on Trinh's statement of
28 January 1967 to the effect
that there "could" be talks if
the US took these actions.
This less ambiguous North
Vietnamese positicn probably is
designed to increase domestic
and international pressure on
the US for a bombing halt and an
extension of the cease-fire dur-
ing lunar new year later this
month. An end to the attacks
has long been a primary objec-
tive of the Hanoi regime, and
the original offer a year ago
was designed to achieve this
without making any significant
substantive concessions on a
settlement of the war.
The foreign minister avoided
spelling out the timing or con-
tent of any talks, but indicated
that the basis for solving the
Vietnam problem remained Hanoi's
four points and the political
program of the Liberation Front.
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