THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 27 DECEMBER 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005976533
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: December 27, 1968

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006600320001-9
The President's Daily Brief
27 December 1968
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THE PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF
27 DECEMBER 1968
. Vietnam
2. EURATOM
3, Japan
Heavy Communist reinforcements
appear to be headed for the two north-
ernmost provinces of South Vietnam, A
North Vietnamese division may be in-
volved. Intercepted communications in-
dicate elements of two, and probably
?three, regiments are moving south
through southern North Vietnam and Laos.
They seem to be coming around, rather
than through, the Demilitarized Zone.
Arrival of a new division would almost
double enemy main force strength in
this area.
For the first time, West Germany,
Italy, and the Benelux members of
EURATOM have ridden over French objec-
tions and agreed on a major research
program without French participation.
Normal operation of some 50 col-
leges is now impeded by disorders, and
one university has been closed. The
students are making demands, familiar
from Berlin to Berkeley, for changes
in educational policies and school ad-
ministration. And, as elsewhere in the
world, a small but vocal band of ultra=
leftist radicals is spearheading the
battle with the "establishment." So
far, Sato has no solution, and growing
public .criticism could cost him politi-
cally.
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4. Nationalist China
5. Middle East
6. Italy
There ?appears to be growing senti-
ment at top levels of government for
reducing Nationalist China's oversized
armed forces. Both Defense Minister
Chiang Ching-kuo and the chief of the
general staff are thinking in terms of
cutting back the 600,000-man military
establishment. (A reduction of 50,000
is one figure mentioned.) They face
one big problem, however--Chiang Kai-
shek. The elder Chiang, locked to his
pledge to retake the mainland, would
cast a cold eye indeed on any proposal
to reduce armed strength.
Chiang Ching-kuo has implied on
several recent occasions that he might
be able to persuade his father to trim
manpower if he got a US-supported equip-
ment modernization program.
Yesterday an Egyptian official
briefed the US representative in Cairo
on Gromyko's visit. The Egyptian said
the Soviets would be contacting .the US,
probably with an updated version of the
timetable proposal they made earlier.
This was a scheme that would have both
sides agree to a schedule of reciprocal
actions leading finally to Israel: with...
an Arab statement of non-
belligerency..
The Egyptian also noted the Soviets
had been fully briefed on recent US-
Egyptian contacts and raised no objec-
tion. The Russians, in fact, had sug-
gested such contacts be maintained.
The Italians intend to sign the
nonproliferation treaty soon, possibly
within the next few weeks. Foreign Min-
ister Nenni told Ambassador Ackley that
the treaty was too important to delay
despite the invasion of Czechoslovakia.
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Top Secret
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FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
.) Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
.) North Vietnamese Reflections of US
Political Attitudes
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27 December 1968
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
27 December 1968
1, NOTES ON THE SITUATION
Observations from Hanoi:
picture of life in that city in early December.
Slow progress has been noted in efforts to
clean up the debris in the streets of Hanoi, and
attempts are being made to redecorate some of the
buildings and shops in the center of the city.
Some factories on the outskirts of Hanoi are being
cleared of rubble and roofed and are then used to
house light industries and as warehouses. Foxholes
and shelters are being cleaned and repaired, and
the latter are being painted.
? Employees at a factory near the consulate gen-
eral are continuing to receive regular training in
drill, camouflage, and small arms, but
the exercises as designed pri-
marily to keep the population alert and active,
rather than serving any real military role,
air raid
shelter construction continues., although apparently
at a reduced level. Large-scale underground con-
struction is ?under way at two sites in the city. A
Vietnamese source is quotedas.Stating that many more
deep .and strong shelters are under construction but
are not normally .noticeable to persons above ground
as access to them is from the inside of buildings.
The economy continues plagued by a rice shortage.
Beginning on 1 December, the proportion of cereal
substitute (usually flour) in the rice ration was in-
creased to 60 percent. Small bakeries have been
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opened in the center of Hanoi and machines installed
for making the flour (which the Vietnamese do not know
how to use in their homes) into a type of vermicelli.
Finally, a Soviet assistant military attach?as
returned from a visit to the northern provinces com-
plaining that he was obliged to obtain a pass from
Chinese military officials to travel in certain areas.
The Soviet officer also reported that during the
course of his tour, he was stopped several times for
?his pass to be checked by Chinese soldiers.
:Haiphong Conditions: A picture of jumbled piles
of goods inthe streets is provided by another recent
eye-witness account of a visit to North Vietnam's
biggest port. The source
was in,Haiphong early, this month. He described an in-
credible collection of supplies stacked everywhere.
"The entire city is crowded With Storage vans,
crates, ?and open piles of equipment. Beginning at
the-entrance to the main port area, and reaching out
to the suburbs, every street is jammed with equipment
-which has been unloaded at the port."
The source remarked that the city looked like
one vast storage depot'. There have been numerous re-
ports from a variety of sources describing much the
same scene.
* * *
Logistic Activity Continues to Increase: A high
level of logistic activity continued in southern North
Vietnam during the past week.
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watch teams near Mu Gia Pass during WA1
December have indicated a sharp seasonal rise in Lao-
tian trucking, but nothing like the increased logistic
effort in southern North Vietnam since the bombing halt
in November.
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.II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
,ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
There is nothing of significance to report
today.
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Top Secret
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