THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Tet Declassified
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 05974301
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: April 27, 2019
• Document Release Date: April 30, 2019
• Publication Date: February 28, 1968

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The President's Daily Brief
-T-0--p�Serrelf_ 28 February 1968
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DAILY BRIEF
28 FEBRUARY 1968
1. South Vietnam
2. Laos
3. South Korea
4. North Korea
Tor SECRET -
The Communists continue frequent
artillery attacks against key installa-
tions, but there have been no recent
major ground attacks.
No significant change has been re-
ported, though Communist pressure con-
tinues against Attopeu in the far south
and against Phou Pha Thi, the key guer-
rilla base
in the northeast.
The new defense minister is likely
to have a closer working relationship
with US officials than did his prede-
cessor. The change in this post, like
the reshuffling of top security offi-
cials last week, is aimed at quieting
criticism and strengthening security
in the wake of the raid on the presi-
dential palace last month. The shifts
do not presage policy changes.
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5. Middle East
6. India
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Gunnar Jarring spent yesterday
with the Israelis in one last attempt
to break the log jam before reporting
to U Thant today. As yet, no word of
any forward movement has come from the
encounter. This morning's press re-
ports seem unduly optimistic.
The Israelis, under prodding from
the US and others, had reformulated
their public position on the UN Securi-
ty Council resolution of last November.
Though the most recent of these state-
ments seemed more forthcoming, the
Egyptians and Jordanians still say that
it does not yet constitute Israeli ac-
ceptance of the resolution. Nothing
can happen, they insist, until this ac-
ceptance comes. For their part, the
Israelis want prior assurance that once
this issue is settled, the Arabs will
enter into substantive discussions.
If this obstacle is overcome or
by-passed, the next big issue will be
the "face-to-face talks" the Israelis
insist on but which the Arabs consider
an abomination. It is just possible
that both sides may eventually agree on
some sort of compromise, perhaps with
the parties sitting in separate rooms
and talking through an intermediary like
Jarring.
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7. Rumania
8. Persian Gulf
TOP SECRET -
Bucharest has asked for direct
talks with the US this week on the non-
proliferation treaty. This request is
puzzling. We do know that the Soviets
have tried and failed to satisfy Ruman-
ian misgivings about the draft treaty
and that the Rumanians have been press-
ing hard for guarantees against nuclear
blackmail. It is hard to see how the
Rumanians think the US could help them
on this.
On balance, this looks like an at-
tempt to bolster the world image of an
independent Rumania. It may also in-
volve a little game of psychological
warfare against the Soviets. Finally,
there is an outside chance that Bucha-
rest wants to use the treaty issue to
screen talks with the US on some other
topic, such as Vietnam.
The nine British protectorates on
the Gulf have announced their federa-
tion and the decision to assume respon-
sibility for their own defense and for-
eign affairs (see map). The agreement,
announced yesterday after a meeting of
the nine rulers, is to take effect on
30 March. The federation will probably
seek membership in the Cairo-backed
Arab League.
Cairo radio is already crowing
about the impending "birth of a new
Arab state, the 15th member of the
Arab League." If the federation holds
up, the British will have a good ex-
cuse to get out of the area well ahead
of their 1971 deadline, perhaps even
this year. The Shah of Iran, of course,
would be mightily upset by Arab unity
in the Gulf, particularly if it brings
an infusion of Egyptian influence there.
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FOR THE THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
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28 February 1968
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
28 February 1968
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
Release Sought for Captured West German Doc-
tors: Monsignor George Hussler, an official of the
West German office of the Catholic charitable organi-
zation Caritas, has contacted North Vietnamese offi-
cials in East Berlin regarding the release of five
West German doctors who disappeared from Hue during
the Tet offensive and may have been taken prisoner
by the Viet Cong. Hussler, who visited Hanoi in late
1966, is presently organizing a shipment of eight
tons of medical supplies to North Vietnam and feels
that this may facilitate his gaining the release of
the doctors. (The West Germans are preparing a simi-
lar shipment for South Vietnam.) North Vietnamese
officials in East Berlin told Hussler that his re-
quest would be forwarded to appropriate authorities.
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The last US newsman to travel to Hanoi was David
Schoenbrun, who went principally as an academician
and not as a reporter,
* * *
The Budapest Conference: Although the North
Vietnamese are unwilling to participate in the cur-
rent meeting of Communist parties in Budapest be-
cause of its Sino-Soviet overtones, Ho Chi Minh,
according to several press reports, has sent a
letter to the conference requesting a pledge of sup-
port. Hanoi propaganda, however, has as yet avoided
giving the conference any publicity.
* * *
II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
Hanoi Quotes Western Press on Westmoreland:
In its ng is anguage froascas on on ay, 'anoi
radio rounded up several critical articles in the
Western press on General Westmoreland. It reported
that the General has admitted that the Tet offensive
had placed his forces on the defensive, but ridi-
culed his claim that the US still maintained the
initiative in its sweep operations. Quoting an As-
sociated Press source, the radio said that US strat-
egy in the war had failed, and that many US officers
were unhappy with Westmoreland's strategy. The error
he has fallen into, according to Hanoi, is that he
is permitting the enemy to choose the conditions for
battle. Summing up, the Hanoi statement pointed out
that Westmoreland had few reserves to insure a
stronger defense of Saigon or Khe Sanh and warned
that the recent dispatch of 10,000 additional troops
falls far short of what is really needed to hold out
against new enemy thrusts, "let alone to make any
gains."
Tor :7, CCRET
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