THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 31 OCTOBER 1972

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005993600
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: October 31, 1972

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/15 : CIA-RDP79T00936A011200260001-4
The President's Daily Brief
31 October 1972
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Exempt front general
declassification schedule of E.O. I 1052
exemption category 513(1).(2).13)
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
31 October 1972
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
The North Vietnamese are making an unprecedented ef-
fort to move military supplies into South Vietnam.
Yesterday, they received support from China for their
contention that 'a peace settlement should be signed
today. (Page 1)
The South Vietnamese are suspicious of the north's
intentions concerning the role of an interim body
to maintain a cease-fire and supervise new elections.
(Page 2)
The Soviets
(Page 3)
Egypt
USSR. (Page 4)
After losing his majority yesterday, Prime Minister
Trudeau is undecided whether he will try to form a
government. (Page 5)
President Bhutto is again preparing public opinion
for recognition of Bangladesh. (Page 6)
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VIETNAM
The North Vietnamese are making an unprecedented
effort to move supplies into South Vietnam. Accord-
ing to an intercept of 29 October from the major
North Vietnamese logistics authority near Vinh, in
the first 25 days of October the authority sent south
more than 5,400 vehicles, presumably carrying sup-
plies as well as personnel. During the same period,
it received some 4,300 vehicles from the north. The
same message reported the transit of 92 tanks and
111 tracked vehicles. Other intercepts indicate
that some of the tracked vehicles were pulling artil-
lery pieces.
The 92 tanks could represent a North Viet-
namese tank regiment deploying to South
Vietnam. The heavy traffic has taken place
despite muddy roads, indicating the im-
portance of the resupply effort.
Within South Vietnam, the Communists are main-
taining a fairly consistent pattern of small-scale
attacks throughout the country, concentrating on ma-
jor roads and waterways, as well as outposts and
hamlets. We have noted some confusion among the en-
emy with respect to the imminence of a cease-fire.
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On 30 October the Chinese issued a government
statement backing Hanoi's contention that an agree-
ment between the US and North Vietnam is now ready
for signature and blamed Washington for delays in
signing.
This is Peking's strongest and most au-
thoritative statement on the negotiations
to date. It has publicly moved Peking
closer to Hanoi on this issue than the
Chinese have been for months. The Chinese
position carefully distinguishes itself
from the Soviet line on the subject. So-
viet statements imply that Moscow--which
has not put its propaganda machine into
high gear--believes further negotiations
between Washington and Hanoi may be neces-
sary to wrap up the agreement, whereas the
Chinese have aligned themselves with Hanoi
in implying that further bargaining is un-
necessary.
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SOUTH VIETNAM
South Vietnamese Foreign Minister Tran Van Lam
said yesterday that his government is ready to sign
a peace settlement if North Vietnam withdraws its
troops and the interested parties can agree on the
exact role of an interim body to maintain a cease-
fire and supervise new elections. Lam said that
Hanoi's Vietnamese-language draft describing the
proposed National Council of Reconciliation and
Concord clearly refers to a government structure,
while the English-language version describes the
council as an administrative structure, implying
limited powers.
These issues have been troubling the
South Vietnamese since the North re-
leased the text on 26 October.
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USSR
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EGYPT-USSR
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CANADA
With nearly complete returns from all election
districts, Prime Minister Trudeau's Liberals won or
were leading in 108, the Progressive Conservatives
in 107, the New Democrats in 31, and the Social
Credit Party in 16.
When Parliament was dissolved in late
August, the Liberals held 147 seats, the
Conservatives 73, the New Democrats 25,
and the Social Credit Party 13, The
Liberals held on to their power,base in
Quebec, but lost heavily to the Conserva-
tives in Ontario and to a lesser extent
in British Columbia, both provinces where
they had expected to do much better.
Trudeau is undecided whether he will try to
form a government.
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PAKISTAN-BANGLADESH
Last week President Bhutto said in a speech that
Pakistan would benefit in several ways from recogni-
tion of Bangladesh. He said he would tour Pakistan
next month to put the issue to the people. Reaction
from opposition parties in the Punjab was swift, and
the US consul in Lahore believes that Bhutto faces
a fight on this issue.
Bhutto 's statement on recognition was more
forthcoming than anything he has said in
months. He seems to have spoken up in re-
sponse to recent indications that Bangla-
desh is willing at least to talk over the
issues with Pakistan.
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NOTES
Israel-Syria: Syria responded to Israeli air
raids on fedayeen camps near Damascus with an artil-
lery barrage on the Golan Heights yesterday morning.
The Israelis retaliated with an air raid on a Syrian
Army outpost. Yesterday's action against the Syrian
military installation is a measure of Tel Aviv's
post-Munich determination to punish the guerrillas
and their hosts.
West Germany - East Germany:
Bolivia: Widespread popular opposition has de-
velope7.?FEgialy to Bolivia's devaluation of its cur-
rency by 40.6 percent. After bread prices went up
by 50 percent, workers, who remember the runaway in-
flations that followed devaluations during the 1950s,
have clashed with police and may do so again. Their
protests, however, are not likely to get out of hand.
Political leaders in President Banzer's coalition
government are torn between retaining a share of
power and fear of alienating their supporters, but
so far they have publicly supported the devaluation
program. (
(continued)
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Morocco: King Hassan is planning to form a
new government soon, including representatives of
most political parties. After more than a month
of negotiations, has won over enough
leading politicians to proceed. The King may have
made some concessions to them,
Ahmed Osman, to head the new government and
make sure that the politicians do not seek too much
political or economic power as the price for their
cooperation. None of the parties involved has a
broad popular following, but the announcement of
their participation could help restore some public
confidence in Hassan's rule.
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Top Secret
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