THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Tet Declassified
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 05974305
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: April 27, 2019
• Document Release Date: April 30, 2019
• Publication Date: March 1, 1968

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The President's Daily Brief
Top Secret 1 March 1968
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DAILY BRIEF
I MARCH 1968
1. South Vietnam
2. Panama
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Scattered allied military posi-
tions yesterday suffered relatively
light rocket, artillery, and mortar
attacks. There are plenty of signs,
however, of Communist preparations for
further military action, both in the
western highlands and around Saigon.
At Khe Sanh, the Communists are
continuing to work on a trench net-
work and weapons positions. Extensive
construction is also going on at the
enemy's A Shau Valley base complex.
This activity includes clearing opera-
tions, possibly for drop zones or a
helicopter pad.
* * *
Robles, however, will con-
tinue to use the government machinery
to rig the May elections in favor of
Samudio, and Arias' patience could wear
thin. Some pro-Arias types are still
making noises about calling a special
session of the National Assembly next
week to hear impeachment charges against
Robles.
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3. Greece
4. Argentina
5. Cambodia
6. Indonesia
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The junta is furious over Swedish
Prime Minister Erlander's announcement
that his party will make a donation to
Andreas Papandreou's antiregime war
chest. Diplomatic relations with Swe-
den will probably be broken, apparently
as a warning to other nations against
"interference" in Greek affairs.
Papandreou is due in Washington
on 9 March.
The government is said to have
signed an agreement to buy light
tanks from a French consortium. The
ultimate idea is to build these tanks,
under license, in Argentina.
Guerrilla activity in western Cam-
bodia is increasing and spreading.
Over the weekend there were coordinated
raids, with executions and kidnapings
of government officials in at least 15
villages. Phnom Penh claims these
raids are Communist led; the relatively
sophisticated tactics of the guerrillas,
as well as some of the propaganda they
distributed, lend credence to these
claims.
This is no immediate threat to
Sihanouk, but it could further poison
his relations with Hanoi and Peking.
Yesterday he publicly threatened toask
for US assistance if this dissidence
continues.
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7. India
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During the question period in
parliament on Wednesday, Mrs. Gandhi
denied that her government was under
pressure from any quarter to sign the
nonproliferation treaty. When asked
for assurance that India would not sign
the treaty under any circumstances, the
prime minister said she refused to look
into the "remote future." Later, how-
ever, she commented that the draft
treaty in its present form is not ac-
ceptable and India does not propose to
sign it.
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FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
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1 March 1968
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
I March 1968
I, NOTES ON THE SITUATION
Hanoi on Talks: Hanoi has forcefully restated
its willingness to talk about a settlement in Viet-
nam, but has insisted again that the US must make
the first move. The new statement has been broadened
to include more specific references to the timing
and content of such discussions. As broadcast by
Hanoi radio yesterday, the commentary said that an
unconditional cessation of the bombing would be fol-
lowed by talks "as soon as this unconditional stop
has been proved." Both sides would then discuss
questions related to "a settlement of the Vietnam
problem on the basis of the 1954 Geneva agreements
and other questions which would be raised by either
side." Both these elements had been introduced into
the North Vietnamese position earlier this year.
The broadcast claimed that many prominent fig-
ures in the US (including Senators R. Kennedy,
Cooper, Mansfield, and McCarthy), as well as U Thant
and officials of other countries, had recently de-
manded an end to the bombing.
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More on Hanoi's Attitude Toward Reciprocity:
Recent assertions by two French observers that Hanoi
would do "something tangible" to scale down the war,
after a bombing halt have been undercut even more
than indicated Jean
Sainteny told a US Embassy official in Paris that
his remarks to this effect on French television
were not based on anything new from North Vietnam.
He said his views were private ones based on his
intimate knowledge of the North Vietnamese and his
conversations with Pham Van Dong in 1966.
The point on reciprocity in
French journalist Olivier Todd,
has now been specifically disavowed by the
North Vietnamese. The publication which carried
Todd's story has now published a brief statement by
Mai Van Bo saying that Hanoi's position is fully
expressed in a series of public statements and that
all other interpretations are without foundation.
the story by
* * *
View of Former Reporter in Hanoi: Bernard
Cabanes, who recently returned to France after
seven months' reporting from Hanoi for the French
press service, gave his views of the situation in
North Vietnam in a radio interview on Monday. Ca-
banes' reports from Hanoi frequently suggested
that they were inspired by the North Vietnamese.
Once home, his views on the situation appear to be
slightly more objective.
--Cabanes claimed he observed no appreciable
change in the morale of the people in Hanoi during
his tour, except for the fact that there was an air
of satisfaction at the results of the "victories"
of the Tet offensive.
--Hanoi is not meeting any insurmountable dif-
ficulties in continuing the war. Some supplies for
the general populace are short--but the people are
used to such shortages. Military supplies from the
bloc appear adequate.
--Cabanes emphatically denied reports of a
split in the Hanoi leadership over the prosecution
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of the war. He claimed all are united in continu-
ing the fight and are preparing for a long war,
which will end not by a military victory but by a
political solution on Communist terms. In this re-
gard, Cabanes pointed out that the regime is anti-
cipating more extensive US bombings and is con-
structing larger and more secure civil defense fa-
cilities in the city.
--On negotiations, Cabanes claimed that Hanoi
will offer no reciprocity for talks with the US.
* * *
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Optimism in Hanoi: An ICC officer who was in
Hanoi recently has remarked about the optimism that
seems to pervade the atmosphere there. He noted
ample propaganda about the success of the Tet offen-
sive in the South and saw crowds cheering soldiers.
One North Vietnamese officer said, "we shall con-
tinue attacking from the countryside."
* * *
II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
Hanoi Reports Antiwar Protests: A statement
by student representatives of several Ivy League
colleges protesting US involvement in Vietnam was
reported by Hanoi in its 28 February English lan-
guage broadcast. According to the broadcast, the
students would rather go to jail or give up their
American citizenship than serve with the US Army
in Vietnam. The same broadcast also recounted
statements against the war by a group of US busi-
nessmen.
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