THE SITUATION IN VIETNAM - 22 DECEMBER 1967

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Tet Declassified
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06752215
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: April 26, 2019
• Document Release Date: April 30, 2019
• Publication Date: December 22, 1967

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DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
rgo
MEMORANDUM
The Situation in Vietnam
cret
119
22 Decernbe 1967
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Information as of 1600
22 December 1967
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HIGHLIGHTS
Another Chinese antiaircraft. artillery division
has apparently moved into South China; this suggests
that one of the Chinese antiaircraft divisions in
North Vietnam may be replaced.
I. The Military Situation in South Vietnam:
Five South Vietnamese civilians were killed and nearly
50 wounded during and enemy mortar and rocket bar-
rage just south of Hue late on 21 December. Addi-
tional enemy mortar attacks and skirmishes were re-
ported in scattered areas, but no large-scale fight-
ing developed (Paras. 1-2). US forces have begun
a new operation in the Loc Ninh - Bu Dop area along
the Cambodian border northwest of Saigon (Paras. 3-5).
II. Political Developments in South Vietnam:
The lower house of the National Assembly joined the
Senate in voting down the government's partial mobiliza-
tion decree (Paras. 1-2). The Senate on 22 December
elected Nguyen Van Huyen as its permanent chairman
(Paras. 3-L4). General Khang has voiced his discon-
tent with President Thieu's leadership and has pre-
dicted the military will have to remove him after the
war if he does not improve (Paras. 5-6). Four-of-26
Da Nang "strugglers" were convicted of treason and
given relatively light sentences (Para 7). Strikes
threaten transportation and electrical services
(Paras. 8-10).
III. Military Developments in North Vietnam: There
is nothing of significance to report.
IV. Other Communist Military Developments: The
movement of another Chinese Communist antiaircraft
artillery division to South China suggests that one
of the Chinese divisions in North Vietnam may be re-
placed (Paras. 1-3).
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V. Communist Political Developments: Hanoi
is apparently taking a cautious approach to Presi-
dent Johnson's recent television remarks in much
the same manner as it treated Ambassador Goldberg's
remarks of 2 November regarding Liberation Front
participation at the UN (Paras. 1-3).
ii
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THE MILITARY SITUATION IN SOUTH VIETNAM
1. Five South Vietnamese civilians were killed
and nearly 50 wounded on 21 December during a 45-
minute mortar and rocket barrage directed at the
Thua Thien Provincial Reconnaissance Unit compound
just south of Hue. Ten houses were destroyed. An
allied reaction force drove off the attackers.
2. Other enemy mortar attacks and skirmishes
were reported in scattered parts of the country on
21-22 December, but no large-scale fighting developed.
The recent step-up in terrorist incidents in the
Saigon area has continued. A terrorist threw a
grenade into a group of US servicemen standing at
a bus stop early on 22 December; five were wounded.
New Allied Sweep in Northern III Corps
3. The 1st and 2nd Battalions of the US 11th
Armored Cavalry Regiment began Operation FARGO in
northern Binh Long and Phuoc Long provinces early
on. 22 December. The operation is directed against
three subordinates of the Viet Cong 9th Infantry
Division--the 271st, 272nd, and the 273rd regiments--
currently scattered in the Loc Ninh - Bu Dop area
of northern III Corps.
4. The Viet Cong 9th Division is estimated at
nearly 4,000 men. Another 4,000 enemy troops--in-
cluding the headquarters of the North Vietnamese
7th Division, the Viet Cong 275th Regiment, and the
North Vietnamese 88th Regiment--are believed situ-
ated within seven miles of the area of the operation.
5. Some of these Communist main force units
have recently suffered heavy losses and may attempt
to avoid the US force. Nevertheless, other units
such as the North Vietnamese 88th Regiment may offer
stiff resistance in order to protect sensitive base
and supply areas and the withdrawal and/or the infil-
tration of other enemy forces.
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II. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN SOUTH VIETNAM
1. The government's bid to have the National
Assembly endorse its partial mobilization decree
was rejected by the Lower House on 21 December.
The Lower House's action follows a similar move by
the Senate and clears the decks for the National
Assembly to move ahead with creating its own ver-
sion of a national mobilization order. One of
the dilemmas facing the legislature in this regard,
according to Senator Nguyen Van Chuan, is how to
do this without the government or the assembly
losing face.
2. Despite its setback, the government is
going ahead with plans to implement the contro-
versial decree. It was announced in Saigon on 21
December that veterans in the 18-33 age bracket
will be recalled in 1968.
Upper House Chairman Elected
3. The Senate on 22 December elected Nguyen
Van Huyen, a Catholic, as its permanent chairman.
Huyen., President Thieu's favorite for the post,
beat out the popular Tran Van Don who had been the
leading contender for the post. Two other Catholics,
Nguyen Gia Hien and Hoang Xuan Tuu, were elected
vice chairmen.
4. Senator Nguyen Van Ngai, aRevolutibnary
Dai Viet Party member, recently disclosed to an
embassy officer the formation last week in the
Senate of a new coalition of about 40 senators
calling themselves the Group of Independent Senators.
Ngai declined to call the group a bloc, and did
not define it any further. He also claimed that
it included all senators except those who belong
to the National.Democratic Socialist Bloc headed
by the two Catholic senators, Nguyen Gia Hien and
Huynh Van Cao.
