THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 29 MAY 1972

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005993325
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: May 29, 1972

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A010700260002-9
The President's Daily Brief
29 May 1972
46
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THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
29 May 1972
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
On page 1 we discuss Warsaw's positive attitude to-
ward President Nixon's forthcoming visit as Poland
looks ahead to its future role in a period of Euro-
pean detente.
Moscow broadcasts to Vietnam urge an end to the war
through negotiation, and a Viet Cong representative
insists that big power summit meetings will not
change the situation. (Page 2)
In South Vietnam, the military situation at Kontum
City is serious. (Page 3)
Next Sunday's election in Cambodia could turn out
to be a real contest. (Page 4)
In Chile, labor union elections this week are ex-
pected to boost Allende's claim of strong working
class support. (Page 5)
Bonn has asked for an early meeting between West
European and US officials on the SALT agreements.
(Page 6)
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POLAND
As a result of President Nixon's visit to
Moscow, Warsaw is looking ahead to a period
of detente in Europe backed by the US and
the Soviet Union. The Polish Government
sees an opportunity to re-establish in some
degree many of Poland's traditional ties
with Western Europe, but it also worries
that the USSR might try to limit such ties.
It appears that within the past few days
the Poles have decided to seek during Pres-
ident Nixon's stop in Warsaw a closer rela-
tionship to the US. This they see partly
as a counterweight to anticipated Soviet
pressures for close East European coordi-
nation on policy toward Western Europe.
The Poles, apparently dismayed by the
USSR's failure thoroughly to consult with
them during the West German treaty ratifi-
cation crisis, also seem to have concluded
that they must seize this opportunity to
stake out a policy toward Europe that is
less dependent on the Soviet ?Union but
still stays largely within the framework
of their alliance with Moscow.
Since last Thursday, Polish officials in Wash-
ington--perhaps under instructions--have given US
diplomats and USIA officers a glimpse of Polish ex-
pectations arising from the President's visit.
--Polish party chief Gierek is said to hope for
an understanding with the President that will
be broader than improved economic relations;
--Although they will be unable to express it
explicitly-, the Poles remain interested in -a
continued US presence in. Europe, including
the US troops in West Germany; and
--The Polish Government may express a desire
for an agreement to hold periodic consulta-
tions--similar to Warsaw's arrangement with
the French--on matters of mutual interest,
particularly European problems.
These positions are clearly designed to
achieve for the Poles the kind of leeway
they think they will need in establishing
new relationships with Western Europe.
For sometime, the Poles have valued the
US presence in Europe as a check on the
Germans as well as the Soviets.
1
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USSR-VIETNAM
Two Radio Moscow broadcasts beamed at Vietnam-
ese listeners on 25 May assert that negotiations are
the only way to end the war, and they both endorse
the Vietnamese Communist proposal to reconvene the
Paris talks. The first notes that the Vietnam prob-
lem "cannot be solved by military means." The sec-
ond defends Moscow's search for better relations with
Washington and reminds unnamed "friends" that the
USSR's peace program entails no sacrifice of prin-
ciple because it pays great attention to eliminating
"dangerous hotbeds of war" in Southeast Asia and to
solving problems there by political means.
This line is in keeping with what the So-
viet media have said in the recent past,
and it squares with Premier Kosygin's re-
marks during his toast Friday night. These
broadcasts, beamed specifically at the
Vietnamese and in their language, are evi-
dently designed to emphasize Moscow's po-
sition to Hanoi. Meanwhile, the Soviet
media continue to ignore recent North Viet-
namese statements denouncing the President
and criticizing attempts to internation-
alize the Vietnam issue.
In an interview with a Japanese correspondent
in Paris on Sunday, the Viet Cong's chief negotiator
said that none of President Nixon's "big power nego-
tiations" can solve the Vietnam problem. According
to the Japanese press report, Madame Binh also ruled
out any possible change in Soviet and Chinese poli-
cies toward Vietnam, "whatever the aims of President
Nixon's visits to Peking and Moscow might be."
