THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 20 MARCH 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005974337
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: March 20, 1968

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The President's Daily Brief
Top Secret 20 March 1968
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DAILY BRIEF
20 MARCH 1968
1. South Vietnam
2. United Kingdom
South Vietnam's military leaders
seem to be pushing for a greater voice
in the government.
Jenkins' budget appears just tough
enough to satisfy foreign bankers. Up
till now, they have felt that the Labor
government was really not biting into
the problem of getting Britain to pay its
own way.
The budget's new tax measures are
designed to cut domestic consumption by
nearly $2 billion, an amount above the
figures called for by many financial ob-
servers. An increase in the sales tax
on most consumer goods and in the tax
paid by employers on personnel engaged
in service rather than production will
provide the bulk of the revenue.
The budget can probably be gotten
through Parliament in two or three weeks.
Jenkins took a little of the sting out by
leaving income taxes untouched, by pro-
viding for a small increase in family al-
lowances, and by exempting beer and ale
from the new round of taxes.
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3. Poland
4. Eastern Europe
The full text of Gomulka's speech
yesterday is not yet in, but an official
summary shows that for the most part the
Polish leader was temporizing in the po-
litical crisis generated by the riots.
By postponing major moves, Gomulka un-
doubtedly hopes to gain time to re-estab-
lish a modicum of party unity. The thrust
of the speech, however, indicates that
the party hardliners currently have the
big voice. For one thing, Gomulka admit-
ted that while the party is not anti-Semi-
tic, it is anti-Zionist, and said that
Jews who "consider Israel their father-
land" should emigrate.
* * *
Soviet press coverage of Czech de-
velopments is picking up a bit, but Mos-
cow has yet to mention the wave of leader-
ship changes and the demands for policy
reform. Pravda describes the current
round of provincial party meetings in
Czechoslovakia--which in fact are produc-
ing bitter factional fights--as "routine
accountability and election conferences."
The Ulbricht government is clearly
upset by the "democratization" going on
in Prague. East German press commentary
on the Czech situation has been thoroughly
misleading; Prague radio has even had to
deny an East German newspaper's charge that
the entire development was "the work of
Western imperialists."
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5. Cambodia
6. Guatemala
We have an official Cambodian ac-
count of a recent meeting between one of
Sihanouk's deputies and the Liberation
Front's representative in Phnom Penh.
The Cambodian initiated the meet-
ing to complain about Viet Cong rice smug-
gling and other unauthorized border ac-
tivities, and to warn about "serious ob-
stacles" if these actions are not stopped.
He made it clear that Cambodia feels it
is under increasing pressure from the US
over the sanctuary problem.
The Front man, with conciliatory
language, admitted there might have been
instances when the Viet Cong crossed
the border in "error." He went so far
as to ask for a list of violations so
they could be stopped.
This is only one of a number of in-
dications recently that the Cambodians
are taking additional steps to keep the
war outside their borders.
The fate of the Archbishop of Gua-
temala--abducted by terrorists on Satur-
day--is still in doubt.
There is increasing speculation
that the prelate was abducted by extreme
right-wing opponents of the President.
High government officials, ranking mem-
bers of the ruling Revolutionary Party,
and local church leaders surmise that
these extremists hope to force the Mendez
government to fall.
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Top Secret
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Top Secret
FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
Top Secret
16
20 March 1968
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
20 March 1968
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
UPI on North Vietnamese Attitude: K. C. Thaler,
UPI correspondent in London, has published another
piece on Hanoi's attitude toward negotiations based
on unidentified East European sources. Although we
agree with Thaler that Hanoi is not interested in
negotiations except on its own terms, we have no con-
fidence in the details of his story or in his sources,
who clearly are expressing opinions not based on any
inside information from Hanoi. Thaler, for instance,
says his sources assert that "hardliners" are firmly
in the saddle in Hanoi and are "more self-assured
than ever" because they believe political developments
in the US are working in their favor. These sources
say that Hanoi feels it cannot lose by waiting and
may win by just standing pat through the summer and
waiting for the results of the US elections. Mean-
while, goes the story, the Communists are continuing
to inflict casualties on US forces in hopes of putting
additional pressure on US public opinion.
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Hanoi doubtless is encouraged by rising anti-
war pressure on the administration and probably
will seek to encourage this pressure whenever pos-
sible. The Communists are not sitting back and
waiting for events in the US to hand them a victory,
however. Their expectations for eventually pre-
vailing in Vietnam continue to rest primarily on
their belief that they can frustrate US programs in
South Vietnam and prolong the war until the US is
willing to compromise its objectives. Their mili-
tary and political efforts in the South are geared
mainly to this strategy and not to a hope of influ-
encing the US public.
* * *
Anti-US Meetings Scheduled in Europe: Two con-
ferences on Vietnam--one in Sweden and the other in
France--are scheduled for this Saturday. The French
Communist Party is sponsoring a meeting of "French
Intellectuals for Vietnam," which apparently is to
be attended by several North Vietnamese representa-
tives. The conference in Sweden will be run by the
coordinating committee set up at last summer's Stock-
holm conference. Various unspecified US citizens
reportedly are to attend. The meeting will provide
a test of whether the Swedish non-Socialist parties
have succeeded in muzzling Socialist Education Minis-
ter Palme, a vociferous opponent of the war.
* * *
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Mai Van Bo to Switzerland: Mai Van Bo, the
North Vietnamese representative in Paris, arrived in
Switzerland on 19 March for a week of discussions
with Swiss officials, His visit follows up a trip
to Hanoi late last month by the Swiss ambassador to
Peking(
The dispatch of Bo--Hanoi's chief spokesman
in the West--suggests that Hanoi does not intend to
limit its discussions in Bern to humanitarian or Red
Cross matters as it has done in the past. Bo will
probably provide the Swiss with a full and detailed
briefing on the North Vietnamese position on the war,
negotiations, and possibly on matters related to the
Geneva accords. He may also be expected to probe
further on the question of more formal diplomatic
recognition.
* * *
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Danish Minister Pushing Dutch Proposal: A Dan-
ish minister is making the rounds in Europe to drum
up support for the proposed Dutch demarche to Hanoi
and Washington. The minister--whom our embassy terms
inept and visionary--is alleged to believe that the
Dutch draft is too much like the San Antonio formula.
He is trying to get something "closer to what Hanoi
might accept . "/
* * *
II, NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
Hanoi Publicizes Alleged Letter by Marine Offi-
cer: In its English language program to American
17..vicemen in South Vietnam on 14 March, Hanoi
broadcast what it claimed was a letter from an un-
identified Marine lieutenant to Senator Fulbright.
The Marine told of having his early idealism shat-
tered when he realized that the war in Vietnam was
being directed against the innocent populace and
for a government which the South Vietnamese people
do not support. The Marine claimed that there were
many other Americans in Vietnam who shared his view
and he thanked Fulbright for his efforts to "bring
out the truth and to get this thing stopped."
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Top Secret
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