THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 2 JANUARY 1975

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006007907
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 15
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: January 2, 1975

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, ?--
The President's Daily Brief
January 2, 1975
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Exempt from general
declassification uhedule of E.O. 11652
exemption category 5B( I ),(2).(3)
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
,r6tItt.s.
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
January 2, 1975.
Table of Contents
USSR-Egypt:
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(Page 1)
Cambodia:
Khmer
communists began their dry season
campaign yesterday with coordinated attacks
near Phnom Penh. (Page 3)
Saudi Arabia: The Saudis are prodding the US again
to produce concessions from Israel. (Page 4)
China: Peking greeted the new year with a sober
assessment of the past year and no confident
predictions. (Page 5)
Iraq-Kuwait: The Kuwaitis are concerned over in-
cidents which the Iraqis have staged over
several months. (Page 7)
Notes: Vietnam; Egypt-Syria-Jordan-PLO; Egypt;
Israel (Pages 8 and 9)
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USSR-EGYPT
(continued)
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CAMBODIA: Phnom Penh Area
-
-Kompong
Speu
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CAMBODIA
The Khmer communists began their
dry-season campaign yesterday with coor-
dinated attacks near Phnom Penh.
Routes 4 and 5 have been cut and positions on
both banks of the Mekong River near the capital
have fallen. The communists have also launched
heavy attacks against the Cambodian army's 7th Di-
vision northwest of Phnom Penh.
The most costly government territorial losses
have occurred along Route 5 where heavy communist
pressure has forced the abandonment of a military
fuel depot at Prek Pnou. Government troops managed
to take a ten-day supply of fuel with them and un-
confirmed reports indicate that the depot was burn-
ing late yesterday.
Government forces were caught off guard by
the attacks but are beginning to counterattack.
Reinforcements have been sent to the east bank of
the Mekong River in an attempt to push the commu-
nists out of rocket range of the capital in that
sector. Other government troops are expected to
begin clearing operations along Route 4 and north-
west of the capital soon.
Despite the widespread attacks around Phnom
Penh, there is no evidence that an all-out assault
against the city is in the offing. The attacks
may have been a diversionary effort to tie down
forces around Phnom Penh and to mask the beginning
of a major communist effort to interdict the lower
Mekong. Communist units yesterday closed Route 1
near a river choke point some 25 miles southeast
of Phnom Penh; other government outposts along the
river are also under pressure.
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SAUDI ARABIA
The Saudis are prodding the US again
to produce concessions from Israel, while
they appear genuinely concerned by talk of
a US invasion of some Arab oil-producing
countries.
On instructions of King Faysal, acting Saudi
minister of state for foreign affairs Masud called
on Ambassador Akins on Tuesday. Masud produced ex-
cerpts of recent press attacks on Saudi policies
by Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, and Algeria, as
well as Saudi embassy reports indicating that those
Arab governments are unhappy over Saudi support for
US peace-making activities.
Masud also cited several articles in the US
press concerning invasions of Saudi Arabia's oil-
producing areas and what he termed "ambiguous
denials" by US officials. The King, Masud said,
wanted to know if the US was trying to frighten
Saudi Arabia. The King wondered if the US wanted
the total collapse of Western economies that would
follow such an invasion.
Masud said the King remained convinced the US
could reach a solution in the Middle East at any
time, simply by informing Israel that aid would be
cut off until it gave up Arab territories. Masud
added that neither Saudi Arabia or any other Arab
country would object to US security guarantees of
Israel. Finally, he warned that it would be a mis-
take for the US to base its policy on the belief
that Saudi Arabia would never turn to the Soviet
Union to replace US assistance.
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CHINA
A joint editorial in Peking's major
publications greeted the new year with a
sober assessment of the past year and no
confident predictions.
The editorial made no reference to convening
the National People's Congress, China's rubber
stamp legislature, although preparations have been
under way for some months and seem to be continu-
ing. Throughout December, leaders from Peking ap-
parently conferred with Mao in Hunan Province, where
he has been residing since last fall. Several per-
sonnel appointments in the national military hier-
archy and in the provinces are indicative of the
progress being made toward convening the congress,
which is charged with ratifying government appoint-
ments.
There has apparently been less success in re-
solving the major problem of army-civilian rela-
tions. The editorial's routine praise for the army
was followed immediately by a call to strengthen
party leadership, suggesting continuing difficul-
ties in bringing the army under firm party control.
References to "national betrayal" and to national
defense industries seem to be alluding to specific
problems with the military. For the past year,
certain important military men have been accused
by innuendo of seeking accommodation with Moscow
and pushing for greater reliance on nuclear weap-
ons. Both concepts conflict with Peking's poli-
cies of maintaining hostility toward the Soviet
Union and relying primarily on conventional weapons.
The editorial said that the anti-Confucius
campaign will continue, with emphasis on study and
criticism. This formulation has been used since
early last summer to prevent the campaign from
disrupting public order. References to "shooting
the arrow at the target" and "dealing blows" to
unnamed "counterrevolutionaries" suggest that the
campaign is more than a study movement and is, in
fact, directed at specific individuals.
