THE SITUATION IN VIETNAM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00826A001500010031-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 3, 2012
• Sequence Number: 31
• Publication Date: December 16, 1966
• Content Type: MEMO

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'op Secret
DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
MEMORANDUM
The Situation in Vietnam
Top Secret
16 December 1966
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16 December 1966
Military operations in both North and South Viet-
nam remained at a low level for the second consecu-
tive day. Viet Cong forces continued to avoid signif-
icant: contact with the 33 allied ground operations cur-
rently in progress in the South and bad weather con-
tinues to hamper US air operations in the North.
I. The Military Situation in South Vietnam: Viet
Cong/North Vietnamese Army forces continue to avoid
major contact with large-unit allied ground operations
currently in progress (Para. 1). ARVN troops sustained
modex-ate casualties on 15 December while reacting to
a company-sized Viet Cong attack in Binh Thuan Province
(Para. 2) .
information on the mission and structure of the
Viet Cong in Khanh Hoa Province (Paras. 3-4). Weekly
reviE;w of South Vietnam Battle Statistics (Para. 5).
].I. Political Developments in South Vietnam: There
have been no significant developments in the Constituent
Assembly reported since its approval on 15 December of
a prE:sidential - prime ministerial system of government
(Paras. 1-2). The Peoples = Armed :Forces Advisory Council
has forwarded a general resolution on national political
parties to the Constituent Assembly (Para. 3). Minor
tradE: union officials in Saigon are criticising allied
en~c~?oachments on Vietnamese sovereignty in the hope of
attracting wider support from labor groups (Para. 4).
III. Military Developments in North Vietnam: There
is nothing of significance to report.
.CV. Other Communist Military Developments: There is
nothing of significance to report.
25X1
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V, Communist Political Developments: The Lib-
eration Front press representative in Phnom Penh
discussed the bombings of targets in the Hanoi area
and North-South relations (Para, l). East European
press reporting on the US raids on Hanoi is reported
(Paras. 2-3).
NOTE: The graphics on weekly South Vietnam
Battle Statistics will appear in the
issue of 18 December.
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~ V
Demilitarized Zone
~QO~B Toi
`~
Hue' '~~'~ -
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I. THE MILITARY SITUATION IN SOUTH VIETNAM
1. Communist forces continue to avoid signifi-
cant contact with the 33 battalion-size or larger allied
ground operations currently in progress.
2. On 15 December, an estimated Viet Cong company
attacked a hamlet four miles northeast of Phan Thiet,
the capital of coastal Binh Thuan Province. Two bat-
talions of the 44th ARVN Regiment and one armored per-
sonnel carrier (APC) company were dispatched to rein-
force the one Popular Forces company defending the
hamlet. The APC unit lost nine killed, 36 wounded,
and one captured during a four-hour fire fight with
the attacking force. Enemy losses included six killed
and one captured.
Viet Cong Plans in Khanh Hoa Province
3. Information on the mission and structure of
Viet Con forces in Khanh Hoa Province has been ro-
vided
the North Vietnamese Army 18 "B" Regiment had
ep oye probably from adjacent Phu Yen Province where
it has been carried in MACV's order of battle) to north-
eastern Khanh Hoa Province in preparation for a dry season
offensive campaign against the following potential tar-
gets: Nha Trang Air Base, Cam Ranh Air Base, and the
district towns of Ninh Hoa, and Dien Khanh.
as dispersed elements. For example, component battalions
of the 165A Regiment are variously located around the
capital zone.
reports that similar steps are being taken in some areas
north of Saigon. Some units, however, normally operate
though there have been a number of recent
4. in an ef-
fort to strengthen the guerrilla movement in Khanh Hoa
Province, the Viet Cong had disbanded their 86th Main
Force Battalion in September 1966 and reassigned its mem-
bers to various district and local force units. This is
the first report stating that a regular unit
has been broken up and reassigned to district units, al-
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Weekly Review of South Vietnam Battle Statistics
5. The week of 4-10 December compared with
27 November - 3 December:
I.
Viet Cong Incidents
Time
At-
Regimers~cal
Battalion
Period
tacks
size
size
27 Nov-3 Dec
13
0
0
4-10 Dec
24
0
3
Time Company
Period size Harassment Terrorism
27 Nov-3 Dec 2 285 18
4-10 Dec 2 306 27
Time Sabo- Propa- Anti- Total
Period tage ganda Aircraft Incidents
27 Nov-3 Dec 29 19 170 534
II.
