THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 7 AUGUST 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005976291
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: August 7, 1968

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006300170001-9
The President's Daily Brief
?5T-orSter-e4...7 August 1968
23
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THE PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF
7 AUGUST 1968
1. Czechoslovakia -
Soviet Union
2. Soviet Union
The Soviets are not letting Prague
forget that they are watching. Al-
though yesterday's official Soviet com-
muniqu?voided the harsh language of
July, it reminded the Czechs that carry-
ing the provisions of the Bratislava
agreement into action was the "prime
international task" for the agreement's
signers. Moscow, the communiqu?aid,
"will be doing, for its part, every-
thing in its power to this end."
There is still no sign that the
Soviets and their conservative allies
have moved any of their troops away
from the Czechoslovak border.
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3. Iraq
4. Panama
5. Ecuador
President-elect Velasco is now
threatening not to take office on 1 Sep-
tember. His reason is that outgoing
President Arosemena has signed a bill
giving tenure to most public employees,
and Velasco had been counting on pass-
ing out government jobs wholesale to
his supporters.
Our embassy believes Velasco will
eventually be prevailed on to assume
the presidency, but not even his close
associates can predict with any confi-
dence what he will do. He may not even
know himself.
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Top Secret
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Top Secret
FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
1.) Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
2.) North Vietnamese Reflections of U S
Political Attitudes
Top Secret
16
7 August 1968
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only -
7 August 1968
I. .NOTES ON THE SITUATION
? Propaganda May Herald Offensive: Recent North
Vietnamese propaganda reinforces indications that
the Communists are on the verge of another offensive
in South Vietnam. Some Hanoi domestic broadcasts
seem designed to brace the North Vietnamese for an-
other major effort and possibly for a resumption of
heavier and more wide-ranging US air attacks.
Hanoi is arguing that because the US is still
bent on a military solution, additional Communist
military pressure is required, The North Vietnam-
ese use statements by top US leaders as evidence for
their conclusion.
In one recent domestic broadcast, Hanoi radio
said that President Johnson On 31 July had mentioned
the possibility of "increasing military measures."
Listeners were told the Johnson administration was in
a "vicious cycle" which could only be broken by Com-
munist military force. An editorial in Nhan Dan on
3 August called on the populace to be ready for new
.US "escalation" and emphasized once again that this
required special measures to maintain internal se-
curity and public order. Other commentary over the
past week or so has been in a similar vein.
* * *
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II, NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL .
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
day.
There is nothing of significance to report to-
--2-
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Top Secret
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006300170001-9