THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 28 SEPTEMBER 1976

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006466857
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: September 28, 1976

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The President's Daily Brief
September 28, 1976
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Exempt from general
declassification schedule of E 0 11652
exemption category 5B( I ) (2) (3)
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
,
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
September 28, 1976
Table of Contents
Lebanon: Palestinian sources claim Syrian and Lebanese Christian
forces opened an offensive this morning in the mountains east
of Beirut. (Page 1)
USSR: The Soviets are building a new radar facility in the
north-central USSR that apparently will complement the
existing early warning coverage against ballistic missiles.
(Page 2)
Angola-USSR: President Agostinho Neto will seek clarification
of the USSR's role in Angola when he visits Moscow early
next month. (Page 3)
Notes: Japan; Poland; Cuba-Angola; China; UK (Pages 5, 6, and 7)
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LEBANON: Preliminary
press reports this
morning, quoting Pales-
tinian sources, claim
Syrian and Lebanese
Christian forces have
opened an offensive in
the mountains east of
Beirut.
Lebanese President Sar-
kis had continued yes-
terday to probe leaders
of every persuasion as
to their attitude to-
ward a settlement.
The Shia Muslim commu-
nity in south Lebanon
is completely alienated
from the Palestinians,
according to the Leba-
nese ambassador to Iran
who has just returned
from home leave.
A meeting between Sarkis and PLO
leader Arafat scheduled for Sunday
was canceled after leftist leader
Kamal Jumblatt was fired on fol-
lowing an earlier meeting with
Sarkis. Sarkis met yesterday with
Christian extremist leader Shamun,
who reiterated his hard-line position.
The ambassador, who is from a
prominent family in south Lebanon,
told US embassy officials in Te-
hran that the Palestinians treat
the local population with contempt,
expropriate property, demand pay-
offs, and kill for real or imagined
slights. The Shias of the south
are ready to oust the Palestinians
and have discussed some form of
military cooperation with Chris-
tian leaders.
The ambassador also said there is
widespread disillusionment among
both officers and enlisted men of
the Lebanese Arab Army--the break-
away Muslim faction that was al-
lied with the leftists--who now
feel they have been fighting for
no useful cause and are defecting
in growing numbers.
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
An indication of Soviet
support for Syria's po-
sition in Lebanon ap-
peared in Pravda yester-
day.
USSR: The Soviets are
building ?a new radar
facility in the north-
central USSR that ap-
parently will comple-
ment the existing early
warning coverage against
ballistic missiles.
The defection of the Lebanese Arab
Army would not seriously weaken
leftist ranks. The present ten-
dency toward realignment, however,
does appear to reflect the low
morale of leftist and Palestinian
forces--and the friction between
them--as the war drags on and the
initiative seems to remain in
Christian and Syrian hands.
Pravda carried a news report on
President Asad's speech to his
troops on the Israeli border. The
report included Asad's justifica-
tion for the presence of Syrian
troops in Lebanon as well as his
specific criticism of the PLO role
there.
Moscow seems to be making an ef-
fort to acknowledge the realities
of the Lebanese situation. A So-
viet official in Cairo recently
said the Soviets- believed it was
necessary for the Syrians to re-
main in Lebanon to guarantee any
settlement of the crisis.
The size of the antenna at the new
facility at Pechora and the dis-
tance from it to the associated
control building suggest that the
phased-array radar being built
there will provide much better
tracking, prediction and target-
tracking capabilities than the
existing Hen House radars in the
USSR. Another new. but different
kind of phased-array radar is be-
ing built at Olenegorsk.
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Ballistic Missile Early Warning Radar Coverage
Early warning radar coverage
62E1173 9-76 CIA
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
ANGOLA-USSR: President
Agostinho Neto will seek
clarification of the
USSR's role in Angola
when he visits Moscow
early next month.
The construction of additional
ballistic missile early warning
radars is not prohibited by the
ABM treaty, provided they are lo-
cated on the periphery of the So-
viet Union and are oriented out-
ward, as the Pechora and Olenegorsk
radars are. The treaty does, how-
ever, bar the construction of any
additional ABM battle management
radars.
