THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 4 DECEMBER 1970

Document Type: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
0005977833
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
T
Document Page Count: 
16
Document Creation Date: 
August 14, 2016
Document Release Date: 
August 24, 2016
Sequence Number: 
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
December 4, 1970
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PDF icon DOC_0005977833.pdf409.84 KB
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3 The President's Daily Brief 4 December 1970 48 50X1 Top Secret Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3 . A Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3 FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 4 December 1970 PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS The southbound flow of North Vietnamese troops is examined on Page 1. The Warsaw Pact renewed its commitment to a Berlin settlement in a statement following the summit meet- ing. (Page 2) The military situation in Laos is discussed on Page 5. A Canadian journalist is in North Vietnam (Page 7) Chile is moving toward diplomatic relations with Communist China. (Page 8) The status of Soviet naval units in and, around Cuba is reported on Page 9. FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3 North Vietnam: Infiltration Starts 40,000 30,000 1968 SVN, Total 240,800 1969 SVN, Total 84,600 1970 SVN, Cambodia, and Southern Laos 1970 total: 97,500 to 30 November 20,000 0 JAN . FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC 1968 SVN 21,000 18,900 32,600 38,900 32,800 23,500 21,800 11,000 2,200 2,800 5,200 30,100 1964 SVN 19,200 25,000 17,100 2,300 1,100 100 100 600 600 4,500 7,800 6,200 1970 SVN, Cambodia, and Southern Laos 14,200 11,700 10,600 a 3,100 3,800 ' 2,100 4,100 4,400 11,000 15,200 17,300" Southern Leos 600 - 700 700 900 700 3,300 10,200 3,400 2.600' 550634 12-70 CIA Totals for 1968 and 1969 include troops bound for South Vietnam only; those for 1970 include troops bound for South Vietnam, Southern Laos, and Cambodia. *to date - - Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3 FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY NORTH VIETNAM About 17,300 North Vietnamese troops started south in November, the highest monthly total since February, 1969. More than 10,000 of the infiltrators de.,. tected were earmarked for COSVN, which, commands Communist activities in Cambodia and southern South Vietnam, An additional 4,400 are headed for northern South Viet- nam, About 2,600, including whatseems to be a regiment of North Vietnamese Army regulars, are believed to be en route to southern Laos. Continuing deployments of regular North Vietnamese units in and around the in- filtration corridor reflect the priority Hanoi has placed on securing its supply lines through Laos. The 46th and 52nd regiments of the 320th Division, for ex- ample, have arrived in southern Laos and are committed to the defense of the in- filtration corridor. The 88th ?Regiment of the 308th Division, which recently was located just north of the DMZ, may also be bound for security duty in Laos. Head- quarters elements of both the 320th and 308th divisions have moved southward in North Vietnam and other elements subor- dinate to them may follow. In addition, major elements of the 24th Regiment of the 304th Division--a division which nor- mally rotates its units in and out of the DMZ area--seem to have remained in south- ern Laos. Farther down the infiltration corridor, eZements of the North Vietnamese 2nd Di- vision that were pulled out of South Viet- nam last summer are moving south through Saravane Province of southern Laos. The available evidence suggests they are headed back to South Vietnam. Still far- ther south, elements of two regiments which normally are targeted against 'the western highlands of South Vietnam appear to be helping expand and defend the Com- munist supply Lines running south through the Laos-Cambodia border area. FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A069000040001-3 FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY WARSAW PACT Warsaw Pact leaders announced their support for a mutually acceptable agreement on West Berlin in a statement released a day after their summit meeting in East Berlin. The statement said such an agree- ment should meet the interests of detente in central Europe, as well as the requirements of the people Iof West Berlin and the lawful interests and sovereign rights of East Germany. The statement appears to be a reiteration of the goals of detente in central Europe without providing. any clues on how this is to be accomplished. These tactics have the advantage of creating the impression of forward movement on East-West negotia- tions on Europe without chipping away at East Germany's sovereignty. Nevertheless, the statement does nothing to assuage UZ- bricht's unhappiness over his allies' eager responses to Bonn's Ostpolitik, and the statement's support for Czechoslovak negotiations with West Germany indicates that the next bilateral agreement could be a Bonn-Prague affair. 