THE SITUATION IN VIETNAM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00472A001900020008-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 7, 2012
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: March 8, 1965
• Content Type: MEMO

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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/07: CIA-RDP79T00472A001900020008-2
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Office of Current Intelligence
8 March 1965
The Situation in Vietnam as of 0600 EST
Communist Political Developments
1. Hanoi has routinely protested to the ICC in
Vietnam on 7 March the arrival of US Marines at Danang
in South Vietnam as a violation of the Geneva accords.
An editorial in the official North Vietnamese daily on
8 March used the Marines' arrival to lend credence to
the contention that the US is systematically expanding
the war, but did not call for any specific counter-
action. Propaganda broadcasts from both Peiping and
.Moscow have condemned the arrival of the Marines,
claiming that the US has now become an "open belliger-
ent."
2. At a press conference in Peiping on 8 March,
the Deputy Chief of the Communist National Front for
the Liberation of South Vietnam rejected any negotia-
tions "so long as there is one single shadow of US
imperialism in Vietnam." Although the Vietnamese
"welcome the good intentions of those seeking a peace-
ful settlement," the NFLSV representative stated, "we
must achieve our aims."
Communist Military Developments
3. No significant Communist military develop-
ments in connection with the Vietnamese situation
.have been noted in the past 24 hours.
5. Some details of a North Vietnamese order to
retain in service trained military personnel were
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/07: CIA-RDP79T00472A001900020008-2
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to release
on y those who are weak, sick, physically disabled
or who suffer extreme family hardships, and
radarmen--are not to be demobilized under any cir-
cumstances.
certain specialists--such as electricians and
Viet Cong Military Activity
6. Viet Cong military activity remained in-
tense during the weekend, with the bulk of reported
incidents characterized primarily by mortar shell-
ings of district towns, harassing fire actions
against government troops, outposts, watchtowers,
and hamlets, small-scale terrorism, mine detonations,
and sabotage against lines of communication.
7. Fighting continued yesterday north and
south of the joint US - South Vietnamese air base
at Da Nang. According to press reports, 78 govern-
ment soldiers were killed or wounded in two days of
fighting, while the Viet Cong suffered an estimated
140 casualties. The guerrilla force south.of Da
Nang has been estimated at a thousand men armed with
mortars and 57-mm. recoilless rifles.
8. Seventy-three government troops were killed,
wounded, or missing as a result of the 6 March.Viet
Cong attack on Rung-La Post in Long Khanh Province.
The attackers captured a significant number of weap-
ons. No known losses were sustained by the insurgents.
9 According to late press reports, heavy fight-
ing broke out in Binh Dinh Province 265 miles north
east of Saigon just before dawn Saigon time. A 400-
man Viet Cong force attacked a Special Forces camp
with mortars, recoilless rifles, and small arms.
Heavy casualties were sustained on both sides.
.Internal Developments in South Vietnam
10. Representatives of South Vietnam's Catholic,
Buddhist, Cao Dai, and Hoa Hao religious groups ap-
peared yesterday at a unity rally called by the Rev.
Hoang Quynh, one of the country's militant Roman
Catholic leaders. Father Quynh told newsmen that
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/07: CIA-RDP79T00472AO01900020008-2
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/07: CIA-RDP79T00472AO01900020008-2
the purpose of the meeting was to seek friendship and
unity based on anti-Communism among the various re-
ligious sects. Asked if any position was taken in
regard to the current Saigon government, Quynh re-
portedly replied, "We are not opposed to the govern-
ment but there is not much sympathy for it."
11. An armed clash between Buddhist and Catho-
lic groups was reported to have occurred late Sunday
on the outskirts of Saigon, marking the first out-
break of violence between the two groups since last
fall. About 200 persons from nearby Buddhist ham-
lets reportedly insulted and harassed members of a
Catholic refugee resettlement area at Phu Tho Hoa
on the city's northern edge. At least 15 refugee
structures were burned and 2 others pulled down.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/07: CIA-RDP79T00472AO01900020008-2
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