THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 4 DECEMBER 1967

Document Type: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
0005974153
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
T
Document Page Count: 
10
Document Creation Date: 
September 16, 2015
Document Release Date: 
September 16, 2015
Sequence Number: 
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
December 4, 1967
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24: CIA-RDP79T00936A005600240001-9 The President's Daily Brief 4 December 1967 23 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600240001-9 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A0056002400011,1 1 DAILY BRIEF 4 DECEMBER 1967 1. Cyprus 2. South Vietnam 3. Nigeria 4. Congo Greece and Turkey have accepted the terms of U Thant's 'plea for peace and offer of the UN's good offices. As of 5:00 AM EST, however, there was no official word that Cyprus had ac- cepted Consultations to end the crisis are now expected to shift to the UN. Saigon officials are considering resuming diplomatic relations with In- donesia. The Indonesians have sug- gested the South Vietnamese open a con- sulate general's office in Djakarta. Some South Vietnamese want to hold out for a full embassy, but others, in- cluding Ky and Foreign Minister Do, ap- pear willing to take what they can get. 50X1 50X1 50X1 The federal government now will be able to buy military equipment in Brit- ain. London previously had restricted arms sales to the Nigerians The British are now prepared , to sell the Nigerians "what they want." The federal government, wasting no time, has sent a representative off with a long military shopping list. Most of the Katangese rebels who had fled to Rwanda have been repatriated to the Congo, where (so far) they have been treated decently. The white mercen- aries, however, are still in Rwanda, where, to their immense irritation, they are being "processed" by representatives of the Organization of African Unity. 50X1 50X1 WA1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600240001-9 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600240001-9 50X1 5. Soviet Union 6. Communist China 7. Cambodia Clashes between rival Red Guard units continue to be reported from widely scattered parts of China. The key railroad to west China is still closed to through traffic because of Red Guard activities. Many of the Guards are again using firearms as they did during the bloody summer months. Fighting, however, is still on a smaller scale than it was then. Sihanouk has been saying that Sino- Cambodian relations are back on the track; now he has underlined this by accepting a new offer of Chinese mili- tary aid. The Chinese have been supply- ing Cambodia with arms since 1964, but this latest gesture is clearly a peace offering to smooth things over after Sihanouk's anti-Chinese outbursts ear- lier this fall. Peking's new aid will include ammunition and an unspecified number of patrol boats and reconnais- sance planes. 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600240001-9 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600240001-9 Top Secret Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600240001-9 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600240001-9 Top Secret FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY Special Daily Report on North Vietnam Top Secret 50X1 16 4 December 1967 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600240001-9 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600240001-9 50X1 Special Daily Report on North Vietnam for the President's Eyes Only 4 December 1967 I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION Traffic Moves in Hanoi: Heavy traffic was moving on the principal rail and highway routes in the Hanoi area as of 1 December Most of the trains and trucks appeared to be heading toward Hanoi from the direction of China and from Haiphong. Doumer and Canal at full capacity both the des Rapides bridges were operating Friday night. train and truck movement been heavy and continual during At the Canal des Rapides cross- an alternate rail and still out, but a pontoon bridge main span was carrying additional on both bridges had the preceding week, ing, highway bridge was to the west of the truck traffic. Military truck convoys were reported moving from Haiphong to Hanoi on Route 5. .Heavy traffic was also observed moving south on Route lA and moderate truck activity was evident on Highway 3. No delays were noted, observations suggest that Hanoi is taking advantage of the poor flying weather over North Vietnam to replenish supplies consumed during the past six weeks of heavy bombing in the capital area. * * * 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600240001-9 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600240001-9 2- 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600240001-9 50X1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600240001-9 50X1 * * * Peking Protests Ship Incident: The Chinese Com- munist Foreign Ministry issued a statement Saturday protesting a 25 November US air attack on a Chinese freighter anchored at the North Vietnamese port of Hon Gai. Peking claimed the attack wounded eight Chinese crew members and seriously damaged the ship. The Chinese protest went no further than Peking's standard anti-US rhetoric and its pledges of support for the "Vietnamese people." * * * -3- Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600240001-9 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600240001-9 50X1 II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL ATTITUDES ON THE WAR More on Secretary McNamara: The Viet Cong's Liberation Radio crowed on 30 November that "McNamara has been dismissed," and that this happened because the Communists have defeated "all the strategies and tactics of the most talented collaborator of Johnson." The commentary says that "now the war of aggression of the US imperialists is going to collapse completely." It reviews US progress in Vietnam since 1961 and says that it was "McNamara himself" who devised the strategies and tactics and guided their execution. The commentary concludes by asserting that "any tal- ented man who dares shoulder the heavy load (McNamara) leaves behind, will surely face more bitter, stronger, and more ignominious defeats." -4- 50X1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600240001-9 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600240001-9 Top Secret Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600240001-9