THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 26 DECEMBER 1970

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005977869
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: December 26, 1970

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000220001-3
The President's Daily Brief
26 December 1970
49
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF,
26 Dedember_1970
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
The Communists in Cambodia have stepped up harass-
ment of government positions in the northwest, with
serious implications for prospects for marketing
this year's rice crop. (Page 1)
In. Jordan, the fedayeen have found the going rough
since their clash with the army in Jarash early this
month. (Page 2)
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
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Current Situation
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Principal city (10,000 or over)
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Communist-controlled area
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550746 12-70 CIA
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104 106
SOUTH
CHINA SEA
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CAMBODIA
The Communists have stepped up harassment of
government positions along Route 5 in the past
week and have destroyed a bridge and station on
the Battambang railroad. They also have been ac-
tive in the countryside in the west. There is one
report that Pursat city, one of the few provincial
capitals that has not been attacked, was the target
of harassing fire.
The government has placed five battalions
north of Battambang city to block the movement of
enemy troops into the area. These forces are also
to secure Routes 5 and 6 in the Battambang - Siem
Reap provincial border area. They ran into stiff
opposition on 22 December, but so far casualties
on both sides have been light.
Fresh fighting in the west will further
complicate the harvesting and marketing
of what promises to be a bumper rice
crop. In Battambang, the major rice pro-
ducing province, growing insecurity and
Cambodian Army recruiting have cut sharply
into the seasonal influx of labor needed
for the harvest. Even if there is a
good harvest, little of it may be avail-
able for export. Warehouses are nearly
full with last year's surpluses because
of the Zack of civilian transport and
enemy road and rail interdictions. Prices
now being offered to farmers are one third
below last year's level.
Failure to solve these problems could
force the government to default on its
export commitments and lead to the loss
of foreign exchange. The government is
seeking alternatives to sending export
rice out through the main port of Kompong
Som, currently cut off by Communist forces.
1
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
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Fedayeen Position Deteriorates in Jordan '
GOLAN HEIGHTS
Lake
iberias. (Israeli-07upied)
Mafran
'Ajlun. ?
/Ramla
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pLI rt4ai6'
? Armistice Line
lit? - / bit h I ehemi
(1949) --- i? ',/,/
550747 12-70 CIA
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
JORDAN -FEDAYEEN
Since the clash in Jarash between the army and
the fedayeen on 7 December, most of the guerrilla
units that had been in the city have been forced to
camp out in wooded areas near there and Ajlun
Facilities
are said to be minimal, food scarce, and morale
low. Defections and desertions have risen sharply
and as winter sets in are expected to go even
higher. Most other urban areas have also been
cleared of fedayeen
Several entrenched enclaves of fedayeen remain in
Amman, but the army is confident that the remaining
positions could be wiped out without much difficulty
A US Mission officer who traveled through
northern Jordan on 22 December confirms much of
this. He says the army was in full control of
Jarash, Irbid, Mafraq, and Zarqa. No fedayeen
checkpoints were encountered during his trip and
no uniformed fedayeen were seen in Jarash or Zarqa.
Although Iraqi Army elements remain, in the Mafraq
area, Crown Prince Hassan told Ambassador Brown on
23 December that the Iraqis have been slowly with-
drawing and he hoped that they would soon be down
to a division or less.
The weakness of the fedayeen's military
dispositions could tempt the army to try
for a quick and decisive clean-up of
fedayeen concentrations in the north and
possibly in Amman as well. Prince Hassan
told Ambassador Brown that the fedayeen
"will get a real bloody nose" if they do
not have their weapons in storage by
26 December, as required by the latest
agreement between the fedayeen and the
government. The army might want to move
in the next few days during the absence
of the King, who has been restraining
the military.
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NOTES
Germany:
USSR: A Galosh ABM interceptor was launched
from Sary Shagan on 24 DeceMber.
This was the 23rd firing of the
Galosh detected since August 1968 and the eighth
this year.
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Top Secret
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