CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00975A009300100001-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 18, 2003
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: October 17, 1966
• Content Type: REPORT

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TOP SECRET 17 October 1966
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CENTRAL
INTELLIGENCE
BULLETIN
CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
RELATING TO NATIONAL SECURITY
STATE review(s) completed.
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TOP SECRET
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GROUP I
EXCLUDED FROM AUTOMATIC DOWNGRADING
AND DECLASSIFICATION
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17 October 1966
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN
CONTENTS
1. Vietnam: Current situation report. (Page 1)
2. USSR - Eastern Europe: Moscow seeks to dramatize
Peking's isolation through convocation of East Euro-
pean party leaders. (Page 3)
3. NATO: Tripartite reappraisal shaping up as major
test of Atlantic unity. (Page 4)
4. UK-Rhodesia: British officials pessimistic about
negotiated settlement. (Page 6)
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(Page 7)
Laos; Brazil.
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN
17 October 1966
*Vietnam: (Information as of 4:30 AM EDT)
Political Developments in South Vietnam: The Bud-
dhist Institute has called for a National Buddhist Congress
to be convoked on 21 October.
The Congress should bring together about 100 Bud-
dhist leaders from all parts of the country. Reportedly
at the suggestion of the militant leader Thich Tri Quang,
the Institute Council has also decided to dissolve itself
sometime prior to the convocation of the Congress.
The more moderate chairman of the Institute, Thich
Tam Chau, agreed to the dissolution of the council par-
tially as an act of good faith, as well as a way to under-
cut any challenge to the validity of the Congress which
may be raised by militant elements led by Tri Quang.
The Congress may repair some of the damage to
Buddhist unity caused by the militant Buddhists' cam-
paign against the Ky government this past spring.
The Military Situation in South Vietnam: US com-
bat forces participated in 10 of the 31 allied battalion-
sized or larger search-and-destroy operations conducted
in South Vietnam during the weekend.
The most significant enemy contact occurred on
15 October when US 1st Air Cavalry Division elements
in Operation IRVING engaged a Communist force of un-
determined strength about 40 miles northwest of Qui
Nhon, the Capital of Binh Dinh Province. Thirty enemy
troops were killed in the five-hour battle, in contrast
to US casualties of four killed and 13 wounded.
On the Communist side, an estimated Viet Cong
company inflicted heavy losses on elements of the 30th
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ARVN Ranger Battalion conducting a local security opera-
tion in the Capital Special Zone, 10 miles southwest of
Saigon, during 14-15 October. Forty-two government
soldiers were killed (1 US), 37 wounded (4 US), 30 miss-
ing, and 50 weapons captured; enemy casualties are un-
known.
In addition, on 15 October, an estimated reinforced
Viet Cong battalion launched a major attack against a
government district headquarters in Binh Thuan Prov-
ince, about 100 miles east-northeast of Saigon, killing
30 Vietnamese paramilitary defenders and wounding 22
others. Enemy losses totaled 17 killed and four cap-
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USSR - Eastern Europe: The Soviet Union seems
determined to dramatize further Communist China's
isolation within the socialist camp by convoking a meet-
ing of East European party leaders in Moscow.
Western press sources in Moscow have reported
that party leaders from all East European countries ex-
cept Albania, Yugoslavia, and possibly Rumania, will
arrive there on 17 October. According to the press, the
party chiefs are scheduled to hold discussions on China,
visit the Soviet scientific research town of Novosibirsk,
and journey to the space launch center of Baikonur in
Central Asia.
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At the proposed meeting the Soviets will probably
emphasize a theme contained in recent speeches by Pre-
mier Kosygin and party secretary Brezhnev, and echoed
by Polish party leader Gomulka. The theme is that a
united front in Europe has kept potential aggressors at
bay while the splitting activity of the Chinese in the East
is responsible for imperialism intervening with relative
impunity in Vietnam.
The assembled leaders will probably issue a joint
statement to the effect that the Chinese are the chief ob-
stacle to joint, effective aid to the Vietnamese. If Ru-
manian party boss Ceaucescu does participate in the
talks, he is not likely to support a statement condemning
Peking, in line with Rumania's neutral posture on the
Sino- Soviet dispute.
selves that it can rally the East European leaders to
place on Peking the onus of the failure of joint effort to
The proposed meeting is in line with Moscow's
policy throughout the summer and fall of encouraging
interparty contacts at the highest levels. Moscow now
apparently feels that the Chinese have so isolated them-
assist North Vietnam.
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NATO: The tripartite :reappraisal of Alliance
strategy, forces, and costs scheduled to begin in Bonn
on 20 October is shaping up as a major test of Atlantic
unity.
Ambassador McGhee anticipates the Germans will
stick to their long- standing position that Soviet capa-
bilities rather than intentions are the critical factors,
and that the Allies must continue, therefore, to provide
sufficient forces for a credible forward strategy.
Although the Germans would now accept some with-
drawal of support forces provided there was no reduc-
tion in combat capability, McGhee believes Bonn would
still condition any general thin-out of forces in Central
Europe on progress toward German reunification. The
foreign exchange costs of maintaining US and UK forces
in Germany should in the future be considered a multi-
lateral problem.
By contrast with this hold-the-line position of
the Germans, British officials are implying that they
look to the trilateral talks to provide a theoretical
justification for a withdrawal of their forces to the
extent that their foreign exchange costs are not
covered. The offer the Germans made on offsets last
week was far below the British demand.
I caution that the
tripartite talks are occurring at a time when the
political situation in Bonn is fragile, the Alliance
in disarray, and European suspicion of the extent
of the US commitment high. Foreign Minister
Schroeder told McGhee late last week he feared
(continued)
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that if the US failed to give Bonn some "relief" on the
offset question, there would be a wave of ill feeling
against the US which would endanger its whole position
in Europe.
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The European leader Jean Monnet, who was in
Bonn last week, has also told McGhee he is alarmed at
the "eclipse" in German confidence in the US. He
hoped the trilateral talks might help restore the
situation, but also urged the need for some new progress
toward European unity- -particularly some movement on
the question of the UK's admission to the Common
Market.
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UK - Rhodesia: British officials are pessimistic
about the chances of a negotiated settlement with
Rhodesia and are studying moves in the United Nations
for selective mandatory economic sanctions.
According to Commonwealth Office officials,
London's "final offer" before taking the issue to the
United Nations includes a new demand for a reserved
right to put British troops in Rhodesia before and
after independence. If the offer is rejected, London
may make a final public appeal directly to the Rhodesian
people before going to the UN.
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Laos: General Kouprasith, the most able member
of the rightist General Staff, although anxious to unite
the neutralists with the Lao armed forces, wants neu-
tralist officers to postpone their plan to unseat their
commander, General Kong Le, until Premier Souvanna
returns on 1 November, Souvanna, who is presently in
the US, told General Staff officers before leaving Laps
that despite Kong Le's weaknesses he should continue
as the neutralist commander,
congressional elections.
additional opposition candidates from the 15 November
Brazil: A military inquiry commission investigat-
ing Communism has recommended more than 900 persons
for prosecution under Brazil's security laws. Among
those cited in the commission's report are former
presidents Goulart and Kubitschek and long-time Com-
munist Party leader Luiz Carlos Presteso The report,
a culmination of two years of investigation that began
after the 1964 revolution, names many individuals who
are in exile and who have already lost their political
rights. In the past, President Castello Branco has
taken action against only a few of those charged by
investigation teams, but this time he may use the
commission's recommendations as a basis for barring
17 Oct 66
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