THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 14 MARCH 1966

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005968202
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: March 14, 1966

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24: CIA-RDP79T00936A004300420001-3
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
THE PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF
14 MARCH 1966
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NAMES AND ISOUNO?PY REPRESENTATION
ARE NOT NECESSARILY AUTHORITATIVE
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DAILY BRIEF
14 MARCH 1966
1. Indonesia
2. Laos
3. Vietnam
Sukarno is already trying to re-
trieve his authority,and the army may
be planning further moves against him
and his leftist ministers, possibly to-
night.
Some of the generals are said to
be particularly incensed over Sukarno's
assertions that Suharto has exceeded
the authority Sukarno gave him last
Saturday. Suharto's advisers have urged
him to ignore the insinuation that his
orders are in any way limited.
There are signs that some of the
generals may not be wholly committed to
keeping Sukarno down, but student and
other civilian groups show signs of con-
tinuing their public action in support
of the army's positions.
Communist forces continue to over-
run government positions in northern
Laos. Muong Hiem, an important base and
airstrip, fell yesterday, less than a
month after the Communist seizure of Na
Khang to the southeast (see map).
Yesterday's action appears to cap
a year-old campaign to clear government
guerrillas from Route 6, which the Com-
munists presumably hope to use as an al-
ternate supply route to the Plaine des
Jarres.
.American military leaders in South
Vietnam now confirm the presence of a
ninth North Vietnamese Army regiment in
South Vietnam. This brings confirmed
North Vietnamese strength in the south
to 15,880, about one-fifth of the total
Communist regular force in South Vietnam.
More North Vietnamese are being infil-
trated,and the Communists are now filling
out additional division-level structures.
The subject is examined in today's Annex.
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4. South Vietnam
5. Communist China
? Political agitation continued today
in ousted General Thi's old area of north-
ern South Vietnam. Today's demonstra-
tions were by and large orderly and at
a relatively low level.
Premier Ky is taking it all very
calmly, feeling that the protest over
?Thi's removal has been kept well in hand.
A potential for trouble remains, however.
Some Buddhist leaders and local poli-
ticians in the Hue - Da Nang area seem
to want to keep things stirred up. They
had demonstrators out today with banners
calling for an end to military rule and
shouting demands that Chief of State
Thieu, a particular Buddhist target, be
thrown out.
If these elements can keep the pres-
sure on, much will depend on how deft and
firm Thi's successor. General Chuan nrovel
to be.
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Mao Tse-tung, now 72 years old,
may be nearing the end of his road. He
has been out of public view for five
months and his activities have been un-
reported in the Chinese press since 26
November. He has now exceeded his long-
est recorded previous absence, in the
winter of 1956 and 1957, when he is be-
lieved to have suffered a stroke.
_ Mao's absence has cost Peking sev-
eral chances recently to impress high-
level foreign visitors, of the type he
used to receive regularly.
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6. Belgium
7. Yemen
8. Guinea
The political crisis was broken yes-
terday when the Liberal-Party leaders
voted for a coalition with the Social
Christians. This solution eliminates
Foreign Minister Spaak and may presage
moves to cut defense expenditures.
Faysal has balked at Nasir's condi-
tions for Egyptian evacuation of Yemen,
specifically refusing the demand that
the republicans have a two-to-one ratio
? a g
ra_L=cn t
, but at any time Nasir
could indulge in some precipitious act
that would wreck chances of a settle-
ment.
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Our relations with Guinea may be in
for another chilly spell. President Toure
has grimly told our charg?e has "proof"
of US involvement in both the Ghanaian
and Nigerian coups. Toure probably has
a basic desire to get along with the US,
but is emotionally upset over Nkrumah's
ouster, and appears to be under pressure
from radical factions in his party.
Congo (Brazzaville) Reports from Leopoldville say that
the radical regime across the river may
be in trouble. Most of its employees
have not been paid since December, and
there is tension between the president
and the army. Almost any new government
would probably be less caustically radi-
cal, but neither the rag tag army nor
any other group in sight appears to of-
fer any real solutions to the country's
ills.
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10. Soviet Union
There are indications that the So-
viets were preparing to deorbit Cosmos
110 yesterday, and then abandoned the
attempt. The reasons for these prepara-
tions are unknown,/
It is still in orbit today, and
we continue to believe that, barring a
malfunction, the Soviets are unlikely
to bring it down before 20 March.
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ANNEX
Communist Military Strength in South Vietnam
The presence of a ninth North Vietnamese regi-
ment has been confirmed in South Vietnam. In addi-
tion, two new North Vietnamese battalions and two
more Viet Cong battalions have been accepted as con-
firmed by US military officials in Saigon. As a re-
sult, they have raised the confirmed strength for
all Communist troops from 72,300 to 74,990 men. The
figures do not include some 18,000 combat support
troops or 103,000 Viet Cong guerrillas.
There are good indications that the infiltra-
tion of North Vietnamese regulars continues apace.
This means that,over and above the forces mentioned
in the last paragraph, additional North Vietnamese
regiments may already be in South Vietnam, even
though they do not yet appear as confirmed in offi-
cial order of battle holdings.'
Moreover, friendly Laotian guerrillas counted
some 400 trucks moving south through the infiltra-
tion corridor during an eight-day period in mid-
February. Unlike the goods convoys which have oper-
ated over these routes for the past year and more,
virtually all of these carried troops. They moved
at night in convoys of 20-25 trucks each. The des-
tination of the troops--the number could run as high
as 9,000--has not yet been established, but many of
them will doubtless show up shortly in South Vietnam.
This infusion of new blood from North Vietnam
is being used,along with Viet Cong units, to fill
out the division-level structures which the Commu-
nists have been developing lately.
(Cont'd)
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ANNEX Cont'd)
/ The Communists may be creating two more
right now. At least one is made up entirely of North
Vietnamese.
In most cases, these structures are not divi-
sions'in the usual sense. They are rather a group
of regiments and other units brought together under
a single headquarters, usually for a specific tacti-
cal purpose; for.example, the two or three North
Vietnamese regiments which fought together in the-Ia
Drang valley last November.
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