THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 6 APRIL 1972

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005993232
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 15
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: April 6, 1972

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The President's Daily Brief
6 April 1972
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THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
6 April 1972
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
On Page 1 we discuss the current military situation
in South Vietnam.
A stinging diatribe against "counter-revolutionaries"
published in Hanoi on the eve of the current offen-
sive suggests that the recent policy decisions may
produce an internal crackdown. (Page 3)
East German party leader Honecker has arrived in Mos-
cow
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GULF OF TONKIN
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552780 4-72 CIA
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SOUTH VIETNAM
The North Vietnamese are maintaining heavy pres-
sure against Fire Support Base Pedro west of Quang
Tri city and are sporadically shelling Quang Tri Com-
bat Base. Farther south, they have launched artil-
lery and ground attacks against fire bases Bastogne
and Birmingham astride Route 547, the natural avenue
of attack on Hue from the west. An intercept reveals
that an element of the North Vietnamese 324B Division
has been urged to cut off any ARVN troops retreating
from the bases.
There are indications that the Communists are
preparing for a fresh round of attacks. Captured
troops state that all four combat regiments of the
North Vietnamese 308th Division are now south of the
DMZ, while enemy communications indicate that they
are being supported by an independent artillery reg-
iment and an independent armored regiment. Prison-
ers state that the Communists hope to coordinate
their attacks in northern Quang Tri with heavier ac-
tion against Hue in order to spread gOvernment forces
thin and capture both areas.
South Vietnamese units are getting ready to
strike back at enemy units north of Dong Ha. Gen-
eral Lam, the government's commander in MR-1, plans
to begin operations as soon as additional reinforce-
ments are in position. Nine ranger battalions
ai-
ready have been airlifted to MR-1 from Tay Ninh
Province, and an ARVN division from the delta is
also to be sent to the area. In addition, regional
and popular force troops and local militia units in
Thua Thien Province are being reorganized to help
strengthen local defenses around Hue.
Communist military activity in the central
highlands has been largely limited to artillery at-
tacks against government positions in Kontum and
Pleiku provinces. The South Vietnamese Joint Gen-
eral Staff expects large-scale enemy attacks in the
highlands very soon. Anticipated targets include
the Kontum city - Dak To region, as well as the
area along Highway 14 between Kontum and Pleiku
cities and near Tan Can north of Kontum city.
(continued)
1
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mpong Thom
Miles
Krati%?
CAMBODIA
Chttlong
Prakham
ajor Hq
Hq 272nd
Regt
.Loc Ni h
Krek \
PHNOM PEN
\ Prey Veng
SAI GO
Giang
VINH RACH GIA
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Farther south, three additional Communist forma-
tions have moved into South Vietnam from Cambodia.
The Communist 9th Division's 272nd Regiment has been
detected just northeast of An Loc, the capital of
Binh Long Province, and was probably involved in the
series of attacks against Loc Ninh and An Loc early
yesterday. The 429th Sapper Group, which has at
least three subordinate battalions, is now located
east of Tay Ninh city. Meanwhile, a major Communist
headquarters that may serve as the tactical control
for the 5th, 7th, and 9th divisions in eastern Cam-
bodia has moved close to the border.
The North Vietnamese 88th Regiment has moved
to a position south of Moc Hoa, deep within the delta
province of Kien?Tuong.? It poses a new threat in an
area from which some ARVN units have recently been
withdrawn.
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NORTH VIETNAM
On the eve of the current military push Tran
Quoc Hoan, who heads Hanoi's secret police, pub-
lished a stinging diatribe against "counter-revolu-
tionaries" both at home and abroad. Writing in the
March :issue. ofHanoi's party journal, he argues in
favor of using "revolutionary violence" more liber-
ally to "repress" and "exterminate" all those who
oppose the party line. The cutting edge of his ar-
ticle seems to be directed at the faint of heart in
North Vietnam; he condemns those. guilty of "timidity"
and "lack of firmness" in the face .of the US threat.
He quotes party First Secretary Le Duan to the ef-
fect that any effort to coddle such types while the
country is struggling against US imperialism would
be "a dangerous rightist deviation and a crime
against the -revolution."
For such waverers, Hoan urges reindoctrination,
penal measures, and the use of violence when neces-
sary. He cites agrarian reform as one area of the
economy that has benefited from previous party ef-
forts to stamp our "counter-revolutionaries"--an
unmistakeable allusion to the regime's liquidation
of an estimated 50,000 recalcitrant peasants in the
mid-1950s.
No North Vietnamese cadre who reads these
words can doubt their seriousness. Other
recent propaganda has hinted at such a
crackdown as a consequence of the latest
rounds of strategic decision-making in
Hanoi. An authoritative "Commentator"
article in December, which spelled out
Hanoi's new preoccupation with main-force
warfare, spoke of the problem of "sub-
jective" attitudes in some quarters.
More recently the Hanoi press has warned
that some cadres would have to be ex-
pelled to ensure a proper party response
to the regime's policies.
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USSR
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JAPAN
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EAST GERMANY - WEST GERMANY
East German party leader Honecker arrived un-
expectedly in Moscow on Tuesday, fueling specula-
tion about Soviet - East German moves to facilitate
West German ratification of the Eastern treaties.
Moscow presumably would wish Pankow's
direct participation in any final deci-
sion on such concessions. Both Soviet
and East German spokesmen have recently
indicated that Pankow is anxious to set-
tle its major differences with Bonn this
year, prior to West Germany's national
elections in 1973. Yesterday, however,
East and West Germany began accelerated
weekly negotiating sessions on a general
traffic treaty without Pankow's showing
any new flexibility.
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NOTES
Israel-E t:
USSR-Iraq: Premier Kosygin is scheduled to
arrive in Baghdad today, and we believe that a
"treaty of friendship and cooperation" between the
USSR and Iraq may be announced while he is there.
The visit presumably was arranged in February when
Iraqi strongman Saddam Tikriti spent a week in the
USSR and began negotiations for a friendship treaty.
Kosygin's visit will coincide with the beginning
of production at an oil field that has received
large amounts of Soviet assistance and with the? an-
niversary of the constitution of Iraq's ruling
Baath Party.
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Top Secret
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