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Discontent Among the Military
5. General Le Nguyen Khang, III Corps com-
mander, has again voiced his discontent with Presi-
dent Thieuis leadership of the government. Khang is
particularly disappointed with Thieu's failure to
initiate any major programs and added that if Thieu
does not become more effective it will be necessary
for the military to remove him, but not until the
war is concluded. He believes that any extra consti-
tutional action now would create serious problems.vath
South Vietnam's allies and disrupt the war effort
at a time when he believes that victory is in sigh.4.
6. Khang also expressed doubts that the gov-
ernment would be able to make any significant head-
way against corruption. He does not, however,
entirely blame the government for its failure,
claiming that corruption is an issue that is quite
complex and very deeply interwoven in the political
and economic fabric of the country. He despairs
altogether of any anticorruption campaign catching
the "big operators," who:. he declares have politi-
cal leverage and are too clever in arranging their
dealings. He does think that a campaign against
corruption may sweep in lower officials who do not
have protection. Part of the problem in rounding
up big offenders is finding subordinates who are
willing to risk their careers by testifying against
corrupt superiors.
"Strugglers" Convicted
7. According to a late press report, four
former members of the Buddhist "struggle" effort
of early 1966 were convicted of treason on 22 De-
cember. Twenty-two other defendants, all military
officers, were reportedly acquitted. Prominent among
those .conVicted. were the former mayor of Da Nang,
Dr. Nguyen Van Man, and a former area commander in
Quang Nam Province, Colonel Dam Quang Yeu, both of
whom received relatively light sentences of ten years
for what is-nokthally a capital offense. It remains
to be seen whether President Thieu will exercise
clemency as he has previously indidated he might;
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Strikes and Strike Threats
8. Workers have struck both Pan American and
Air America demanding substantial wage increases,
and electrical workers are again threatening to
strike since they are not convinced they will get
the benefits they have been promised. Four hundred
Vietnamese walked off their jobs at Pan American on
21 December to enforce their demand for a 30-percent
increase in wages, maintaining they will continue
striking until their demands are met. The situation
has been aggravated by a false rumor that the company
would import foreign workers to continue service.
9. At Air America, 700 Vietnamese employees
struck on 22 December after no agreement was reachpd
on their demands for a 40-percent wage increase and
other benefits. The embassy reports that Air
America's operations may be drastically curtailed
if the company's foreign workers also strike in
support of their own demands for an 80 percent in-
crease in wages.
10. In addition to these strikes, the elec-
trical workers' union is once again threatening to
strike on 25 or 26 December against the French-
owned power company whose franchise will be taken
over by the government on 31 December. The union
apparently is dissatisfied with the letter from
the minister of public works promising them a wage
increase and bonuses, fearing that the government's
commitments will not be kept. US officials are
actively concerned with all of these labor dif-
ficulties and are trying to keep negotiating chan-
nels open.
22 December 1967
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III. MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS IN NORTH VIETNAM
1. There is nothing of significance to report.
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IV. OTHER COMMUNIST MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS
1. Another Chinese Communist Air Force anti-
aircraft artillery division has apparently moved
into South China, possibly to release a unit already
stationed there for duty in North Vietnam. I
/104th Anti-
aircraft Artillery Division has moved into the Nan-
ning/Ning-ming area. The previous location for this
unit is not known.
2. The movement of the 104th could portend
the replacement of the air force's 105th Antiair-
craft Artillery Division, which has been stationed
in the Lang Son area of North Vietnam for over six
months. Chinese antiaircraft units in the past have
been rotated in and out of North Vietnam in six-to-
eight month cycles. Either the 111th or 113th
divisions currently at Ning-ming would probably be
the replacement. The newly arrived 104th would fill
the gap at Ning-ming. The 64th Antiaircraft
Artillery Division at Yen Bai in northwestern North
Vietnam is also due for rotation soon.
3. The arrival of the 104th raises the number
of major Chinese antiaircraft artillery units in the
Nan-ning/Ning-ming area from five to as many as
seven divisions. The normal contingent was three
divisions until October 1967.
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V. COMMUNIST POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
1. The Vietnamese Communists are taking a
cautious public approach toward President Johnson's
television remarks about possible South Vietnamese
contacts with the Liberation Front. There has as
yet been no official comment from either Hanoi
or the Liberation Front.
2. The chief of the Front mission in Prague,
however, seems to have dismissed the President's
statements rather perfunctorily, but probably with-
out any authoritative instructions. A Czech news-
paper says he "answered" President Johnson in an
interview on 20 December. "We do not intend in
any way either to ease the position of the Saigon
puppets or to help the American imperialists solve
their problems," he said.
3; Hanoi appears to be wary of such brusque
disclaimers, probably because it sees US encourage-
ment of contacts between Saigon and the Front as
another step toward bolsteting the role of the
Front in any future settlement. The Vietnamese
Communists took a similar approach toward Ambassa-
dor Goldberg's congressional testimony on 2 Novem-
ber in which he said the US would not stand in the
way of Front representatives appearing at the UN
Security Council or at a Geneva-type conference.
They completely avoided comment on Goldberg's re-
marks at that time. Only after the US disclosed
Front overtures for a presence at the United Na-
tions did the Vietnamese Communists address them-
selves to the issue. Then both Hanoi and the Front
denied the overtures and once again dismissed the
competence of the UN on Vietnam issues.
22 December 1967
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