THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Tet Declassified
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 05974129
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: April 26, 2019
• Document Release Date: April 30, 2019
• Publication Date: November 20, 1967

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The President's Daily Brief
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DAILY BRIEF
20 NOVEMBER 1967
1, Greece-Turkey
2. United Kingdom
3. Soviet Union
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Turkey is prepared to risk war with
Greece now rather than to permit the Turk-
ish community on Cyprus to continue living
under the threat of hostile action. The
Turkish foreign minister laid it on the
line last night to Ambassador Hart and the
British charg�Either the "illegal"
Greek troops leave the island quickly, or
Turkish forces will land there. He gave
no time limit, but said it is a question
of hours, not days.
The foreign minister implied that
it is up to the US and Britain to force
the Greeks to take out their troops. He
said this is the only peaceful way out
and repeated that Turkey's only purpose
is to protect the Turkish minority on
the island.
Both Greek and Turkish military
forces remain on a high state of alert.
There are "hawks" on each side pressing
for rapid pre-emptive military action
against the other.
Wilson will probably be able to
ride out the domestic storm unleashed
by devaluation and the imposition of new
economic restrictions. Immediate poli-
tical reactions were very harsh, however,
and criticism of the government will
mount as new taxes and other measures be-
gin to be felt. The danger of a serious.
revolt in the Labor Party will be very
real if the economic picture is not con-
siderably brighter by next spring.
All signs point to an impending So-
viet space spectacular late this week
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4, Soviet Union
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Jordan
6. West Germany
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7, Venezuela
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The facts are not all in yet, but
it is clear that the US Army attach�
and his British colleague were given
some pretty rough treatment on Friday
by Soviet goons in Kishinev, a town
near the Rumanian border. They were
forcibly detained in a hotel room and
their notes and film seized--though
nothing the attach�onsiders unusually
incriminating. Both officers were
roughed up, especially the Britisher.
Our attach�hinks they may have been
drugged.
The Department of State knows of
no incident here that might have trig-
gered the action.
Moscow is already following up on
its offer of economic assistance to
King Husayn. A Soviet delegation is
ready to come next month to survey po-
tential aid projects.
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8. France
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9. United Nations
10. Singapore
Prospects improved over the week-
end for early passage of a Security
Council resolution sending a mediator
to the Middle East, The British draft
resolution has been endorsed by Israel
and several Arab states. Egypt is still
insisting on some changes, however. If
it comes around, a Soviet veto is un-
likely.
Here is a final note on Lee Kuan
Yew's reactions to his US trip. When
Foreign Minister Hasluck stopped over
recently on his way back to Australia,
he found Lee grumbling bitterly over
what he considered a snub by Senators
Fulbright and Robert Kennedy.
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FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
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20 November 1967
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
20 November 1967
I�; NOTES ON THE SITUATION
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Hanoi's Account of the Friday Raid: Hanoi broad-
cast a statement yesterday claiming that at least 33
civilians were killed and another 158 wounded in the
capital city on Friday. More than 100 of the casual-
ties were hit in a single area of less than a half
mile square as a result of six steel pellet bombs,
according to the broadcast.
The Hanoi radio also charged that the Bac Mai
hospital, which is adjacent to the airfield, was hit
by a large number of steel pellet bombs and by two
750-pound bombs. One patient and several medical
personnel were killed, Hanoi asserted.
The French News Agency man in Hanoi seems to
confirm the relatively small casualty figure at the
hospital. He reports seeing a number of small holes
in the hospital area from pellet bombs, but concluded`
that casualties were minimal because the patients
had either taken shelter or been transferred to safer
places.
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Hanoi Figures on Earlier Bomb Casualties: Last
Wednesday, Hanoi's domestic radio service broadcast
another commentary bitterly condemning the raids
around the capital. In seven days, the broadcast
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claimed, some 200 residents of Hanoi were killed or
wounded in the attacks. Another 200 casualties re-
sulted from the series of recent raids on Haiphong,
the broadcast went on.
The US Embassy in Saigon comments that this
broadcast did not distinguish between civilian and
military casualties. If Hanoi's relatively low fig-
ures are accepted, the embassy points out, it would
mean either that the North Vietnamese shelter system
offers extraordinary protection or that the US bomb-
ing of military targets is very precise indeed.
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Pham Van Dong's Interview: US press reports
from Tokyo last night tell of an interview between
Premier Pham Van Dong and French newsman Olivier
Todd which was broadcast by Hanoi radio. Dong was
asked whether it would be useful and possible for
members of the US Congress to come to Hanoi to ob-
serve at first hand the effects of the bombings. The
North Vietnamese leader replied: "That is an inter-
esting idea to be closely studied. It raises a
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number of problems to us and also to those eventual
guests. We attach, you know, importance to the se-
curity of all our guests. Besides, under present
circumstances, one may wonder whether American poli-
ticians would want to come here. If requests are
made, we will consider them very carefully. In any
case, everything must be clear, unequivocal."
Pham Van Dong also used the opportunity to re-
iterate Hanoi's uncompromising stand. "Our struggle
is a struggle of principle," he said, and "there can
not be any compromise." The North Vietnamese, he
went on, "will never negotiate under bombs, or the
threat of bombs."
* * *
North Vietnamese Return from Moscow: The high-
powered North Vietnamese delegation to the Soviet
anniversary celebrations in Moscow arrived back in
Hanoi on 17 November. All the top Russian leaders
turned out to see the delegation off for Hanoi. The
Vietnamese stayed on nearly a week after most of
the other delegations had left, and we assume they
took this opportunity to review the war and related
issues with the Soviet leaders. We have no hints
of what this may have involved.
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II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
There was nothing of significance to report to-
day.
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