THE SITUATION IN VIETNAM - 26 DECEMBER 1967

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Tet Declassified
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06752237
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: April 26, 2019
• Document Release Date: April 30, 2019
• Publication Date: December 26, 1967

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DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
MEMORANDUM
The Situation in Vietnam
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Information as of 1600
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HIGHLIGHTS
Communist forces in western Pleiku may be
preparing for new offensive.
I.. The Military Situation in South Vietnam:
No large-scale fighting was reported on 25-26 De-
cember. Viet Cong guerrillas in the delta, how-
ever, have launched another series of sharp at-
tacks (Paras. 1-2). North Vietnamese forces in
the western highlands may be preparing for new
attacks in northwestern Pleiku Province (Paras.3-6).
II. Political Developments in South Vietnam:
A government official doubts the effectiveness of
blocs in the National Assembly and says the gov-
ernment is delaying efforts to develop supporters
in the legislature (Paras. 1-2).
III. North Vietnamese Military Developments:
There is nothing of significance to report.
IV. Other Communist Military Developments:
Spanish repatriates report further details of
Chinese troop deployments in North Vietnam (Paras.1-3).
V. Communist Political Developments: North
Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh delivers hard-
line speech on Vietnamese Army Day (Paras. 1-3).
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I. MILITARY SITUATION IN SOUTH VIETNAM
1. No large-scale fighting was reported on
25-26 December. Viet Cong guerrillas ih the delta,
however, have launched a series of sharp attacks
similar to the nearly 40 separate attacks and ter-
rorist incidents reported during the night of 24-25
November and the coordinated attacks in Kien Hoa
Province in late October.
2. During the night of 21-22 December the Viet
Cong shelled six district towns and attacked 18 gov-
ernment outposts and installations throughout the
delta. Allied casualties in these actions and in
seven attacks the next day were 37 killed, 91 wounded,
and 21 missing. On 23 December the Viet Cong fired
some 100 mortar rounds into a district town in Chuong
Thien Province; five persons were killed and 33 wounded.
Twenty-five enemy initiated incidents occurred in the
delta on 24 December. On 25 December.. 13 truce vio-
lations were reported in the area. The Communists
may be concentrating these small-scale attacks in the
delta area to achieve maximum psychological effect
and propaganda value.
Enemy Activity in the Highlands
3. North Vietnamese military units continue to
maneuver throughout South Vietnam's western highlands
under the direction of the B-3 Front, the over-all
Communist command authority in the -area, and pose a
major threat to allied forces there. In addition to
the continuing reconnaissance activities and small-
scale probes in the Dak To area of Kontum Province,
radio stations serving several major North Vietnamese
military entities have been traced moving south into
northwestern Pleiku Province.
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6. Other significant indicators
culled from interrogation reports and captured docu-
ments point to an intensification of enemy activity
directed at US and South Vietnamese military instal-
lations and positions near :the provincial capitals
of Kontum and Pleiku. The main thrust of this ac-
tivity apparently is scheduled to begin before the
end of the year and continue into 1968.
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II. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN SOUTH VIETNAM
1. The government is biding its time before
seeking out administration supporters in either house
of the National Assembly, according to Nguyen Dinh
Xuong, a member of the Legislative Liaison Bureau �
in the prime minister's office. The bureau is the
main point of contact of cabinet officers and as-
sembly members. The government is waiting until the
assembly has "settled" down and blocs have been
formed before recruiting supporters for its programs.
Xuong claims that the situation in both houses is
fluid and cites the Democratic Bloc in the lower house
as a case in point. According to Xuong, this bloc--
generally considered to be progovernment--claims 51
members, but has only 36 and probably could not hold
all of those together for a vote on a critical issue.
He believes that a similar lack of cohesion probably
would affect all the other potential blocs.
2. Xuong speculated that the election of an
all-Catholic permanent bureau in the Senate may spur
the Buddhists to work closer together to ensure that
Catholics in the lower house will not gain a dispro-
portionate victory there. In this regard, Xuong said
there are indications that the "Tri Quang Buddhists"
may try to form their own bloc in the lower house to
counteract the Independent Bloc--estimated strength
about 19--which has become virtually a solid Catholic
grouping.
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III. MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS IN NORTH VIETNAM
1. There is nothing of significance to report.
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IV. OTHER COMMUNIST MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS
1. One of the repatriated Spanish foreign
legionnaires has reported further on Chinese Commu-
nist troops stationed south of Hanoi. According to
the source, Chinese troops deployed to the Hoa Binh
and Phu Ly areas in August 1966. The source heard
stories that two or three divisions were involved.
He described the Chinese as being encamped near
antiaircraft artillery positions at several points
along the road between these two areas, with the
greatest concentration near. Phu Ly. The Spaniard
also said that on this road there is a large Chinese
military vehicle maintenance and driver training
school.
2.
Since January an element of a suspect engineer divi-
sion has been located in the general Nam Dinh area.
Some antiaircraft artillery troops may have been
deployed there to protect them. There is, however,
no indication that major units are in the area.
3. Photographs of the areas between Hoa Binh
and Phu Ly will be analyzed in an attempt to verify
the Chinese activities described by the Spaniard.
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V. COMMUNIST POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
1. Ho Chi Minh's appearance as a major speaker
at Hanoi's anniversary celebrations on 23 December
apparently was designed to show both his countrymen
and the world that the aging Communist leader is
still a vigorous commander of a national inde-
pendence movement. The celebrations were a com-
bined ceremony marking both Vietnamese Army Day
and the Communist uprising against the French in
1945. Although the 77-year-old President of North
Vietnam has made brief public appearances during the
past year, he has not made major public addresses,
and his role in the anniversary celebrations will
help allay rumors among his own people that he is
gravely ill.
2. Ho's hard-hitting speech underscored Hanoi's
continued determination to prosecute the war and
he appeared to be talking as much to the South Viet-
namese as to the Northerners. He played up the
uprising against the French in 1945 as a national
occasion, called on the "31 million compatriots of
both zones" to fight until final victory, and
singled out Liberation Front commanders for inclu-
sion in his list of "valiant Vietnamese fighters."
His appearance and his speech projected an image
of a strong leader of a united people, and may help
to stiffen Communist morale on both sides of the
17th parallel.
3. Preliminary news accounts of the attendance
at the anniversary celebrations indicate that de-
fense minister General Vo Nguyen Giap was not
present. The celebration of Army Day is an event
which General Giap normally attends and at which
he speaks, and his absence is unusual. Hanoi has
not reported on Giap's activities since he report-
edly returned from the Soviet anniversary celebra-
tions in mid-November.
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Propaganda Commentary
4. The Vietnamese Communists are still main-
taining a cautious silence on President Johnson's
press conference comments about possible contacts
between the Thieu government and the Liberation
Front. On two recent occasions authoritative Hanoi
and Front spokes= have avoided specific comment
on this subject. Hanoi issued two propaganda at-
tacks this past weekend in which the President's
five points were condemned in general terms, and
his joint statement with Thieu in Australia and his
pre-Christmas travels were described as tricks and
peace frauds. The issue of Thieu-Front contacts
was not treated, however. The same reluctance
openly tO discuss the issue of contacts between the
Liberation Front and the Thieu government was
demonstrated by a Front representative in Le Monde
on 23 December. According to a State Department
summary of the interview, Front representative
Nguyen Van Tien turned aside a specific question
on this issue and said only that the US President
was merely launching one of his peace campaigns;
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