THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 22 JULY 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005976263
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: July 22, 1968

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The President's Daily Brief
--ToTS-re et? 22 July 1968
23
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THE PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF
22 JULY 1968
1. Czechoslovakia -
Soviet Union
It Seems clear that the two sides
are headed for the negotiating table, but
Czechoslovakia is stalling until Soviet
troops are out of the country. . At last
report not all the troops had gone, al-
though their departure was continuing..
A well-informed Czechoslovak source
has told our embassy that Prague would
be willing to make Some concessions.
These might include an end to Czech cri-
ticism of the Warsaw Pact structure, a
moratorium on .independent moves in for-
eign policy, and restraint in treating
the role of the Soviets in the repressions
of the past.
The regime made it clear in Friday's
central committee resolution, however,
that the basic principles underlying its
policies were not negotiable. Certainly
the concessions mentioned by the embassy
source do not go to the heart of the com-
plaints in last week's letter from War-
saw.
Moscow too has shown little inclina-
tion to yield on fundamental issues.
Pravda did take pains yesterday to deny
that the letter from Warsaw constituted
an ultimatum to Prague. In general, how-
ever, the Soviets have kept up their
drumf ire of propaganda on the "counter-
revolutionary threat" to Czechoslovakia.
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2. Malaysia-
Philippines
:Soviet Union. ?
4. Soviet Union -
Venezuela
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The Malaysians have a report that
a Philippine infiltration group is headed
for Sabah. Although they themselves are
dubious about the report's validity, they,
have moved ten naval craft to Sabah. The
Filipinos, who have a flotilla of their
own near Malaysian waters, apparently have
not yet learned of the Malaysian move.
? Although there is an obvious danger
that these precautionary measures will
lead to fighting, both sides seem to be
working in private to ease their strained
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We now tend to believe that the
Caspian sea monster--the huge aircraft--
like vehicle under development in a
Caspian port--is an experimental air-
foil ship, possibly a prototype of a high
speed marine transport vehicle. It is
300 feet long and is powered by ten jet
engines--eight in the nose and two in the
tail assembly. The craft weighs. between
500,000 and one million pounds. The
C-5A, by contrast, is 246 feet long and
weighs 323,000 pounds.
Some of the Soviet tankers in the
Cuban trade apparently will carry petro-
leum produced by Western firms in Vene-
zuela on their trips back to Europe.
These services/
will
provide Moscow with an additional source
of foreign exchange and will in effect
subsidize Soviet oil shipments to Cuba.
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5. Nigeria
6. India
Federal and Biafran representatives
have agreed on an agenda for talks which
are to take place soon in Addis Ababa,
but neither side has budged significantly
on substance. We think Lagos will per-
sist in its demands for a Biafran renun-
ciation of secession, since Gowon would
be in trouble with his top advisers if
he did anything else. As for the Bia-
frans, their campaign to bring world pres-
sure to bear on Lagos is probably going
well enough to discourage any concessions
on their part.
Thus, although the chances have im-
proved that relief supplies will start
flowing soon, we do not think an end to
the war is much closer than it was be-
fore the two sides agreed to meet.
Word of Soviet arms sales to Paki-
stan has given Mrs. Gandhi's critics a
chance to pounce on her
/ These critics, both in and
out of the Congress Party, will be argu?
ing that the arms sales spell the failure
of her policy of close ties with the So-
viets.
Since she is her own foreign min-
ister, Mrs. Gandhi will have to take the
brunt of the attack/
We do not expect a concerted move
against her from inside the party, how-
ever, unless her performance is particu-
larly poor. The Congress majority in
Parliament is just too thin to permit
extensive intraparty squabbling. More-
over, although she has alienated some
important Congress figures, she remains
a formidable power in party circles.
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Top Secret
FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
1. Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
North Vietnamese Reflections of U S
Political Attitudes
Top Secret 50X1
16
22 July 1968
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
22 July 1968
NOTES ON THE SITUATION
Negotiations and the Liberation Front: Viet-
namese Communist commentary during the weekend rein-
forces the impression that Hanoi is no longer in-
sisting that .a political settlement must be "in ac-
cordance with" the program of the National Libera-
tion Front. This shift has been in train for months,
but was formalized in a foreign ministry memorandum
last week.
Xuan Thuy continued to obfuscate the issue dur-
ing public appearances in Paris, but North Vietnam-
ese propaganda is less obscure and seems to underline
the change. A Hanoi broadcast in English on 20 July
summarizing a Liberation Front press commentary con-
cludes by saying that the internal affairs of South
Vietnam should be settled in accordance with the
"spirit" of the Front program. This language was
not in the Front commentary the radio was review-
ing, but it was used in the foreign ministry memo,-
randum. Front broadcasts and commentary have simply
avoided the "in accordance" formulation. The chief
of the Front mission in Hanoi referred to a settle-
ment "in keeping" with the Front program at a meet-
ing on 20 July, according to a Hanoi broadcast.
Even Ho Chi Minh's much vaunted "appeal" on the
anniversary of the Geneva Accords contains at least
a hint of this shift in Communist tactics. The ap-
peal is the usual propaganda fare for such occasions,
but it gives special prominence in one passage to
the new Communist front organization, the Alliance
of National, Democratic, and Peace Forces. It men-
tions the National Liberation Front only in saying
that the South Vietnamese are fighting under the
Front's banner.
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The concept of a "third force" embodied in the
Alliance is now a fundamental part of the Vietnamese
Communist strategy for a settlement. .Plans for us-
ing the concept are being kept deliberately vague,
however.r
Such vague hints fit a growing pattern suggest-
ing the Communists are angling for a political voice
in South Vietnam via the Alliance concept, if not
via the Alliance itself. There is no evidence that
the Communists are changing their basic position of
categorically refusing to deal with the so-called
"Thieu-Ky clique," but their evolving tactics sug-
gest they may be more flexible on this key issue than
indicated by their standard position.
* * *
Delay in Return of US Pilots: Rumors about the
three American pilots released by Hanoi were wide-
spread this weekend. Reports they were going to
surface in Pakistan or in Europe did not pan out.
/Our best guess is that they, will come out on
the ICC flight from Hanoi to Vientiane next Friday.
The reason for the delay is not clear./
/ At
the ceremony last week in which the pilots were
turned over to the pacifists, however, the Commu-
nists pointedly contrasted the release with "in-
tensified" US air attacks in both North and South
Vietnam. Hanoi may have delayed the pilots' travel
in order to sound out US intentions further.
The only recent word from Hanoi on the pilots'
status is a curiously phrased reply which the North
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Vietnamese news agency gave yesterday to a French
press query. The agency said the three pacifists
were still in Hanoi and that "we therefore presume"
the pilots are still in.North Vietnam, "since they
should in principle leave with their compatriots
under the latter's responsibility."
* * *
?North Vietnamese Meet Polish ICC Rep: :Hanoi
Radio noted on 18 July that Premier Pham Van Dong
'had received Ambassador Stanislaw Dobrowolski,.the
new:chief of the Polish delegation .to the Interna-
tional Control Commission, The Pole has also called
on Foreign Minister Trinh and a vice minister of de-
fense. These are only, courtesy calls, but .the Poles
may have picked up some tidbits about North Vietnam's
current attitude toward the ICC, and more broadly,
about the possibilities or re-.establishing some Of
the military provisions of the Geneva Agreements.
? II. .NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
There is nothing of significance to report today.
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