THE SITUATION IN VIETNAM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00826A002900270001-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 15
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 1, 2004
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: November 19, 1967
• Content Type: MEMO

DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
MEMORANDUM
The Situation in Vietnam
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19 November 1967
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Information as of 1600
19 November 1967
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North Vietnam again put up a tough and aggressive
air defense this weekend against US air strikes in the
Hanoi and Haiphong areas. North Vietnamese fighters
again used Communist China as a safe haven after com-
bat with US aircraft.
I. The Military Situation in South Vietnam:
Enemy strategy in the western highlands may be designed
to spread out allied forces to relieve pressure on cer-
tain sensitive areas (Paras. 2-6). A US merchant ship
was fired upon by an enemy force while en route to Sai-
gon (Paras. 7-8). The enemy may have used 122-mm. rockets
in South Vietnam's IV Corps for the first time (Paras. 9-
10).
II. Political Developments in South Vietnam: The
lower house has been mainly concerned with validating
the election if its members and with debate about in-
tervening on behalf of students who were inducted into
the army because of antielection demonstrations (Paras.
1-3). The upper house continues to work on adopting in-
ternal rules, but as of 16 November had adopted only
65 of some 200 that have been proposed (Paras. 4-6).
The Viet Cong announce cease-fire time for the Christmas,
New Year, and Tet holidays (Paras. 7-8). Nguyen Van
Huong, adviser to President Thieu is to receive new gov-
ernment post (Paras. 9-10).
III. Military Developments in North Vietnam: North
Vietnam brought down at least ten US aircraft over the
weekend and its fighters continue to employ aggressive
combat tactics (Paras. 1-4).
IV. Other Communist Military Developments: There
is nothing of significance to report.
V._ Communist Political Developments: There is
nothing of significance to report.
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the administration of Kontum.
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1. No large-scale encounters between US and
Communist forces in South Vietnam were reported over
the weekend, but several significant enemy attacks
were mounted in widely scattered sections of the
country.
2. In South Vietnam's western highlands, Com-
munist forces under the control of the B-3 Front are
apparently expanding their efforts to tie down US
and South Vietnamese forces. Increased enemy activ-
ity in northern Pleiku Province, as well as north of
Dak To, may also be designed to relieve the pressure
against embattled B-3 Front units southwest of Dak
To.
3. Elements of three North Vietnamese regiments--
the 32nd, 66th, and 174th--have all been active in
the area southwest of Dak To. These units have borne
the brunt of the heavy fighting since this phase of
the present enemy campaign began early this month.
Elements of the North Vietnamese 24th Regiment have
spread the battle area northward and have been in-
volved in a series of attacks north and east of Dak
To. Other enemy units, including the North Vietnam-
ese 40th Artillery Regiment, are scattered through-
out southwestern Kontum Province.
4. The fighting over the weekend was centered
some ten miles north-northeast of Dak To where two
South Vietnamese battalions battled with the 4th
Battalion of the North Vietnamese 24th Regiment. A
total of 44 South Vietnamese were killed and another
105 wounded in two separate encounters. Enemy losses
included 13 bodies left behind and a captive, identi-
fied as the executive officer of the 4th Battalion,
who later died. Several sharp skirmishes were also
reported southwest of the US strongpoint at Dak To,
but casualties were relatively light.
5. Just south of the Kontum-Pleiku province
border, Communist units are reported preparing for
attacks on allied positions in the area, One report
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PHNOM
PENH?'
Cai Cai
Special Forces
Demllifarized Zone
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states the Plei Mrong Special Forces camp is a future
target of an enemy mortar and rocket attack. Exten-
sive reconnaissance activities by the North Vietnam-
ese 95B Regiment, and increased activity by Communist
local force units in the immediate area, suggest that
increased attacks, including shellings and a possible
ambush along Highway 14 may be in the offing.
6. Communist military activity in the central
highlands has also spread into southern Pleiku and
Darlac provinces, where mortar attacks and small-scale
assaults and ambushes. have recently been staged. Partly
because of the high number of casualties the enemy has
suffered near Dak To, Communist strategy in this area
probably is designed to divert and spread out allied
forces in hopes of mounting another large-scale offen-
sive effort.
US Ship Attacked on Saigon Shipping Channel
7. Viet Cong guerrillas struck a US merchant
vessel, the SS President Buchannan, en route to Saigon
on the Long Tau River on 18 November. No casualties
were reported among the crew; however, the ship suf-
fered moderate damage as the result of 19 hits from
the enemy's 57- and 75-mm. recoilless rifles used
during the attack.
8. One US helicopter, a part of the reaction
force, was shot down, A total of 16 enemy bodies
were found, along with several of their weapons,
following their withdrawal.
Possible Enemy Use of Large-Caliber Rockets in IV
Corps
9. During the night of 17 November, the Cai
Cai Special Forces camp, located some 80 mileswest of
Saigon in Kien Phong Province, was bombarded by a
total of 25 rounds of large-caliber fire. The shell-
ing resulted in the killing of six and the wounding
of 16 of the camps defenders. Examination of the
shell fragments by ordnance experts indicates that
the rounds, described as highly explosive with intense
fragmentation that covered a large area, may have been
122-mm. rockets.
19 November 1967
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10. Observers at the camp reported seeing
flashes pinpointing the firing positions approxi-
mately 2 1/2 miles north of the camp in the vicinity
of the Cambodian border. If further analysis of
the fragments and/or examination of the firing posi-
tions confirms the initial evaluation, this will be
the first known use of the Communist 122-mm. rocket
in South Vietnam's IV Corps.
