SPECIAL DAILY REPORT ON NORTH VIETNAM

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Tet Declassified
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 02406715
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: April 27, 2019
• Document Release Date: April 30, 2019
• Publication Date: February 28, 1968

Approved for Release: 2019/04/17 CO2406715
FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
Ton,Scret
28 February 1968
Approved for Release: 2019/04/17 CO2406715
Approved for Release: 2019/04/17 CO2406715
Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
28 February 1968
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
Release Sought for Captured West German Doc-
tors: Monsignor George Hussler, an official of the
West German office of the Catholic charitable organi-
zation Caritas, has contacted North Vietnamese offi-
cials in East Berlin regarding the release of five
West German doctors who disappeared from Hue during
the Tet offensive and may have been taken prisoner
by the Viet Cong. Hussler, who visited Hanoi in late
1966, is presently organizing a shipment of eight
tons of medical supplies to North Vietnam and feels
that this may facilitate his gaining the release of
the doctors. (The West Germans are preparing a simi-
lar shipment for South Vietnam.) North Vietnamese
officials in East Berlin told Hussler that his re-
quest would be forwarded to appropriate authorities.
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3.3(h)(2)
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The last US newsman to travel to Hanoi was David
Schoenbrun, who went principally as an academician
and not as a reporter.
The Budapest Conference: Although the North
Vietnamese are unwilling to participate in the cur-
rent meeting of Communist parties in Budapest be-
cause of its Sino-Soviet overtones, Ho Chi Minh,
according to several press reports, has sent a
letter to the conference requesting a pledge of sup-
port. Hanoi propaganda, however, has as yet avoided
giving the conference any publicity.
* * *
II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
Hanoi Quotes Western Press on Westmoreland:
In its English�Tanguage broadcast on Monday, Hanoi
radio rounded up several critical articles in the
Western press on General Westmoreland. It reported
that the General has admitted that the Tet offensive
had placed his forces on the defensive, but ridi-
culed his claim that the US still maintained the
initiative in its sweep operations. Quoting an As-
sociated Press source, the radio said that US strat-
egy in the war had failed, and that many US officers
were unhappy with Westmoreland's strategy. The error
he has fallen into, according to Hanoi, is that he
is permitting the enemy to choose the conditions for
battle. Summing up, the Hanoi statement pointed out
that Westmoreland had few reserves to insure a
stronger defense of Saigon or Khe Sanh and warned
that the recent dispatch of 10,000 additional troops
falls far short of what is really needed to hold out
against new enemy thrusts, "let alone to make any
gains."
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Approved for Release: 2019/04/17 CO2406715
Approved for Release: 2019/04/17 CO2406715
Approved for Release: 2019/04/17 CO2406715