THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 9 NOVEMBER 1967

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Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
0005974111
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RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
T
Document Page Count: 
10
Document Creation Date: 
September 16, 2015
Document Release Date: 
September 16, 2015
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Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
November 9, 1967
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600030001-2 The President's Daily Brief 5p?See44et_. 9 November 1967 23 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600030001-2 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600030001-2 DAILY BRIEF 9 NOVEMBER 1967 1. Congo 2. Nigeria 3. West Germany 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. 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600030001-2 50X1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600030001-2Axi .7 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. 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. 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600030001-2 50X1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600030001-2 - Top Secret Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600030001-2 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24: CIA-RDP79T00936A005600030001-2 Top Secret FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY Special Daily Report on North Vietnam Top Secret 16 9 November 1967 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600030001-2 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600030001-2 50X1 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. Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600030001-2 50X1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600030001-2 50X1 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." * * * 50X1 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. Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600030001-2 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600030001-2 50X1 * * * 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 -3- Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600030001-2 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600030001-2 5 ca 1 Crop. 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." -4- Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600030001-2 50X1 50X1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600030001-2 Top Secret Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005600030001-2