THE SITUATION IN VIETNAM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00826A000800350001-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 17
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 30, 2004
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: June 10, 1966
• Content Type: MEMO

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CE44T R A .1 N-,T .tl L ~.I C E ITT E (' G
PREPARED FOR THE NATIONAL. SECURITY COUNCIL
FURTHER DISSEMINATION OF I NFORMATLON
CONTAINED HEREIN IS NOT AUTFIORIZED~
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State Dept. review completed
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Heavy fighting continues for the fourth day be-
tween Communist forces and allied troops participating
in Operation HAWTHORNE in western Kontum Province.
There has been little change in the number or type
of Chinese Communist forces in North Vietnam during
the past three months.
1. The Military Situation in South Vietnam:
Heavy fighting continues between ommunis orces
and allied troops participating in Operation HAWTHORNE
in western Kontum Province (Para. 1). Operation
MAKIKI ended in northern Hau Nghia Province as allied
forces captured large amounts of equipment and sup-
plies (Para. 2). point -U /ARVN Operation FLORI70:'/
DOAN KET I began today 15 miles northwest of Hue
(Para. 3). Operation APACHE, a search-and-destroy
operation northwest of Chu Lai, also began today
(Para. 4). US soldiers participating in Operation
PAUL REVERE in western Pleiku Province have cap-
tured a large quantity of Communist weapons and
ammunition, including the first sizable amount of
Soviet small-arms ammunition to be recovered (Para.
5).
II. Political Developments in South Vietnam:
The government is pressing efforts to restore law
and order in Hue (Paras. 1-2). Tri Quang has re-
portedly been taken to a hospital in a weakened
condition from his hunger strike (Paras, 3-4).
Premier Ky has been granted power for three months
to deal with South Vietnam's economic situation
(Para. 5). Premier Ky is apparently planning to
attend the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference in
Seoul in mid-June, according to press reports
(Paras. 6-7).
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Communist Political Developments
6everal
Nurun Vietnamese diplomatic personnel in free world
countries are reassigned (Paras, 4-5). Peking
attacks proposals put forth at the Soviet-sponsored
World Peace Council (Para. 6).
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South Vietnam Battle Statistics 28 May - 4 June 1966
Viet Cong Incidents
Viet Cong Attacks
Weapons Losses--GVN/VC
South Vietnam Battle Statistics 28 May - 4 June 1966
Total Personnel Losses
Cumulative US Combat Casualties
Total Friendly Forces Personnel Losses
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NORTH
,DOng Hoi
VIETNAM
'7 Sfpone'
"CSavannakhet
SOUTH VIETNAM
CURRENT SITUATION
0 25 50 75 1ODMdes
25 5(~ 75 160 Kilometers
62620
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THE MILITARY SITUATION IN SOUTH VIETNAM
1. Heavy fighting, now in its fourth day, con-
tinues between Communist troops and US and South
Vietnamese forces participating in Operation HAW-
THORNE in western Kontum Province, 280 miles north
of Saigon. Allied reinforcements have been flown
into the battle area and have been supported by
tactical air and artillery strikes. Enemy losses
are expected to be heavy. Unofficial reports indi-
cate that 240 enemy troops have been killed thus
far. The latest report of friendly casualties in-
dicates 27 Americans have been killed and 140 wounded
with eight ARVN troops killed and 22 wounded,
2. Operation MAKIKT, a joint US/South Viet-
namese search-and-destroy operation conducted in
northern Hau Nghia Province, ended on 8 June. Large
amounts of enemy equipment and supplies were cap-
tured, including 110 individual weapons, 30 cases
of TNT, approximately 60,000 rounds of small-arms
ammunition, and small quantities of grenades, rock-
ets, and recoilless rifle shells. Friendly forces
also destroyed 39 tunnels, 25 buildings, 22 bunkers,
and a large quantity of grenades, mines, and booby
traps. Thirty-four tactical air strikes were flown
in support of the week-long operation. Final casu-
alty figures included three Americans killed and 85
wounded, with 21 Viet Cong killed and 32 captured.
3. A combined US/South Vietnamese search-and-
destroy operation began on 9, June 15 miles northwest
of Hue in Thua Thien Province. Operation FLORIDA/
DOAN KET I is composed of five ARVN battalions and
two battalions of 'US Marines. A series of fortified
positions, trench lines, sniper holes, cooking uten-
sils, and bunks were discovered and destroyed. ARVN
units made light contact with a small enemy force to-
day, resulting in five Viet Cong killed and one cap-
tured,
4. One battalion of US Marines began Operation
APACHE today. This search-and-destroy operation is
being conducted northwest of Chu Lai in Quang Tin
Province.
10 June 1966
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Soviet Ammunition Captured in Pleiku Province
5. Elements of the US 25th Infantry Division
participating in Operation PAUL REVERE have cap-
tured a large quantity of Communist weapons and
ammunition, including the first sizable amount of
Soviet small-arms ammunition to be recovered. In-
dividual Soviet cartridges and machine-gun belts
containing Soviet cartridges have previously been
captured, but no Soviet small-arms ammunition, in
cases, had been captured. Also found were 81 So-
viet and Chinese rifles and carbines which were in
poor condition due to storage in extreme dampness.
The arms cache was found earlier this week in a
swampy area in western Pleiku Province near the
Cambodian border,
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Hue
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN
1. The government flew about 350 combat police
into Hue on 10 June via Vietnamese aircraft to as-
sist Colonel Khoa, the province chief, in restoring
law and order. No incidents between the riot po-
lice, the "struggle" forces, or 1st Division troops
have been reported.
