THE SITUATION IN VIETNAM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00472A001900010016-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 2, 2012
• Sequence Number: 16
• Publication Date: February 24, 1965
• Content Type: MEMO

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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/08/02 : CIA-RDP79T00472A001900010016-4
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE. AGENCY
Office of Current Intelligence
24 February 1965
INTELLIGENCE MEMORANDUM
The Situation in Vietnam as of 0600 EST
Political Developments in South Vietnam
1. General Khanh appears to be resigned to
leaving South Vietnam in his new capacity of "roving
ambassador." Talking to reporters in Dalat yester-
day,?Khanh seemed relaxed but resentful of the way
in which he had been removed as commander-in-chief.
He implied that his services might again be needed
in South Vietnam "at some point."
2. There are indications that Buddhist leaders
are assessing recent developments in Saigon and are
apprehensive that Khanh's ouster may have anti-Bud-
dhist overtones. Addressing followers in Saigon
yesterday, Buddhist monk Tam Chau made no direct
reference to Khanh. He, stated that the. Buddhists are
opposed to any coup d'etat but added they will sup-
port the present government.
3. Press accounts of the meeting quote Chau
as calling for an end to the fighting, similar to
remarks allegedly made by Tri Quang to a reporter
last week. Chau
commented that supporters of Communism should go to
North Vietnam and that supporters of freedom should
stay in the South.
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Viet Cong Military Activity
5. Viet Cong activity continues to pick up
throughout the country, most notably in the southern
provinces where some drop in intensity was reported
last week. In central Vietnam, extended fighting
has been reported about midway along the main road
linking the II Corps command in Pleiku with its
supply depots at Qui Nhon on the coast. Although
periodic upswings of Viet Cong activity have been
observed as a past pattern, the present gradual
step up may reflect Communist efforts to take
advantage of the latest political upheavals in
Saigon.
6. Further analysis of the.coastal freighter
sunk by South Vietnamese aircraft last week indicates
that it was 120 feet long.and had. a cargo capacity
of 100 tons. Components examined to date include
an engine of East German design, a French engine
order telegraph, and a Chinese windlass. Place of
construction and registry are still unknown. The
ship is not salvageable by flotation, although
various small sections could be recovered. As of
21 February the ship had been stripped of all name-
plate data, weapons and cargo by underwater demoli-
tion personnel. This material has been turned over
to J-2, MACV for. analysis.
Communist Military Developments
7. No Chinese Communist or Vietnamese military
deployments connected with Vietnam have been detected
in the last 24 hours.
8. Preliminary analysis of 19 February photo-
graphy suggests that the Chinese are building a
second new airfield near the Vietnamese border,
about 25 miles northeast of Mengtzu. An area some
7000 feet long has been cleared and approximately
34 buildings were noted there. Earlier photography
had indicated that a major airfield has been under
construction since October at Ningming, some 20
miles from the Vietnamese border.
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12. The Soviet freighter Admiral Senyavin
.(reported in the 21 February Sitrep as unloading
unknown cargo on 18 February in Nam Dinh, a port
for Hanoi) is now known to have been carrying about
4,500 tons of fertilizer and is not believed to have
carried any military cargo. The ship departed the
Soviet Far East on 29 January, several days prior
to Kosygin's visit, and has been in North.Vietnamese
ports since 10 February.
Communist Political Developments
13. Soviet caution in handling the Vietnam
crisis is reflected in Mikoyan's 23 February remarks
at a reception for Finnish President Kekkonen. Ac-
cording to a TASS report, Mikoyan confined. himself
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to a reiteration of support for the Geneva agree-
ments and'stressed the need to prevent a wider mili-
tary conflict in Southeast Asia. He took much the
same line in his response to Cambodia's 11 February
request asking the USSR to intercede with the US
and Britain for an immediate convening of a Geneva
conference.
14. Commenting on Soviet Ambassador Vinogradov's
23 February meeting with President De Gaulle in Paris,
press reports based on."reliable sources" stated.
that the USSR agreed with French desires for a new
conference on Vietnam but on the condition that the
US bombing raids on North Vietnam are halted for two
or three weeks. The same sources maintained that
this was also Hanoi's position and implied Communist
China's agreement. However, TASS coverage of the
meeting did not mention negotiations but.simply
stated that Vinogradov had said that "efforts should
be made to remove the danger...in the area."
15. No major propaganda pronouncements on the
Vietnamese situation have been issued during the past
24 hours by Peiping or Hanoi.
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