2 FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A06-9000040001-3 FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY FEDAYEEN 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3 216 .\? CYPRUS + Airfields used by Soviet TU-16s Airfields used by Soviet fighters ..Horns LEBANON Beirut/ , SYRIA MEDITERRANEAN SEA 1=--/ ISR JEL ? .... Tat yAavfloa. it/ _jAmman JerDsalerka ? 41 1' .'" 1-411 2\ / / JORDAN 4/44\ S/NA/ I "7"' ? El at Al 'Aqabah ? *Damascus (leurAcu? OCCUPIED) Al Ma LIBYA .fiyanklis4 Ismailia Cairo West Cairo, ?surez 41 t /( ? _el ARA Er; /( ? 4/ - fc ? -? ' Asyut (EGYPT) 0 SAUDI ARABIA liurghada Aur Satajah RED SEA ? ?N. SUDAN 550638 12-70 CIA TCS 864613/70 0 MILES 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3 FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY USSR-EGYPT Satellite photography in June and August showed at least eight Egyptian-marked TU-16s at Severomorsk and Malyavr naval air stations in northwestern USSR. Six of them carried air-to-surface missiles (ASM). In July, four TU-16s arrived at Aswan, and were ex- changed' for others that had been there since April. 4 FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY 50X1 50X1 5axt 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3 LAOS: Current Situation THAILAND `"?/, Communist-controlled territory Contested territory ? ARA RCA TION INE NAM THAILAND Site'40 Attep.eAl 550639 12-70 CIA MILES CAMBODIA Declassified in Part - -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3 FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY LAOS Government forces are still encountering no significant opposition as they :move closer to the Communist supply lines in the ?Ban Ban valley. Ele- ments of the 850-man force closing on Ban Ban from the north got close enough to Routes 61 and 7 on 2 December to observe enemy truck traffic. The 1,300 irregulars moving north from San Tiau captured two high ground positions on 2 December against only token resistance. On the western edge of the Plaine, Communist forces kept up their shelling of government posi= tions near. Khang Kho and Ban Na, but no ground con- tacts were reported. Intercepts indicate that ele- ments of the NVA 148th Regiment, which have been carrying out these attacks, are involved in some redispositioning of their forces and are having difficulty in evacuating their wounded. In southern Laos, the government force which has been sweeping the area north of Paksong to determine the enemy presence in this area continued to report no contact. Farther to the southeast, on the edge of the Bolovens Plateau, North Vletnam- ese units seized the government position at Site 40 on 2 December, 5 FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3 Communist China: 50X1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3 t?-? Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3 FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY COMMUNIST CHINA 50X1 50X1 50X1 FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3 ? Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3 FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY NORTH VIETNAM A fairly prominent Canadian journalist Michael Macleer, is in North Vietnam for a visit of.several weeks. He is representing Canadian television and The New York Times. Last year Macleer produced lengthy film reports that presented Hanoi's position in a favorable light. They were shown., widelyon Western television. 7 FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3 .50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T4936A039000040001-3 FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY CHILE The government has announced that discussions on opening relations with Communist China are unaer way in Paris. Allende is continuing his effort to carry out rapidly his campaign promise to estab- lish diplomatic relations with all Commu- nist countries. Chile set the stage for the move toward China at the UN this fall by becoming the first country in Latin America, other than Cuba, to vote for the Albanian resolution. 8 FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3 50X1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3 FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY NOTES USSR-Cuba: The Soviet missile frigate and sub- marine tender have rendezvoused north of Puerto Rico. A conventionally powered F-class submarine surfaced in the same area yesterday and apparently is operat- ing with the frigate and tender. The report in yes- terday's Daily Brief that the Soviet rescue tug had left Cienfuegos was based on an erroneous radio di- rection signal. The tug is still in port. Also yesterday, two Soviet TU-95 naval recon- naissance aircraft flew from the USSR to Havana. Last spring three pairs of TU-95s flew to Cuba but returned to the USSR within several days without conducting operations with Soviet naval units then in the Caribbean. USSR: 9 FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3 50X1 50X1 5nxl 50X1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3 Top Secret Secret Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A009000040001-3