Casualties
VC/NVA
GVN
27- Nov-3 Dec
- 0 Dec
Nov- Dec - Dec
Killed
1,181
589
139
216
Wounded
-----
---
373
383
Missing/
162
235
14
247
Captured
TOTALS
1,343
824
526
846
I-2
16 December 1966
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US
FREE WORLD
27 Nov-3 Dec
- 0 Dec
Nov- Dec
- Dec
Killed
43
83
8
9
Wounded
521
559
39
26
Missing/
6
7
0
0
Captured
TOTALS
570
649
47
35
III. Weapons Captured
VC/NVA
GVN
27 Nov-3 Dec
-10 Dec
7 Nov-3 Dec -1 Dec
Individual
240
Not
102
248
Crew-Served
26
Reported
2
3
TOTALS
266
104
2.51
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II. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN SOUTH VIETNAM
1. In reporting the decision of the Constituent
Assembly to include a prime minister as well as a
president in the future government, the US Embassy
has pointed out that it is unclear whether the
future legislature would need a majority or two-
thirds vote to remove the prime minister from of-
fice, There was some indication during the assembly?s
debate that a two_thirds vote would be necessary for
such action. This would give the prime minister a more
stable position.
2. On 16 December, the assembly was scheduled
to discuss the inclusion of a vice president in the
organization of the executive branch, but no reports
on this session have been receivedo Another assembly
discussion of Decree Law 21--the assembly?s founding
law--was scheduled for the afternoon of 15 December,
but postponed by chairman Phan Khac Suu because gov-
ernment leaders have not formally replied to the
assembly?s requested changes in the law.
' 3. The Peoples - Armed Forces Advisory Council,
whicYi is now in session, has forwarded to the Constit-
uent Assembly a resolution affirming the necessity of
constitutional provisions dealing with the establish-
ment and regulation of national political parties.
Impl:i.cit in sending the resolution to the assembly
was the council?s recognition of the assembly?s pri-
macy in this matter, which the embassy interprets as
a hei~.lthy signo Earlier, there had been evidence of
some rivalry and friction between the elected assembly
and the appointed advisory council. The latter was
established by government leaders last summe~? to
advise the regime on political ,..economicA social,
and cultural matters.
Labor Faction Critical of
Vietnamese Sover~eigrity
4, Some 250 workers attending a public meeting
organized by minor trade union groups in Saigon on
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15 I3ecember approved a petition which criticized
current US practices which allegedly encroach
upon Vietnamese sovereigntye The petition was
not distributed, but reportedly contained a
specific demand for the removal of allied troops
from Saigon because of their "abusive" treatment
of Vietnamese, as well as a general demand for
respect for Vietnamese sovereignty, The US Em-
bassy has commented that the labor officials
behind the meeting and the petition are opposed
to the dominant Confederation of Vietnamese Labor
(CVT), and apparently are looking for issues to
increase their followings They apparently felt
they could exploit such issues as the temporary
detention last week by US military police of Saigon's
mayor and certain labor inequities now in the proc-
ess of being corrected,
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III. MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS IN NORTH VIETNAM
1. There is nothing of significance to reports
1. There is nothing of significance to report.
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V. COMMUNIST POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
1. Pham Van Quang, the Liberation Front news
representative in Phnom Penh, held a press confer-
ence on 16 December on the occasion of the sixth
anniversary of the founding of the NFLSV. During
the course of his talk, which was reported by West-
ern press sources, Pham employed routine language
to condemn the recent US air raids on targets in
the Hanoi area and promised Viet Cong reprisals "as
was i:he case in similar raids in the past." In dis-
cuss:Lng relations between Hanoi and the Front, Pham
reiterated the usual Communist propaganda that the
NFLSV-made its own policy independently of North
VietYiam, though "Hanoi might eventually become the
capii:al of a united Vietnam?" It is very rare for
a Liberation Front representative to suggest that
Hanoi might at some time in the future be the cap-
ital city of a reunified Vietnam. Generally, DRV
and Liberation Front officials treat the entire re-
unification issue with circumspection, alleging only
that it will be settled once the war in the South
is over.
East European Press on Hanoi Raids
2. The barrage of East European propaganda
against the US bombing of the Hanoi area continues
to intensify. Formal government statements condemn-
ing the raids were issued by Poland on 1S December
and by Hungary~Czechoslovakia and Rumania on 16 De-
cember. The Rumanian statement, one of the most
forcE:ful in recent times, referred to alleged damage
suffered by the Rumanian Embassy in Hanoi. Although
East European press coverage of the raids was cony
demnatrary in tone, the Polish press admitted that
damage to civilian areas of Hanoi may have been the
result of "errors and blunders" by the pilots in-
volved and not the result of a deliberate US policy.
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3~ Thus far,-the only demonstration in Eastern
Europe against recent US actions in Vietnam occurred
in front of the US Embassy in Warsaw on the after-
noon of 16 Decembero A 20-minute incident by some
60 teenagers was relatively subdued and well con-
trol]_ed by about 35 policemen. The embassy suffered
no damage and no protest to the Polish Government
is planned.
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Top Secrete
Top secret
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