THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 30 MARCH 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005974355
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: March 30, 1968

' Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006000050001-5
The President's Daily Brief
Top Secret 30 March 1968
23
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DAILY BRIEF
30 MARCH 1968
1. South Vietnam
2. Jordan-Israel
The series of attacks forecast in
"N-Day" messages has not yet material-
ized, but Communist intercepts still
point to early wide-ranging actions.
Yesterday's exchange turned out
to be short-lived, but it was fairly in-
tensive while it was in progress. In
addition to the artillery duel all along
the Jordan valley, Israeli planes strafed
Jordanian artillery positions.
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The Israelis may have held off on
follow-up ground action because of do-
mestic criticism of last week's attack.
Critics said it cost too much in terms
of lives and equipment for what was ac-
complished.
Both Jordan and Israel have called
for a Security Council meeting. The
council is expected to meet at 10:30
this morning.
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Military Position in Laos Remains Unchanged
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3. Laos
4. North Korea
5. Cuba
Fighting has tapered off recently,
but the Communists are capable of re-
suming their dry season offensive at
any time. In the northeast, they have
not yet made their expected attacks
against two key government guerrilla
bases, but we believe they will before
the monsoon season starts in late May.
Heavy truck traffic from North
Vietnam toward the Plaine des Jarres
indicates that the Laotians may be on
firmer ground than usual this year in
making their annual prediction of a
Communist offensive in that area.
In the south, the North Vietnamese
have not pressed their threat to Sara-
vane and Attopeu. It may be that all
they intended was to screen the substan-
tial movement now under way of men and
material through the infiltration cor-
ridor.
Satellite photography of 16 March
suggests the North Koreans have begun
to ?take the Pueblo's electronic gear
apart. Although the major antenna hous-
ings seem still to be intact, the boom
of what looks like an automotive crane
extends over the Pueblo's well deck. At
the rate the dismantling process seems
to be going so far, the North Koreans
will probably have to hold the Pueblo
for quite some time if they plan a full
study of the ship and its gear.
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6. Guatemala
7. Czechoslovakia
8. Nepal
The army, obviously caught by sur-
prise, has not yet reacted to President
Mendez' sudden shakeup of the command
structure.
This may make it easier for the
Communists to carry out their terrorism,
however, which would soon get Mendez in
hot water again with the military. The
new defense minister, while popular, is
probably not tough enough to keep the
army in line.
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Top Secret
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Top Secret
FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
.) Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
.) North Vietnamese Reflections of US
Political Attitudes
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16
30 March 1968
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
30 March 1968
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
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Collingwood in Hanoi: CBS announced this morn-
ing that Charles Collingwood is in North Vietnam for
an "indefinite stay." Collingwood went to Hanoi on
yesterday's ICC flight from Vientiane.
* * *
* * *
in the North Vietnamese capital the
population of the city is about 300,000. This repre-
sents a reduction of the city's prewar population by
about two-thirds and is in line with the government's
aim to evacuate more than half a million Hanoi resi-
dents. This goal was probably accomplished by last
fall; suggests that the regime has
finally been successful in making it stick. Earlier
evacuation measures have been frustrated by people
gradually drifting back home.
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the bombed-out
railroad workshop at Gia Lam has not been repaired,
but work continues at the yard on damaged locomotives.
* * *
II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
Hanoi on Khe Sanh Defenses: A Hanoi radio in-
ternational broadcast in English yesterday quoted a
Christian Science Monitor article of 22 March on the
military vulnerability of Khe Sanh. As usual, the
broadcast selected out the Monitor's critical comments
on US military defenses without adding much original
commentary. This type of treatment is a standard
North Vietnamese propaganda technique and seems to be
deliberately chosen to appeal to Western audiences.
The North Vietnamese are apparently aware that their
own propaganda commentary does not go over well with
foreign audiences
In their brief broadcast of the article on Khe
Sanh, for example, the North Vietnamese quoted the
Monitor as saying the Marines at Khe Sanh were wor-
ried about their capability to maintain their supplies
and to counter Communist firepower. They also high-
lighted the criticism of the straight-line trenching
system at Khe Sanh, which made it possible for the
enemy to roll grenades like bowling balls down the
trenches.
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