THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 9 MAY 1974

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006007952
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: May 9, 1974

'
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012100010009-3
The President's Daily Brief
May 9, 1974
4
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012100010009-3
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012100010009-3
Exempt from general
declassification schedule of E.O. 11652
exemption category 513(11,(2).13)
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012100010009-3
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012100010009-3
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY gRIEF
May 9, 1974
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
The Soviets
(Page 1)
Prime Minister Trudeau's minority government was
toppled when his New Democratic allies abandoned him
in the belief' that his economic policies were be-
coming an electoral liability. A hard-hitting cam-
paign is expected to precede elections in early July.
(Page 2)
The military situation in Cambodia is discussed on
Page 3.
The Pluton surface-to-surface missile ?is now opera-
tional with one French artillery regiment. (Page 4)
Notes on the USSR, Israel-Syria, Guyana, China, and
Iceland begin on Page 5.
25X1
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012100010009-3
25X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012100010009-3
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
USSR
1
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012100010009-3
25X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012100010009-3
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
CANADA
Prime Minister Trudeau's minority government
was toppled last night when his New Democratic allies
joined the Progressive Conservatives to reject the
government's budget message. Trudeau is expected
today to ask Governor-General Leger to dissolve par-
liament and set elections for early July.
The Liberal- New Democratic Party alliance had
been showing signs of strain for several months. In
face of increasingly effective criticism of.govern-
ment economic policies by the Conservatives, the New
Democrats reassessed their position and decided to
dump the Prime Minister. Many New Democrats believed
that continued association with his economic policies
was becoming an electoral liability.
The tone of the budget debate suggests .a hard-
hitting election campaign. The dominant issue will
be inflation; cost-of-living rose 9..1 percent in 1973
and is running at about 10 percent this year. It
seems unlikely.that,either the Liberals or the Tories
will be able to win a majority of the parliamentary
seats in July, but .much will depend on how the elec-
torate reacts to Trudeau's performance during the
campaign. In 1968, his colorful style caught the
voters' imagination and he led the Liberals to an
overwhelming victory. In 1972, however, he chose to
run a more subdued campaign and his aloofness con-
tributed significantly to heavy Liberal losses.
The course of Canadian-US relations should re-
main unaffected by the results of the election. All
parties favor, to one degree or. another, Ottawa's
present policy of trying to achieve greater independ-
ence from the US.
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19: CIA-RDP79T00936A012100010009-3
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012100010009-3
Ba ambang
Kompong Thom
cks imminent
Lovek
PHNO
PENH
pang Speu
\r't
e
-ak,[
rs?
RA TE DE
? OMPONG SUM
Neak
Luang
SO H
VIET 4M
55582', 5-74 CIA
Air
o ReaRAilibase
? FieUin'Traval base
\
MILES 25
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012100010009-3
25X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012100010009-3
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
CAMBODIA
Combat continues on widely separated fronts
as the Khmer Communists press their campaign against
government holdings in the countryside.
In the far southwest, the communists have at-
tacked government positions along a 20-mile stretch
of Route 4 east of the port city of Kompong Som.
Government casualties have been relatively light,
but four 105-mm0 howitzers were lost when the insur-
gents occupied the small towns of Veal:Renh and 0
Chamnar Communist strength in this area is not
great, and there is no immediate threat to the nearby
naval and air bases at Ream, The governMent nonethe-
less is reinforcing Ream with units from KamPot.
Closer to Phnom Penh, the base at Lovek remains
the target of sporadic artillery and mortar fire.
Communist ground pressure has slackened, however, and
Lovek's defenders are making cautious efforts to ex-
pand their defensive perimeter. East of Phnom Penh,
fighting at the provincial capital of Prey Veng has
now settled into a familiar pattern of ground probes
and shellings.
Kompong Thom, 75 miles north of Phnom Penh, may
be the nextprovincial capital to come under heavy
pressure. A recent intercept showed Communist plans
to attack the city's outlying defenses within the
next few days. The Communists have been preparing
for a push against Kompong Thom since early march
and may have as many as 3,000 troops in the area.
The gOvernment garrison of 3i500 men is braced for
the attacks.
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012100010009-3
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012100010009-3
French Pluton Missile on Launcher Vehicle
' 555829 5-74 CIA
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936412100010009-3
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012100010009-3
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
FRANCE
The Pluton surface-to-surface missile is now
operational with one French artillery regiment, ac-
cording to an armed forces announcement. Five ad-
ditional regiments are each scheduled to receive six
launchers. The Pluton will provide nuclear fire
support to French ground forces. Mounted on a mod-
ified AMX-30 tank chassis(
The West Germans have been concerned that the
French might use the Pluton against hostile forces
on West German territory without their permission.
The missile does not have the range to reach beyond
West Germany without being moved into it, and Paris
has never negotiated the arrangements for doing so
with Bonn.
4
25X1
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19: CIA-RDP79T00936A012100010009-3
25X1
25X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012100010009-3
25X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012100010009-3
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012100010009-3
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
NOTES
USSR:
Israel-Syria: Fighting on the Syrian front was
light for the second consecutive day. Only sporadic
tank and artillery fire occurred along the front.
Israeli air activity was also light, with flights
restricted to reconnaissance missions and defensive
patrols. Israeli aircraft continued to conduct re-
connaissance flights near Mount Hermon, presumably
to monitor Syrian road-building activity there.
Guyana: .Prime Minister Burnham
will soon begin na-
tionalization procedures against Reynolds Guyana
Mines, a US-owned bauxite producer. The Reynolds
operation, covered by-$14.3 million in OPIC insur-
ance, is the only privately owned bauxite facility
still functioning in Guyana; a much larger one owned
by Alcan was nationalized in July 1971. The govern-
ment is likely to compensate Reynolds, at least
partially.
China: Prospects for this year's early grain
harvest, which provides China with almost two thirds
of its total, are generally unfavorable. Last fall
the planting of winter crops was hampered by bad
weather, and the winter and spring were the coldest
and driest in recent years. Lingering cold has in
the past sometimes been a harbinger of more serious
trouble--north China has been deluged by torrential
monsoon rains, while the normally wet south has been
stricken by drought.
(continued)
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012100010009-3
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012100010009-3
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
Iceland: Prime Minister Johannesson dissolved
parliament early this morning and called elections
for June 30. His government collapsed over anti-
inflation measures he called for without Consulting
his coalition partners, .the Liberal Left Organization
and the Communists. The election will probably re-
turn to power the Social Democratic and Independent
parties. Such a. coalition is expected to be more
inclined to negotiate a base agreement that will
enable the US to maintain a sizable force at Keflavik.
6
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012100010009-3
Declassified in Part- Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012100010009-3
,
Top Secret
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012100010009-3