THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 11 JANUARY 1973

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005993713
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: January 11, 1973

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A011500010009-0
The President's Daily Brief
? 11 January 1973
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Exempt from general
declassification schedule of E.O. I 1652
exemption category 5B( I ),(2),(3)
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
11 January 1973
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
North Vietnam is preparing its people for renewed
US bombing above the 20th parallel. (Page 1)
President Thieu's decree designed to force South
Vietnamese political parties to consolidate is
meeting opposition from some politicians. (Page 2)
Soviets
China
(Page 3)
President Marcos is getting ready to scrap the
1935 constitution of the Philippines. (Page 4)
The USSR continues to use the Somali port of Berbera
for maintenance and supply operations. (Page 5)
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NORTH VIETNAM
Hanoi apparently believes the US may resume
bombing above the 20th parallel. Recent intercepts
indicate that North Vietnamese military units have
been warned to expect new strikes. A message of 7
January, for instance, states that "there are many
signs that the enemy will strike suddenly...to put
pressure on the negotiations." Air defense prepara-
tions--including the creation of home guard antiair-
craft units--are under way, according to Radio Hanoi.
On 2 January, the party newspaper stressed that
evacuation of cities remained an important task.
in Hanoi
a local newspaper of 9 January warned the populace
to expect an "extremely violent resumption" of the
bombings.
These warnings seem to be based on the
assumption that another impasse in Paris
is a strong possibility.
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SOUTH VIETNAM
President Thieu's recent decree designed to
force South Vietnamese political parties to consoli-
date has aroused new concern among some politicians.
As expected by the government, the Politically in- -
fluentia17-but non-party--An Quang Buddhists are un-
happy with a requireMent,that all candidates for
national office be endorsed by a legal party. An
Quang leaders are organizing a new group of elected
Buddhist officials, but they have given no indica-
tion yet that they will try to turn this group into
a legal opposition party. The Buddhists are reluc-
tant to challenge the government but they do not
wish to remain on the sidelines with their vital
interests at stake.
The Catholics are among the few groups respond-
ing Positively. Several Catholic factions that have
been cooperating in an informal alliance in recent
months have decided to try to merge and seek valida-
tion as a legal party. Catholic political leaders
do not believe such a party can be influential and
they hope eventually to ally with non-Catholic group-
ings.
A number of the country's other political groups
are attacking the decree, some complaining they can-
not meet its requirements. Only a few are consider-
ing mergers. One party leader claims he will ignore
the decree and has asked the Supreme Court to over-
turn it.
One of Thieu's key lieutenants told US
Embassy officers recently that such pro-
tests had been expected, but he predicted
that after a period of agonizing, most
important political factions would either
join Thieu's Democracy Party or coalesce
into one or two opposition parties. In
fact, criticism is confined largely to
Saigon politicians, and the decree has
not seriously damaged the government's
political position with the populace.
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USSR-CHINA
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
PHILIPPINES
President Marcos is seeking to use the newly
organized "citizens assemblies" to legitimize his
one-man rule. The government has instructed the
assemblies to demand that instead of a national
referendum, the assemblies themselves should ratify
Marcos' new constitution. The assemblies have
also been told to recommend that they take over
the responsibilities of existing popularly elected
bodies, request a seven-year moratorium on popular
elections, and seek a postponement of the time
when the new parliamentary system goes into effect.
They will request that in the meantime Marcos
continue ruling through martial law.
The "citizens assemblies" are government
controlled and can be expected to follow
these instructions faithfully.
Marcos' decision in effect to scrap the
present constitution presumably stems
from his desire to avoid a constitutional
crisis on 22 January, when Congress is
scheduled to reconvene. Marcos has been
concerned about persistent reports that
the Senate would challenge his martial
law authority. Although the constitu-
tion is sufficiently vague to enable
Marcos to suspend the Congress, he appar-
ently believes resort to seemingly demo-
cratic action by the assemblies will be
more palatable politically.
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
? USSR-Somalia:
seven Soviet
NOTES
naval ships in the
Berbera--the lar
port of est nu ?er yet observed
there a submarine
tied up repair ship in the port This
provides
eviaence that the Soviets have acquired
rights to use Berbera for maintenance and replen-
ishment operations.
rurtner
next to a
Warsaw Pact:
foreign ministers or the pact states will meet in
Moscow over the weekend to deal with the resumption
next week of the multilateral preparatory talks on
a Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe
and the West's invitation to begin talks on force
reductions on 31 January. ? The Romanians, who were
not invited to participate in the latter meetings,
are lobbying in Western capitals for their inclu-
sion. We expect they will take up the matter in
Moscow as well.
Fedayeen-Israel:
(continued)
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Nationalist China:
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Rhodesia-Zambia: Rhodesia's closure of its
northern frontier on Tuesday is intended as a
warning to President Kaunda of Zambia to clamp
down on guerrillas operating out of his territory,
rather than an all-out economic blockade to force
him to take such action. Landlocked Zambia's cop-
per exports--half of which are carried to the sea
on Rhodesian railroads--will still be allowed to
pass the frontier to the economic benefit of both
countries. . As long as such shipments are permitted,
Kaunda is unlikely to curtail his support for anti-
Rhodesian insurgents operating out of Zambia.
Australia: The Australian Wheat Board may re-
fuse any more orders for export, even from tradi-
tional customers such as England and Japan. A
severe drought has reduced harvest yields, and
farmers are retaining larger supplies than usual
for replanting and local use. The board believes
deliveries from farmers this year will barely
cover existing export commitments.
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Top Secret
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