On the economic front, the editorial did not
repeat earlier claims of a "record" harvest but
said only that 1974 saw an "all-around good har-
vest." By lumping agriculture and industry to-
gether, the editorial was able to claim an increase
in total production over the previous year. Much
of this increase probably results from the growth
of China's oil industry.
(continued)
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Peking's treatment of foreign affairs reaf-
firmed current policy lines. The editorial urged
a continuation of "Chairman Mao's revolutionary
line in foreign affairs"--a stock phrase for ef-
forts to improve Sino-American ties. Not surpris-
ingly, the Chinese continued to court the Third
World by making much of the developing countries'
struggle against "superpower" hegemony.
,The editorial was interesting for what it
chose not to say and, in this sense, seemed to
take a modest view of foreign policy accomplish-
ments in 1974. Whereas in the 1973 editorial Pe-
king characterized the international situation as
"excellent," this year it simply said that "new
successes" had been achieved during the year.
Moreover, the Chinese avoided mention of specific
issues and adhered closely to general and familiar
formulations.
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Persian
Kuwait Bay
Kuwait
Gulf Gulf
-20 Iraq-Saudi Arabia
J Neutral Zone
557046 1-75.
?29?
Saudi Arabia
47
Miles 20
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IRAQ-KUWAIT
The Kuwaitis are concerned over a
number of incidents which the Iraqis have
staged over the last several months in a
long-troubled sector of their border.
The Iraqis may be trying to pressure the Ku-
waitis to lease two Kuwaiti islands strategic to
Iraq, but the moves may also be part of an Iraqi
effort to influence Kuwaiti national assembly elec-
tions to be held in late January.
Kuwaiti political leaders appear intimidated
by the Iraqis but,
some members
of the Kuwaiti military are growing impatient with
the government. The Kuwaiti army has moved addi-
tional forces, including tanks, to the border.
the Iraqis have
sporadically harassed Kuwaiti border units in re-
cent months; the border had been relatively quiet
since March 1973, when Iraq seized a portion of
the disputed territory. The most flagrant inci-
dent occurred in early November when Baghdad re-
quested permission to hold maneuvers in another
part of the disputed area. After Kuwait refused,
the Iraqis plantecl their flag there.
Iraqi strong
man Saddam Husayn Tikriti offered at the Arab sum-
mit meeting in Rabat in October to withdraw troops
from the disputed area in return for a long-term
lease on the islands of Warba and Bubayan, which
flank the approaches to Iraq's important port of
Umm Qasr on the Persian Gulf. Kuwait's Sheikh
Sabah refused further discussion as long as Iraqi
troops remained on Kuwaiti territory.
Iraq is also spending liberally to bring about
the defeat of Kuwaiti parliamentary candidates
whom it considers hostile. The Iraqis are spread-
ing the word that the election of an assembly
friendly to Iraq would encourage Baghdad to settle
its border issue with its "Arab brothers."
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NOTES
Vietnamese communist ground units supported by
tanks overran the district town of Phuoc Binh in
Phuoc Long Province on Wednesday.
This was the fourth district town in the prov-
ince to fall since early December and leaves only
the provincial capital in government hands. Else-
where, the communists yesterday fired a barrage of
rockets at Bien Hoa airbase, but only minor damage
resulted. Relatively light and inconclusive fight-
ing continued on other battlefronts.
Egyptian, Syrian, and Jordanian foreign minis-
ters are scheduled to begin talks today in Cairo
with representatives of the Palestine Liberation
Organization.
The meeting has been called to try to formu-
late a joint Arab strategy for future Middle East
peace negotiations. The Syrians and Palestinians
hope to block any independent Egyptian move toward
a second disengagement agreement with the Israelis
in the Sinai. The PLO will again seek to regain
access to Jordanian territory for fedayeen strikes
against Israel. Egypt and Jordan are unlikely to
commit themselves to tactics that tie their fate
to that of the Syrians or Palestinians.
Egyptian workers and students demonstrating
violently in Cairo yesterday over economic griev-
ances called for a return to Nasirist socialism.
Prime Miniter Hijazi was the chief object of
the protesters' wrath, but President Sadat was also
criticized for failing to bring about promised eco-
nomic recovery after the October 1973 war. Dis-
content over shortages and inflation has been on
the rise since last summer and this dissatisfaction
has been compounded by restlessness over the pace
of progress in peace negotiations. Additional
disturbances over a wide range of issues are pos-
sible and, although President Sadat now intends to
move against leftist agitators,yesterday's demon-
stration could give these elements and student mal-
contents further impetus.
(continued)
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Israel has appointed a leading atomic scientist
to its Defense Ministry.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Professor
Saadia Amiel, nuclear chemist at Hebrew Univer-
sity and a senior staff member at the Nahal Sorek
experimental nuclear research facility will serve
in the office responsible for strategic policy.
Amiel is said to have been an adviser to the Gen-
eral Staff's planning branch for years. Dr. Yuval
Neeman, President of Tel Aviv University and re-
putedly one of Israel's top atomic physicists,
also is to be named a senior adviser to the De-
fense Ministry. The new assignments appear to be
in keeping with Tel Aviv's policy of improving its
strategic planning capabilities and of military
intimidation toward the Arabs.
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)
Top Secret
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