2. Radio Hue was reinstituted by progovernment
officials on 9 June and broadcast messages on the
10th from General Lam to clear the Buddhist altars
off the roads. Civil servants were ordered back to
work, and the population was warned not to interfere
with security forces that would be confiscating all
illegal weapons. The clandestine "Voice of Buddhist
Salvation" radio on 10 June called on followers to
move altars to the side of the road so traffic could
pass. They were advised, however, to gather around
the altars in a nonviolent manner if government
troops attempted to move them.
3. Tri Quang, according to press reports, was
taken to a nearby hospital in a weakened condition
to continue his fast against President Johnson's sup-
port of the Ky-Thieu regime.
4. General Thi, in a conversation with a US con-
sular officer on 10 June, displayed his irritation
with Tri Quang and the "struggle" movement. Thi re-
ported that the movement has been infiltrated by Com-
munists, whom he named. Thi appraised General
Nhuan's role as weak and indecisive, despite Nhuan's
latest announcement over the government radio that
persons would be "tried" in a military court if they
interfered with police efforts to confiscate illegal
weapons.
Ky Granted Power to Deal With Economic Situation
5. Chief of State Thieu officially transferred
the right to deal with Vietnam's economic and finan-
cial policies from the new 20-man Directorate to
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Premier Ky, Ky is now empowered to promulgate de-
crees to combat inflation for the next three months,
according to a communiqub announced by the official
Vietnam press agency.
Ky Apparently to Attend Foreign Ministers Conference
n Korea
6. Premier Ky announced that he will address
the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference in Seoul,
scheduled to open on 14 June, according to a press
report. The move is seen as an attempt to demon-
strate to the country that the government considers
its position still viable after weeks of antigovern-
ment opposition.
7. The tension and controversy that Ky's at-
tendance at Seoul will generate among the delega-
tions is likely to destroy the conference's prospects
for bringing the nonbloc countries of the area closer
together and establishing a pattern for useful re-
gional consultation and cooperation.
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V. COMMUNIST POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
Changes in DRV Diplomats in the Free World
4. The press in Algiers has now reported that
the North Vietnamese ambassador--as well as the
Liberation Front representative--is returning home
for another assignment. Like his Front counterpart,
DRV ambassador Tran Van So has been stationed in
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Algiers since 1963 and is giving the impression that
his return to Hanoi is part of a routine reassign-
ment. Tran Van So was in Hanoi for two months in
February and March for the conference of DRV diplo-
mats, but had reportedly returned to his duties in
Algiers by early April. This is the most recent
Hanoi-initiated personnel change among top DRV rep-
resentatives abroad since the diplomatic conclave
in Hanoi early in the year. Others have occurred
in Iraq--where Hanoi reportedly ordered its trade
mission in Baghdad closed by the end of June,
shortly after the head of that mission returned to
his post from Hanoi--and in Burma. The number of
such changes in recent months suggests a routine
replacement of diplomats.
5. One other recent change in DRV/free world
relations--the closing of the DRV Embassy in Ghana
--was apparently not on Hanoi's initiative, but was
requested by the Ghanaians.
Peking,Attacks Soviet-Sponsored Peace Proposals
6. Peking's propaganda attack on the Soviet-
sponsored World Peace Council proposals for a ne-
gotiated settlement in Vietnam appears designed
not only to blast the Soviet "revisionist" views
on Vietnam but also to lecture Hanoi against ac-
cepting any plan for a compromise settlement.
NCNA on 9 June broadcast an interview with a Chi-
nese delegate to the World Peace Council meeting
on 14 and 15 May in Berlin. It quoted him as de-
claring that the Council's Vietnam proposals were
designed by Moscow "with a view to peddling Lyndon
Johnson's schemes for peace talks." The Council's
five-point program generally resembled Hanoi's
own plan for a Vietnam settlement, but the Chinese
delegate ignored the similarity and instead in-
sisted that by omitting any reference to "the
immediate and total US withdrawal from South
Vietnam," it left out the "key" to a Vietnam set-
tlement.
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 SOUTH VIUMMAd Phi L .-eSI Td51J.C5IA-RDP79T008z'4pt000800350001-9
Viet Cong Incidents
Antiaircraft Fire I
Propaganda
Sabotage
Terrorism
JAttacks j j
Viet Cong Attacks
Company and battalion sized attacks
Battalion sized (and larger) attacks only
Weapons Losses
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 SOUTH Ai~LUMof mill-LE2o IVAT).f>TdA~%DP79T0082"000800350001-9
3= -.= K_iY REPORT 28 MAY - 4 JUNE 1966
Total Personnel Losses F-
(Killed in Action, Captured or Missing in Action, excluding Wounded in - ction)
- GVN /US/other Free World
- Viet Cong/PAVN
- US only
Cumulative, 1961-1964
255
Cumulative, 1965
1365
Cumulative, 1966 to date
2042
TOTAL
3662
1524
6110
12607
20241
12
136
69
217
AUG t SEPT I OCT I NOV I DEC I JAN i FEB I MA
Total Friendly Forces Personnel Losses
(US/GVN/Other Free World)
SEPT 1 OCT NOV 1 DEC
US Combat Casualties in Vietnam
(including North Vietnam)
Missing or Captured in action U Wounded in action
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