CURRENT INTELLIGENCE DIGEST 13 NOVEMBER 1967 - 1967/11/13

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Tet Declassified
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06662692
• Document Creation Date: July 27, 2018

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� DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
Current Intelligence Digest
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42
3.5(c)
13 November 1967
No. 0226/67
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3.5(c)
GENERAL
Vietnam
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CONTENTS
(Information as of 1200 EST)
Situation Report.
13 Nov 67
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Current telliaence Dicrest
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Vietnam
The Viet Cong's release of
three US prisoners in Cambodia
was apparently designed for
maximum propaganda impact.
The prisoners were "turned
over" to a US "peace committee
representative" at a ceremony
in Phnom Penh on 11 November,
then held incommunicado until
the following day, when they
were put on a Czechoslovakian
Airlines plane bound for Prague.
The prisoners and the "peace
committee representative" left
the plane at Beirut, however,
and will return to the US on an
American commercial airliner de-
parting Beirut this morning.
The Viet Cong's interest
in getting as much propaganda
mileage as possible from the
release is underlined in an of-
ficial Cambodian document de-
scribing a late August meeting
between the Viet Cong represent-
ative in Phnom Penh and the Cam-
bodian foreign minister. The
representative explicitly stated
that the prisoners would be re-
leased for "humanitarian rea-
sons," but with the real aim of
encouraging US antiwar groups
and demonstrating that the Viet
Cong had always treated prison-
ers well. He claimed that US
officials in the past had kept
freed prisoners out of reach� of
the public and prevented them
from freely expressing their
ideas.
Ho Chi Minh played no role
in the elaborate ceremonies in
13 Nov 67
GENERAL
Hanoi marking the 50th anniver-
sary of the Soviet Revolution.
The 77-year-old President's
only contribution to the occasion
was a bland article written for
the Soviet party paper. Given
the importance the Communists at-
tach to this anniversary, Ho's
absence from the festivities is
unusual. Illness may have pre-
vented him from attending.
Ho has, in fact, made only
three public appearances in re-
cent months. The last was for
North Vietnam's national day
celebrations held in late August.
Despite his inactivity and ap-
parent aloofness from the politi-
cal scene, there has been no in-
dication during the past year that
his subordinates have had dif-
ficulty in running the country
without his immediate leadership
and direction. The evidence sug-
gests that the regime's major pol-
icies--particularly on strategy
for the war and on possible peace
negotiations--have been the re-
of collective decision making.'kwk'l
Vice President Ky is not
entirely pleased with the Compo-
sition of the new cabinet.
Reportedly, there are only
five members of the cabinet or
the directorates who can be called
Ky supporters. These are Linh
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Quang Vien, minister of inte-
rior; Nguyen Bao Tri, minister
of revolutionary development;
Nguyen Xuan Phong, minister of
information; Truong Thai Ton,
minister of economy; and Nguyen
Ngoc Linh, of the directorate
of information.
Sharp engagements continue
to be reported in the Dak To
area of the central highlands
3.3(h)(2)
between US forces participating
in Operation MACARTHUR and ele-
ments of the North Vietnamese
B-3 Front. Cumulative casual-
ties for the heavy fighting in
the first 12 days of November
are: US--96 killed, 487 wounded,
and two missing; enemy--619
killed, seven detained, and 101
individual and 25 crew-served
weapons captured.
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13 Nov 67
3.3(h)(2)
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