THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 13 JANUARY 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005974222
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: January 13, 1968

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The President's Daily Brief
?fol,-S.efizet 13 January 1968
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DAILY BRIEF
13 JANUARY 1968
1. Greece
2. Cyprus
Ambassador Talbot reports that the
junta leaders have reached the explosion
point over what they consider refusal
of their NATO allies to do business with
them.
On Thursday Interior Minister
Pattakos complained bitterly to an
embassy officer that the "attitude" of
the US and other NATO countries is
creating uncertainty among the Greek
people.
Later that night, Papadopoulos was
slightly more restrained during a long
talk with the Ambassador. Papadopoulos
nevertheless insisted there is no valid
reason for US refusal to continue formal
relations. He threatened to announce
within a week that "NATO had rejected
Greece."
The junta has been hot under the
collar over alleged US coolness ever
since the April takeover. The vehemence
of these recent remarks suggests some
troublesome public statement may in
fact be imminent.
The Turks, convinced that U Thant
favors the Greek Cypriot position, have
made clear they want no part of him as
a mediator of the basic dispute. Ankara
insists that U Thant's mandate does not
cover mediation of a final settlement
anyway, and thinks he should stick to
security matters and disarmament of "il-
legal" forces.
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3. Laos -
North Vietnam
4. South Vietnam
5. South Vietnam
The North Vietnamese tried some-
thing new in northern Laos yesterday,
and it flopped. Two little biplanes
tried to bomb the important anti-insur-
gent staging base at Phou Pha Thi. The
gunner on an Air America helicopter
shot down one with a carbine, and the
other crashed into a hillside. Damage
was minimal to the base, which also
provides communications and navigational
support for US air operations over
?North Vietnam.
We have been hearing persistent
reports of an enemy buildup in this
area, but so far there is no sign of
any ground attack to follow up the "air
raid."
The strikes in Saigon spread yes-
terday when dock workers walked out to
protest the arrest of the six labor
leaders on Thursday. The six, mean-
while, refuse to negotiate an end to
the electrical workers strike while they
remain behind bars.
President Buu of the Vietnamese
Confederation of Labor blames Labor
Minister Long for the problem because
of his opposition to all independent
labor groups. Buu is nevertheless do-
ing what he can to settle the trouble.
Rice production for this crop year
is going up about three percent, accord-
ing to early figures of the Ministry of
Agriculture. This would be the first
increase since 1964. The higher nation-
wide output would be due wholly to in-
creases in the Delta provinces; produc-
tion in other areas actually declined.
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6. Middle East
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al
Top Secret
FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
Top Secret
16
13 January 1968
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
13 January 1968
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
'North Vietnam has begun to issue propaganda in
support of Foreign Minister Trinh's 30 December
Statement: Thus far, it is limited to underscor-
ing the importance of the new formulation and to
pointing out that the US has failed to respond. It
contains no elaboration of what Hanoi has in mind
regarding any talks with the US.
In separate broadcasts on 11 and 12 January,
Hanoi praised the "correct stand" of the North
Vietnamese government as expressed in Trinh's re-
marks, and stressed that the new formulation had
already received world-wide support. The broad-
casts went to great length to indicate that the US
is attempting to distort Hanoi's position and that
the Americans continue to put forward their own
"arrogant terms" for talks. Hanoi discounted
statements by US officials that Trinh's remarks
are being studied and claimed that the US position
as espoused in the San Antonio formula is "an in-
solent demand that our people accept the US terms
before the US agrees to stop the bombing." The
statements also pointed to the recent alleged
bombing of a Soviet and a Chinese ship and other
"war acts" as evidence of US bad faith and that the
US intends to intensify and expand the war.
* * *
Moscow Takes Pessimistic Line: TASS notes a
commentary in the Soviet military newspaper Red
Star of 12 January saying that once again thT-US
is showingit is not interested in a peace settle-
ment. Claiming that "American politicians" still
are seeking a military solution to the Vietnam con-
flict, the paper asserts that an expansion of
military action is Washington's "reply" to Hanoi's
recent statement that it will talk after a bombing
halt. The article says US escalation has always
brought about new measures by the Vietnamese "and
their friends," and that this will be true this
time as well.
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OUAI
* * *
War Protesters in Holland Are Dealt a Heavy
Blow: The Dutch Vietnam Committee, one of the two
biggest Dutch organizations protesting the war.
has decided to dissolve itself
This will be an important setback for the
organized Dutch protest movement and probably means
a deflation, at least for the time being, to the
anti-Vietnam demonstrations in Amsterdam, where
most of this kind of activity has taken place.
NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
Nothing of significance to report.
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