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II. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN SOUTH VIETNAM
1. Lower house sessions during the period 13-16
November have been largely taken up with validation
of the election of its membership and a debate over
the resolution put forward by 30 members regarding the
17 students drafted as a result of their antielection
demonstration activity. So far, the sessions of the
lower house have been more disorganized and livelier
than those of the upper house, largely because of the
ineffectiveness of the temporary chairman, Nguyen Ba
Luong, and because of members` unfamiliarity with par-
liamentary procedures. It also appears that opposi-
tion elements will have an influential voice in this
assembly judging by their performance on the student
resolution issue.
2. As of 16 November, the lower house had
validated the election of some 100 of its 137 mem-
bers. Validation is a continuing process carried on
by the validation committee, with each case discussed
individually on its own merits and presented to the
assembly for a vote. To date, the committee has rec-
ommended validation in each case and the assembly
voted to accept its recommendations. Remaining cases
will probably be disposed of in the next few days.
3. A rather lengthy debate was centered on pro-
posed resolutions to intervene with the government in
some way on behalf of the 17 students who were arrested
and drafted for antielection activity. The issue was
finally settled by deciding to appoint a ten-man com-
mittee composed of two representatives from each-of
the corps areas and Saigon and Gia Dinh to "intervene
for return to civilian life" of the student demonstra-
tors. The committee reportedly will look into the
whole matter of "illegal detainees." Three of the
committee members, Nguyen Trong Nho, Nguyen Dai Bang,
and Truc Vien, were strong supporters of the original
resolutions and are expected to play a major role in
the new committee. All three of these men are gen-
erally characterized as opponents of the present gov-
ernment.
19 November 1967
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Upper House Activities
4. As of 16 November, the upper house had approved
65 of more than 200 projected articles of internal
rules. Fifty-nine of the approved articles were con-
tained in part one of the internal rules, a section
which governs the organization of the house.
5. There was a lively debate over rules gov-
erning the establishment of blocs within the house.
The rules drafting committee had proposed that the
minimum number to constitute a bloc should be 21--
which would have ensured the creation of no more than
two blocs in the 60-member upper house. This course,
according to the committee, would facilitate the move-
ment toward a two-party system and would be in the
spirit of Article 100 of the constitution which states,
"The Nation. encourages progress toward a two-party sys-
tem." The committee also argued that in its opinion
any rules which do not foster such progress would in a
sense be unconstitutional. Only ten senators, however,
voted for the committee proposal.
6. The house went on to approve its own measure
to set the minimum bloc membership at 15--which will
allow as many as four blocs to be organized. The
argument against the committee recommendation was that
while the constitution commits the nation to "encour-
age" progress toward a two-party system, it says noth-
ing about forcing such movement.
Viet Cong Call For Holiday Cease-fire
7. The Viet Cong's Liberation Radio on 18 Novem-
ber announced a cessation of all military attacks for
the Christmas, New Year, and Tet holiday periods. The
time frames for each holiday are as follows:
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Saigon Time Eastern Standard'Time
Christmas: 0100 24 December- 1200 23 December-
0100 27 December 1200 26 December
New Year : 0100 30 December 1967- 1200 29 December 1967-
0100 2 January 1968 1200 1 January 1968
Tet 0100 27 January- 1200 26 January-
0100 3 February 1200 2 February
8. The Viet Cong cease-fire periods for the Christ-
mas and New Year periods are each 24 hours longer than
for the similar periods announced in 1966. One other dif-
ference is that the Communists have included the Tet cease-
fire period rather than making it the subject of a later
declaration.
Nguyen Van Huong to Have New Government Post
9. Nguyen Van Huong, adviser and campaign manager
to President Thieu in the recent elections, told an em-
bassy officer that he would soon be appointed "secretary
general of the presidency." He described his new duties
as generally overseeing the course of domestic political
life on behalf of the President, supervising the applica-
tion of presidential power with respect to the National
Assembly, and attending to presidential relations with
the cabinet. Huong indicated that the President's exist-
ing administrative and military staffs will be retained,
and he, as secretary general, will have several assist-
ants to attend to the areas he will be overseeing.
Huong's new role will allow him to keep his finger on
the political pulse for Thieu and watch out for the Tat-
ter's interest.
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10. Huong briefly discussed the emerging politi-
cal blocs in the National Assembly and expressed reser-
vations about their reported relative size. He feels
that they have all exaggerated their strength--partic-
ularly Tran Van Don's Farmer-Worker-Soldier bloc. He
also speculated that the traditional parties--the
Vietnamese Nationalist (VNQDD) and the Dai Viets--
will slowly disappear. He feels that these parties
have generally lacked adequate leadership and therefore
have failed to attract younger members.
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1. Tough and aggressive North Vietnamese air
defense efforts against US air strikes in the Hanoi
and Haiphong areas over the weekend resulted in the
loss of at least ten American aircraft. North Viet-
namese fighters again used Communist China as a safe
haven after engaging US strike aircraft.
2. Intensive surface-to-air missile (SAM) firings
around Hanoi were responsible for the downing of at
least five of the US aircraft. High rates of SAM fir-
ings also occurred last week when nearly 100 missiles
were reported fired during two days of raids near
Hanoi and Haiphong. On 19 November, 15 to 25 missiles
were directed at a flight of 16 US aircraft during a
three-minute attack on a target near the capital.
3. North Vietnamese fighter aircraft again en-
gaged in aggressive combat tactics over the weekend.
One flight of two MIG-21s took on a 12-plane flight
of US aircraft on 18 November. During the ensuing
battle, two US F-105s were struck and downed by air-
to-air missiles. The MIGs then broke off the engage-
ment and retreated across the border into Communist
China.
On 19 November, two US Navy
F- 4s were beiieved owned by North Vietnamese MIGs
just north of Haiphong.
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