THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF - 1968/01/02

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Tet Declassified
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 05974202
• Document Creation Date: July 27, 2018

Approved for Release: 2018/07/26 005974202
The President's Daily Brief
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DAILY BRIEF
2 JANUARY 1968
1. North Vietnam
2. Cambodia
TOP CRET
Speaking at a reception on Satur-
day, Foreign Minister Nguyen Duy Trinh
said Hanoi "will" talk with the US if
the bombing and "all other acts of war"
against North Vietnam are ended "uncon-
ditionally." North Vietnamese spokes-
men in the past have said only that
there "could be talks" once Hanoi's
conditions are met. Trinh's statement
has been broadcast in English by Hanoi.
On the same day Trinh spoke, the
North Vietnamese consul in New Delhi
said categorically that an end to the
bombing "would" lead to negotiations.
In neither instance did the North
Vietnamese hint that Hanoi would cur-
tail its own military activity or be
prepared to talk about anything other
than US - North Vietnamese relations.
The apparent modification in North
Vietnam's position may stem from the
belief that Hanoi can increase interna-
tional pressure for an end to the air
attacks if it seems less rigid.
Sihanouk appears to have confirmed
his Washington Post interview. At a
press conference -Sunday night, the Prince
said again that he would receive an en-
voy from President Johnson "not to nego-
tiate, but to palaver." He also said
he "could not fight" US troops entering
Cambodia if they were not detected. He
insisted, however, that hot pursuit op-
erations in populated areas would be
met with force.
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FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
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2 January 1968
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
2 January 1968
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
Trucks Move During Truce: Sunday night, US recon-
naissance pilots described traffic south of Vinh as
"bumper-to-bumper." An estimated 300-500 trucks were
noted headed south.
* * *
Haiphong Security: A Polish merchant marine of-
ficer reports even ships from Communist nations are
searched by the North Vietnamese on entering Haiphong.
Describing the procedure, the officer said North
Vietnamese soldiers board the inbound vessel and col-
lect all field glasses, radios, tape recorders, and
cameras. These are then locked in one cabin with a
Vietnamese soldier standing guard. Even officers'
personal lockers are searched.
* * *
West Germans Aid Hanoi: A West German news
agency has announced that a complete field hospital
for the treatment of bombing casualties was shipped
recently to North Vietnam. The hospital, equipped
with 60 beds and assorted technical facilities, rep-
resents the joint action of many private donors who
pooled their contributions to the International Com-
mittee of the Red Cross in Geneva. The US Embassy
in Bonn was told by the Federal Government that it
had no official knowledge of the matter, but that it
would not interfere.
Medical facilities of all types have long been
accepted from the Free World by the North Vietnam-
ese. This is one of the few areas in which Hanoi has
consented to deal with the West, and to actively seek
assistance. North Vietnamese officials in the past
year have visited France, Scandinavia, and several
other European countries seeking medical assistance.
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Party cadre were described as being firmly convinced
that the North Vietnamese authorities are serious
about fighting to the end and feelings of doubt
about the wisdom of such action among the people are
not voiced because of fear.
Draft -
There is considerable suspicion of the three-
year draft as it is well known that presently one
is released from service only for a physical disability.
The minimum draft age is 18, but younger volunteers
are accepted and boys in the 14-16 age bracket re-
ceive some rudimentary military training. Several
Spaniards reported isolated cases of draft dodging or
efforts to feign illness. The consensus was, how-
ever, that it was most difficult, if not impossible,
to avoid the draft.
* * *
II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
Hanoi on the Post-Dispatch: Hanoi, in an English
language broadcast on 31 December, reported and dis-
cussed a recent editorial in the St. Louis Post-Dis-
patch. As seen in Hanoi, the editorial was "strongly
against the Johnson administration's plea for its Viet-
nam policy." The broadcast quoted the editorial as
"laying waste point by point a statement by Assistant
Secretary Bundy." The paper reportedly claimed that
Saigon is being defeated by "South Vietnamese revolu-
tionaries" and that South Vietnam was never a sover-
eign state "except by American fiat."
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