The new large antennas at Pechora
and Olenegorsk have the potential
for use in ABM battle management
rather than early warning. The
radars, however, would add nothing
to the current capabilities of the
Moscow ABM system, and we see no
indications that the Soviets intend
to deploy ABM missiles outside the
Moscow area.
The Pechora antenna is oriented
toward the west coast of the US
and would detect ICBMs launched
into the central USSR. The Olene-
gorsk antenna is oriented toward
the eastern US and could detect US
ICBMs launched into western USSR.
The Soviets would still lack early
warning coverage of US ICBMs
launched toward the far eastern
USSR, and consequently may build
two or more radars along the north-
ern border to fill this gap.
* * *
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The Angolans may have balked during
the May meeting at a Soviet request
for access to Angolan naval and air
facilities. This would have less-
ened Moscow's generosity. The USSR
may raise the issue again, although
there is no reason to believe that
Neto's position has changed.
From the Soviet standpoint, Neto's
visit is well timed because it of-
fers Soviet leaders an opportunity
to press their attack against the
Rhodesian settlement plan. Neto
will probably be cautious about
associating himself with any So-
viet attacks that would put him
out of step with other front-line
African presidents inasmuch as he
values his newly acquired status
as a member of this group.
The Soviet visit could be offset
somewhat by Angola's expected re-
sumption of diplomatic ties with
Portugal at about the same time.
The Angolan and Portuguese foreign
ministers are to meet in Cape Verde
around October 1 to work out final
arrangements. Neto is anxious to
resume the ties in order to balance
his foreign relations and broaden
his sources of assistance. .
* * *
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Japanese Prime Minister
Miki has accepted the
suggestion of officials
from the Foreign Minis-
try and Japan Defense
Agency that the US be
allowed additional time
for direct examination
of the Soviet MIG-25.
The Polish Supreme
Court today suspended
the prison sentences of
seven workers who were
jailed for activity dur-
ing the strike in June.
NOTES
Miki's revised deadline--extending
direct US access to the aircraft
through October 3--is apparently
firm.
Foreign Minister Kosaka will con-
firm Japan's commitment to return
the MIG-25 during his meeting with
Foreign Minister Gromyko at the UN
today, but reportedly will avoid
giving Gromyko a firm date. Japa-
nese defense officials calculate
that it will take about two weeks
to prepare the aircraft for ship-
ment. Should negotiations for the
transfer proceed rapidly, even the
Japanese investigation of the MIG
would be curtailed.
* * *
In commenting on the action af-
fecting the three-to-five year
sentences, the court said that "a
sense of social justice has been
satisfied." The suspension, which
is unprecedented, was obviously
ordered by the top party hierarchy.
The Polish population will view
the suspension of the sentences as
a conciliatory gesture by Warsaw,
but will also see it as another
sign of public power over the
leaders.
In addition to placating the Po-
lish people, the regime was re-
sponding to pleas from the Polish
episcopate and to demands of West
European communist parties that
the strikers be treated leniently.
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The fourth Cuban convoy
from Angola has reached
home waters and should
arrive at the naval
port of MarieZ by mid-
week.
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--Chinese nuclear test in
the atmosphere on Se.-
tember 26(
*
*
*
Sterling has fallen
over 5 percent since
the Bank of England
stopped intervening in
support of the pound on
September S. The Brit-
ish pound closed yes-
terday at $1.68, a rec-
ord low against the
dollar.
*
*
One or more of the four ships in
the group stopped briefly at the
port of Santiago in southeastern
Cuba yesterday before continuing
their trip around the island. Sev-
eral ships in the third convoy
made a similar stopover, possibly
to unload wounded troops or those25xl
who were from Cuba's eastern prov-
inces.
*
*
*
*
A general uncertainty and lack of
confidence in the UK economy has
been exacerbated recently by un-
easiness that the fringe benefits
won by the British Seamen's union
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would lead to other union demands
for similar treatment. The Bank
of England's apparent reluctance
to continue to support the pound
has compounded the problem.
The Bank stopped intervention op-
erations in an attempt to preserve
its remaining foreign exchange re-
serves and to avoid further draw-
ing on its $5.3 billion standby
credit. Support operations through
the first eight months of this year
have cost the Bank an estimated $5.5
billion. The Bank's current $1 bil-
lion drawings against the standby
credit become due in early December.
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