If Madame Binh's remarks are accurately
reflected in the Japanese press, they rep-
resent the most explicit statement this
year by any Vietnamese Communist official
on the big power summit meetings. North
Vietnam's news media have repeatedly warned
Hanoi's allies abroad of "deceitful US
diplomatic ploys" but so far have made no
direct reference to President Nixon's
visits to either Moscow or Peking.
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Demilitarized Zone
Gulf of
Thailand
104
553151 5-72
116
Capital Special Zone
South
China
Sea
SOUTH VIETNAM
ir
MILES
12-
10--
110
"10
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VIETNAM
The situation at Kontum City is serious. The
airfield is now in Communist hands and the city's
main ammunition dump nearby has been destroyed.
Helicopters are still able to bring in some sup-
plies to the defenders. Resupply by land is pre-
cluded by Communist forces blocking the road at
Kontum Pass. Nevertheless, South Vietnamese coun-
terattacks on 28 May have driven some Communist
forces out of the city.
An American observer has reported spotting a
large Communist force of some 1,000 men and 26
tanks moving toward Pleiku City, some 30 miles
away. There have been several Communist sapper
attacks against military installations in the city
and this movement suggests that larger attacks may
be in the offing.
Fighting in the rest of the country was light
and scattered. Only a few actions have been re-
ported in the An Loc area. The South Vietnamese
relief force has made no further progress toward
the town.
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CAMBODIA
With the voting less than a week away,
former deputy prime minister In Tam seems
to be posing a real threat to Lon NoZ's
bid to become the country's first elected
president.
reports over the past
week indicate that significant numbers of voters in
the Phnom Penh area favor In Tam, and that he is
running ahead of Lon Nol in some of the more popu-
lated areas of the countryside. In Tam is making
effective use of those issues on which Lon Nol is
most vulnerable--military weakness, corruption, and
authoritarianism. His candidacy has been especially
appealing among Phnom Penh's disgruntled students,
many of whom have volunteered to help in his cam-
paign.
For its part, the regime--with the vigorous
backing of the military establishment--is working
to boost Lon Nol through such means as a massive
army parade on 27 ivial7
The gov-
ernment will be counting the votes and this, of
course, gives it the ultimate advantage.
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25X1
25X1
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CHILE
Several hundred thousand labor union members
throughout the country will vote on Tuesday and
Wednesday for the leadership of their national labor
confederation. There are nine competing slates, but
the main ones are those of the Communists, the So-
cialists and the opposition Christian Democrats.
The government--in which the Communists
and the Socialists are both represented--
is expected through this election to gain
some substance for its claim of strong
working class support. However the votes
are divided among them, the combined pro-
government forces--with two major and sev-
eral minor party slates--are likely to win
over half the votes.
The Christian Democrats, campaigning to
pick up protest votes from people disil-
lusioned with the Allende government, could
get upwards of 25 percent of the total.
Much more than that would embarrass the
Allende government. Even more awkward from
the government's view would be a strong
showing by the slate backed by the ultra-
revolutionary and violence-prone Movement
of the Revolutionary Left.
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NOTES
West Germany - SALT': Bonn has asked for. an
early meeting between West European and US officials
on the SALT agreements.- A Foreign Office official
made the request a few hours before the agreements
were signed in Moscow. He disclaimed any European
intention to "watch over the shoulder of their Amer-
ican friends," but said that US-European consulta-
tions would also be desirable before negotiations
begin on a second-stage agreement. He noted that
Bonn attaches less importance to the.detaila of SALT
agreements than to "broad concepts which take into
account European interests."'
Cuba: Fidel Castro is still wending his way
through Eastern Europe prior to his planned arrival
in Moscow in mid- to late June. His nine days in
Bulgaria, most of it spent sightseeing, were evi-
dently somewhat of a strain on his hosts. Castro,
now in Rumania for four days, is expected to move
on to Hungary on Tuesday. He then visits East Ger-
many, Poland, and Czechoslovakia before finally ar-
riving in the USSR.
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