THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Tet Declassified
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 05974111
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: April 26, 2019
• Document Release Date: April 30, 2019
• Publication Date: November 9, 1967

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The President's Daily Brief
ret 9 November 1967
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DAILY BRIEF
9 NOVEMBER 1967
1. Congo
2. Nigeria
3. West Germany
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Mobutu has called an emergency
committee meeting of the Organization
of African Unity (OAU) for tomorrow to
discuss the evacuation of the mercen-
aries now in Rwanda. He has also asked
the Rwandans not to allow any evacua-
tion until the meeting considers the
matter.
Mobutu has backed down somewhat
in his demands for extradition of the
mercenaries, and now says he will al-
low them to leave if he can get a
guarantee that they will not return.
Whether the Rwandans will allow the
mercenaries to stay in their country
until the OAU acts, however, remains
uncertain.
Chancellor Kiesinger is holding
firm to the middle ground on the deli-
cate question of Britain's entry into
the European Communities.
His recent public statements have
been so vague as to lead the press in-
to contradictory interpretations.
Thus, one West German newspaper con-
cludes "Kiesinger supports De Gaulle,"
while another maintains that the Chan-
cellor is demanding "De Gaulle, give
in."
Embassy Bonn views Kiesinger's mug-
wump tactics as further evidence of hi
determination to avoid a crisis and con-
tinue gentle persuasion tactics vis-a-
vis the French.
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4. Communist China
5. Vietnam
6. Cuba
There are a number of signs that
Peking is having trouble convincing
militant Red Guards to abandon violence
and return to school.
Tensions between opposing Red Guard
organizations remain high in many areas
and clashes between rival groups appear
to have increased recently. The level
of violence, however, is still far be-
low that of last summer.
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a Soviet ship is carrying military
equipment to Haiphong.
deck cargo
aboard the Soviet freighter_Yasnomorsk
which they have tentatively identified
as two PT boats.
however, in- 3.3(h)(2),
dicate that it is carrying a dry cargo
barge and a tugboat. These are probably
�the objects identified as possible PT
boats.
Efforts are under way to identify
conclusively the deck cargo in question.
If gunboats are involved, it would mark
the first known delivery of weapons by
sea from the Soviet Union to North Viet-
nam.
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a large number of "old-line" Cuban
Communists have been arrested recently.
We are not yet sure whether this means
a renewed campaign against the pre-Castro
Communists. If so, it will certainly
inflame the grievances between the old
guard and the "new" types and probably
further damage Havana's relations with
Moscow.
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Toi ecret
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FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
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9 November 1967
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
9 November 1967
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
Hanoi Reaffirms Terms for Settlement: Premier
Pham Van Dong has reaffirmed Hanoi's standard terms
for a settlement of the war and for talks with the
US. At a reception honoring a visiting Soviet anni-
versary delegation on 7 November, Dong told his au-
dience that the basis "to settle the Vietnam problem
is the four points of the North Vietnamese Govern-
ment and �the political program of the Liberation
Front--the only genuine representative of the South
Vietnamese people." He further declared that if
the US wants talks with Hanoi, it "must act on the
28 January statement of Foreign Minister Nguyen Duy
Trinh." That statement called on the US to halt un-
conditionally the bombings "and all other acts of
war" against North Vietnam as the conditions for
talks. Dong gave no indication that Hanoi is now de-
manding that such a bombing halt be "definitive"
(i.e., final or permanent) as did Party First Sec-
retary Le Duan in a 3 November speech before the
Supreme Soviet in Moscow.
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The Premier also provided a similar statement
on negotiations and a variety of other subjects to
a British reporter. These were published on 8 No-
vember. Dong told the reporter that the North Viet-
namese expect further escalation of the war and that
they are ready to cope with it. He pointed to the
forthcoming second session of the Bertrand Russell
war crimes tribunal as an event of "great international
importance," claiming that it will throw more light
on the "monstrous crimes of the US." Dong also went
to some length in stressing the importance of the
Liberation Front's new program and that organization's
claim to be the "only true representative of the
South Vietnamese people." Dong termed the present
Saigon administration "quislings" who are not taken
seriously, and asserted that the struggle against
the Americans compels everyone to take a stand--
either in favor of or against the US--"there is no
third road."
* * *
Construction Continuing at Yen Bai Airfield:
Photography of 29 October shows construction is
continuing to the runway at Yen Bai airfield north-
west of Hanoi. Concrete appears to have been laid
on part of the runway and the parallel taxiway.
Three parking aprons, 13 aircraft revetments, and a
dispersal taxiway were also observed. This is the
first progress noted at the field since 20 June
when it appeared that preparations were under way
to surface the runway.
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* * *
Effects of US River.Mining Operations: A
correspondent stationed in North Vietnam has
told US officials that, as of early August, the
people of North Vietnam were distressed by the fact
that mines had been dropped into rivers. The mines
had not been removed because the North Vietnamese
Navy was not familiar with minesweeping methods.
The traffic of river craft carrying rice and vege-
tables was restricted and river navigation appeared
to be greatly obstructed, especially on rivers be-
tween Hanoi and Haiphong.
* * *
Hanoi Says "Get in the Rice": On 5 November,
Hanoi issued its seasonal exhortation to mobilize
labor in the countryside to harvest this month's rice
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Crop.
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Largely because of a long period of drought,
it is estimated that this year's important 10th
month crop--about two-thirds of a 4.5 million ton
average yearly crop--will be about 10 percent or
200-300 thousand tons short. The crop harvested
in early summer had an estimated 200 thousand ton
shortfall. Grain imports this year have been run-
ning far ahead of 1966 imports.
* * *
II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
,ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
Hanoi on Negro.Servicemen: A 6 November Hanoi
English language broadcast to.US troops in South
Vietnam asserts that American Negroes are not only
"suffering racial brutality and denied their free-
dom in the ghettos," but are also "discriminated
against in the armed forces and in Vietnam." :The
broadcast claims that few Negro soldiers can get
officer's rank .and quotes Senator Edward Brooke as
saying that "the Negro is not given the authority
to,attain command." Hanoi also cites a 28-May re-
port in the US magazine Tan claiming that a Negro
-colonel was given a desk�Iab that never existed be-
fore, "simply to keep him from being assigned to a
field command."
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To ecret
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