THE SITUATION IN VIETNAM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00826A001300010005-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 22, 2012
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: September 28, 1966
• Content Type: MEMO

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
THE SITUATION IN VIETNAM
Information as of 1600
28 September 1966
PREPARED FOR THE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL
FURTHER DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION
CONTAINED HEREIN IS NOT AUTHORIZED
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 254
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28 September 1966
The chairman of the Liberation Front has recently
spelled out in clearer and more precise language the
NFLSV terms for negotiations. These terms, contained
in a three-point formula, embody all the essential ele-
ments of the Front's original position set forth in
March of last year, but bring the Front's program closer
to the language of the North Vietnamese position on nego-
tiations.
I. The Military Situation in South Vietnam: Light
contact was reported yesterday between US Marines and
Communist forces as Operation PRAIRIE continues in Quang
Tri Province near the DMZ (Para. 1). South Korean forces
killed 47 Communist troops yesterday in a three-hour en-
gagement in Binh Dinh Province (Para. 2). US soldiers
sweeping northern Binh Dinh Province reported light con-
tact yesterday with Communist forces (Para. 3). Nearly
8,000 tons of rice were harvested in Quang Ngai Province
during the period Operation GOLDEN FLEECE 7-1 was in
progress (Para. 4). A total of 229 Communist soldiers
were killed during one-week Operation BINH PHU 27 which
ended yesterday (Para. 5). A large Viet Cong arms and
ammunition cache was uncovered by South Vietnamese
troops 30 miles south of Saigon early today (Para. 6).
MACV's latest infiltration figures are given (Paras.
7-9).
II. Political Developments in South Vietnam: The
onstituent assembly has reported y recessed until 1
October (Paras. 1-2).
An extraordinary congress of the Unified
Buddhist Association is scheduled to start on 21 Oc-
tober (Para. 4).
III. North Vietnamese Military Developments: There
is nothing of significance to report.
IV. Other Communist Military Developments: There
is not ing of significance to report.
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V. Communist Political Developments: The Viet-
namese Communists are continuing their propaganda at-
tack on Ambassador Goldberg's 22 September speech at
the UN (Paras. 1-5).
28 September 1966
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-~ VIETNAM
*Da Nang
Ban Me
Thuot
PHNOM
PENH?
Viet Cong arms cache
SOUTH VIETNAM
25 50 75 100Miies
r 25 50 75 100 Kdomete,
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 25"
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I. THE MILITARY SITUATION IN SOUTH VIETNAM
1. Operation PRAIRIE--a four-battalion US
Marine search-and-destroy operation--continues in
northernmost Quang Tri Province. Light contact was
reported yesterday between one of the US Marine
battalions and an estimated company-size Communist
force in a mountainous area just south-of-the Demili-
tarized Zone (DMZ). During the daylong engagement,
four Americans were reported killed and 14 wounded.
Confirmed enemy losses totaled seven killed.
2. South Korean (ROK) forces continue to re-
port success in locating and destroying troops of
the Communist 610th Division in the Phu Cat moun-
tains several miles north of Qui Nhon in coastal
Binh Dinh Province. Yesterday, two ROK companies
engaged an estimated Viet Cong platoon for over
three hours during Operation MAENG HO 6 (Fierce
Tiger). A total of 47 enemy troops were killed
and 40 weapons captured in yesterday's action; three
ROK soldiers were also killed.
3. Elements of the US lst Cavalry Division
participating in the seven-battalion search-and-
destroy Operation THAYER, which is sweeping the
northern part of Binh Dinh Province, reported light
contact with an estimated Viet Cong platoon yester-
day in an area about 38 miles northwest of Qui Nhon.
Friendly losses during the ensuing two-hour battle
totaled one killed and six wounded; five Viet
Cong were killed and four captured. Over 150 Com-
munist troops have been killed since this operation
began on 12 September.
28 September 1966
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4. Operation GOLDEN FLEECE 7-1, a one-bat-
talion US Marine search-and-destroy/rice harvest
protection operation in Quang Ngai Province, ended
yesterday. Some 8,000 tons of rice were harvested
during the 11 days this operation was in progress
south of Quang Ngai city. Final casualty reports
show one American killed and 19 wounded while Com-
munist losses include 244 killed and three captured.
5. South Vietnamese Operation BINH PHU 27
ended yesterday in central Binh Dinh Province. This
one-week operation was conducted by units of the
22nd ARVN Division who were attacked by a two-bat-
talion Viet Cong force on 23 September. Six South
Vietnamese were reported killed and 30 wounded in
the action. Final casualty figures show eight
South Vietnamese were killed and 38 wounded as
against enemy losses of 229 killed, seven captured,
and 51 weapons taken.
Large VC Arms Cache Uncovered
6. South Vietnamese troops on a search-and-
destroy mission in Go Cong Province, in the Mekong
Delta about 30 miles south of Saigon, uncovered a
large Viet Cong ammunition cache today. The cache
was in an unguarded cave and was seized without a
fight. It contained 400 rounds of 81-mm. mortar
ammunition, 200 rounds of 75-mm. recoilless rifle
ammunition, 7,000 grenades, 4,000 antitank mines,
and 70,000 rounds of small arms ammunition.
