THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 3 JANUARY 1968

Document Type: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
0005974204
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
T
Document Page Count: 
13
Document Creation Date: 
September 16, 2015
Document Release Date: 
September 16, 2015
Sequence Number: 
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
January 3, 1968
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PDF icon DOC_0005974204.pdf198.85 KB
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005700170001-6 The President's Daily Brief Top Secret 3 January 1968 23 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005700170001-6 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005700170001-6 50X1 DAILY BRIEF 3 JANUARY 1968 1. Cambodia 50X1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005700170001-6 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005700170001-6 2. South Vietnam 3. Australia 4. Communist China 5. Soviet Union 50X1 The Communists are intensively preparing for a new round of attacks near Dak To, not far from the Cambodian border area The upsurge of violence around the country in recent ?weeks is largely traceable to Mao's latest fulminations. Brezhnev has postponed the visit he was to make to Nasir next week. A heavy workload of domestic business seems the most likely explanation. 50X1 50X6 50X1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005700170001-6 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005700170001-6 6. Middle East 7. Syria 8. Common Market 50X1 Gunnar Jarring, now on his second round of Middle East capitals, is still searching vainly for some kind of "open- ing" toward a settlement. Last week he found the Israelis unbudged. They con- tinue to balk at any "piecemeal" steps toward settlement. A Middle East solu- tion, they insist, must be the result of an over-all, formal agreement; this can come only from meetings among the interested parties. The Israelis have decided, however, on two moves which they hope will im- prove the atmosphere for Jarring's talks. They will agree to the removal of the trapped ships from the canal, and they have released a new batch of Arab prisoners. The wildmen running the regime have isolated themselves not only from the rest of the Arab world, but also from most of their own people. Even the Russians have had little success in their attempts to calm down the Syrian leaders. The British are billing Foreign Secretary Brown's consultations with Italian Foreign Minister Fanfani in Rome last Friday as the beginning of a "new cycle" in London's bid for Common Market membership. 50X1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005700170001-6 50X1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005700170001-6 )0X1 A-1 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005700170001-6 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005700170001-6 A-2 50X1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005700170001-6 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005700170001-6 Top Secret Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005700170001-6 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005700170001-6 Top Secret FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY Special Daily Report on North Vietnam Top Secret 50X1 is 3 January 1968 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005700170001-6 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005700170001-6 xi Special Daily Report on South Vietnam for the President's Eyes Only 3 January 1968 I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION _ * * * 50X1 50X1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005700170001-6 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005700170001-6 DOX1 * * * The Trinh Statement: like Hanoi's English language version, contained the phrase that North Vietnam "will hold talks" with the US if the bombing is stopped. Is the orth Vietnamese ambassador in the Chinese capital left hurriedly--presumably for Hanoi--on 2 January. There was no indication that the am- bassador's departure was related to the Trinh state- ment, but this seems to be a reasonable assumption. Peking has not taken note of the foreign minister's remarks and it is doubtful that the Chinese, who have never commented publicly on the earlier Trinh remarks about talks, will report this latest state- ment. * * * -2- 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005700170001-6 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005700170001-6, jjxi Hanoi Economic Claims: North Vietnamese propa- ganda continues to insist that the bombings have not stopped expansion of local light industries which sup- port agriculture and produce consumer goods. The al- leged gains, however, probably have not matched either the regime's plans or its needs. A Hanoi broadcast on 30 December says that 500 light industry plants have been built in dispersed locations in rural areas during the past two years. Virtually all of these plants are small-scale, work- shop-type operations and most produce such things as farm tools, processed foods, glassware, matches, and cigarettes. The output of these industries is said to have increased "substantially and in some cases up to 30 percent" compared with 1964, the last prebombing year. There is no doubt that dispersed light industries have enjoyed high priority during the bombing years. The broadcast claimed, for instance, that investment in them doubled in 1966 and increased by 37 percent in 1967. It did not claim, however, that these indus- tries have met the country's needs, but said only that they "made an important contribution" toward this end. Reports from North Vietnam, including those from the Spaniards who left only recently, consistently describe shortages of consumer goods. Shortfalls in produc- tion are to some extent being met by imports from other Communist countries. 50X1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005700170001-6 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005700170001-6, II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL ATTITUDES ON THE WAR There is nothing of significance to report. ?4- 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005700170001-6 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005700170001-6 Top Secret Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005700170001-6