THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 8 MAY 1970

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005977444
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: May 8, 1970

' Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP79T00936A008300070001-8
The President's Daily Brief
8 May 1970
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THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
8 May 1970
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
(Page 1)
Indochinese
Communists continue their move westward into Cambo-
dia. (Page 2)
Communists are keeping the corridor open in Laos.
(Page 4)
?The Soviet-Czechoslovak friendship treaty spells out
the "Brezhnev doctrine." (Page 8)
(Page 6)
More trouble is expected on the Israel-Lebanon
border. (Page 7)
Guatemalan
(Page 8)
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INDOCHINA
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Cambodia: Current Situation
THAILAND
Government
oyer r enttro,eo troops
pull
/Ite
Pang,
Ab ndoned
odtpOsts
('Stung Treng
ttambang
aptured by Commun
Senmonoro
aigon
NAM
GULF
OF
SIAM
SOUTH
CHINA SEA
;????
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(
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CAMBODIA
Yesterday's attack.against Kratie may have been
carried out by elements of the 275th Viet Cong Regi-
ment previously identified as being about 15 miles -
from the town. If so, this would be the first con-
firmed use of Communist main force units in the Cam-
bodian campaign. Recent reports from refugees from
Mondolkiri Province indicated that virtually the
entire province was under effective enemy domination
even before the fall of its capital, Senmonorom.
The adjacent northern province of Stung Treng
also may fall soon to the Communists. Intercepted
army messages indicate that government troops are
abandoning outposts near the Laos border and are
pulling back to the town of Siem Pang. Messages
state the Communists, who had established a viable
insurgent force in this area even before Sihanouk's
fall, are propagandizing Lao villagers near Siem
Pang and are predicting attacks on Siem Pang and the
provincial capital in the near future.
Although Cambodian military Leaders have
all but written off the northeast area,
which has never been under firm govern-
ment control, the loss of Kratie and Sen-
monorom will be a hard blow to morale in
Phnom Penh. Continuing Communist inroads
in the northeast and elsewhere suggest
that allied operations along the South
Vietnam border will not necessarily lead
to an early end of Communist pressure in
the interior.
Recent messages indicate that military leaders
are also jumpy about a threat developing in areas
west of the capital, which have been surprisingly
quiet./
i/The Communists have a rudimentary apparatus
in the west, but it does not appear to have been
very active during the past month.
(continued)
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South of Phnom Penh, meanwhile, government.
forces still have not launched a serious drive to
regain control of the west bank of the Mekong River
at the Neak Luong ferry crossing. Press accounts
say that government artillery is shelling the area,
however. Ethnic Cambodian troops recently airlifted
to Phnom Penh from South Vietnam reportedly will take
part in the government's offensive in this area.
There is new evidence that the. Communists are
making a substantial effort to build :a Communist in-
frastructure in Cambodian villages alon the South
Vietnam border.
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LAOS
Communist forces have recaptured the key artil-
.lery site overlooking Attopeu town from which they
withdrew only the day before.
This action suggests that the enemy in-
tends to maintain a foothold in the south-
ern portion of the Bolovens Plateau. Re-
ports from persons who escaped from At-
topeu indicate that the attacking force
consisted of two North Vietnamese battal-
ions, but that the town is now being held
by Pathet Lao units. The government com-
mander responsible for the defense of At-
topeu is said to have accepted an enemy
offer to abandon the provincial capital
without a fight.
The Communists succeeded in moving some sup?
-
plies through the Laotian panhandle during the
rainy season last year
Logistics units in the panhandle recently
were reorganized. They have begun to im rove the
roads to stave off floods
They are also storing up foo
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USSR-CZECHOSLOVAKIA
CIA Kremlinologists have had time to study
more thoroughly the? Soviet-Czechoslovak
friendship treaty signed in Prague on 6
May, and have the following preliminary
comments:
The, treaty 'represents the fullest endorsement
yet of the "Brezhnev doctrine," by which Moscow claims
the right to intervene in any country where Communist
rule is threatened. The signatories agree to take
"the necessary measures" to protect the gains of so-
cialism--a formulation the Soviet leaders hope will
justify once and for all, the invasion of Czechoslo-
vakia in 1968.
The treaty also commits the two states to work
towards "socialist economic integration" within CEMA,
marking the first time this Soviet project has been
explicitly incorporated ih-an agreement of this kind.
In one other innovation, it obliges the Czechoslovaks
to facilitate "direct ties" between the "state or-
gans" of Prague and. Moscow, which willserve to so-
lidify the hold the Soviets.now have over Czechoslo-
vakia.
The new treaty' implicitly commits Czechoslovakia
to fight on the side of the USSR in any conflict with
Communist China. In this respect it is similar to
the treaties the USSR-has with Hungary and Bulgaria.
This mutual defense clause, plus' the reaffirmation
of the "Brezhnev doctrine," will add to the.appre-
hensions of other East' European countries over the
subordination of their interests to those of Moscow.
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EGYPT-USSR
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IS
Arab guerrillas attacking across the Lebanese
border seem almost certain to provoke a strong mil-
itary response from Israel. Fedayeen strikes this
week have killed several Israeli civilians and sol-
diers, and have wounded a number of others. The
Israeli public is more than ordinarily wrought up
over these incidents.
The nervous Beirut government has at-
tempted to maintain some control over the
guerrillas based in its territory in order
to obviate Israeli countermeasures. Never-
theless, the Arab commandos have managed
to carry out a steady, if not spectacular,
series of attacks against Israeli settle-
ments in this sensitive area.
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GUATEMALA
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