Infiltration Figures
7. MACV's latest figures on infiltration for
the first eight months of 1966 now stand at 46,462
men; an average monthly infiltration of some 5,800
men. Of this total, some 22,000 infiltrators have
been confirmed while the remainder are carried in
the probable or possible categories. This figure,
compared with the yearly total of'some 26,000 for
all of 1965, gives an idea of the magnitude of the
Communist effort this year in the face of heavy US
air strikes and attempts at interdiction of the in-
filtration routes.
28 September 1966
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8. Numerous re orts from captured prisoners,
documents indicate that large-scale in-
filtration continues in a number of areas in South
Vietnam. Moreover, the time lag that has been in-
herent in infiltration estimates in the past sug-
gests that the current figure is likely to grow
significantly in the coming months as better in-
formation is developed and new enemy units are con-
tacted.
9. The most significant area of infiltration
at the present time appears to be in Quang Tri Prov-
ince in northernmost South Vietnam. US forces have
been relatively successful in recent months in dis-
rupting Communist plans for an offensive in this
area, through multibattalion search-and-destroy
operations. Nevertheless, heavy infiltration into
this area is believed to be continuing and may now
comprise several divisions of the North Vietnamese
Army.
28 September 1966
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II. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS, IN SOUTH VIETNAM
1. The new constituent assembly has recessed in
honor of Confucius until Saturday, 1 October, accord-
ing to a press report. In the meantime, informal ses-
sions are reportedly being held by various groups of
delegates in anticipation of several issues which
will soon be raised in the assembly. According to the
US Embassy, however, one of the most important issues--
the election of assembly officers--is not expected to
be brought up until the week of 10 October.
2. One task facing the assembly prior to the
election is the examination and approval of delegate
credentials. The assembly cannot officially begin its
work until two thirds of the deputies have been offi-
cially approved. Two delegates have already been con-
victed in the courts of election irregularities, and
the embassy feels that several more will at least be
challenged. Convicted delegates are not valid members
unless they win an appeal in the courts.
Buddhist Extraordinary Congress
4. A national extraordinary congress of the Unified
Buddhist Association is scheduled to begin on 21 October,
dhist Institute chairman, Thich Tam Chau, is trying to
drum up support for his moderate views on relations with
the government and for his position as chairman. He has
been under unrelenting pressure lately from the more ex-
tremist bonzes to step down as the formal leader of the
Institute. II-1 28 September 1966
The Bud-
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15X1
1. There is nothing of significance to report.
28 September 1966
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IV. OTHER COMMUNIST MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS
1. There is nothing of significance to report.
28 September 1966
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1. The Vietnamese Communists are continu-
ing their propaganda attack on Ambassador Gold-
berg's 22 September speech at the UN on Vietnam.
In two commentaries broadcast on 27 September
the Liberation Front harshly criticized the
statement as a "peace fraud" and discounted
claims that the speech represented any new fac-
tors in the US position on a negotiated settle-
ment of the war. Characterizing the statement
as "the stupid and irresponsible words of obsti-
nate bandits" the Front went on to score some of
Ambassador Goldberg's specific proposals.
2. On the question of a mutual withdrawal
of "foreign forces," the Front pointed out that
the US, as the aggressor in Vietnam, had no right
to exact any condition from those being attacked.
Rather, the commentaries demanded that the US
must withdraw its troops from the South "uncon-
ditionally," claiming that this was "common
sense" and left "no room for further discus-
sion."
3. Dealing with the assertion that the
role of the Liberation Front in a settlement
would not present an "insurmountable" problem
for the US, the commentaries insisted that since
the Front was the "sole legitimate and legal
representative of the South Vietnamese people"
any proposal which did not provide it with a
decisive voice in a political settlement of the
war was out of the question. This view was
strongly supported in a Hanoi commentary--also
broadcast on the 27th--which claimed that the UN
speech represented an effort to downgrade the
position of the Front from a decisive role to
a secondary role in the settlement of the Viet-
nam problem.
28 September 1966
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4. Both NFLSV commentaries also called for
US recognition of the Front's terms for negotia-
tions as expressed in the five-point statement made
on 22 March of last year. These terms were spelled
out in clearer and more precise language by Front
chairman Nguyen Huu Tho in a late August interview
with leftish Australian journalist Wilfred Burchett.
The Tho interview--released only recently--contained
all the essential elements of the Front's original
position in a three-point formula which brought the
Front's program closer to the language of the North
Vietnamese position on a negotiated settlement of
the war.
5. Tho's formula, for example, did not speci-
fically make US withdrawal a precondition for nego-
tiations, and was thus more in line with Hanoi's
position on this point. The original five-point
proposal of the Front had specified the necessity
of a US withdrawal prior to talks; since that time,
however, Front spokesmen have occasionally taken
Tho's position on this question.
28 September 1966
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