CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00975A013300120001-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 24, 2003
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: March 25, 1969
• Content Type: REPORT

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DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
Central Intelligence Bulletin
Secret
50.
25 March 1969
State Dept. review completed
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No. 0072/69
25 March 1969
Central Intelligence Bulletin
CONTENTS
South Vietnam: Situation report. (Page 1)
Laos: The government is taking steps to blunt
moves it expects the Communists to make in the
northeast. (Page 2)
International Communism: Unresolved issues have
forced another postponement of the world Communist
conference. (Page 3)
Pakistan: The government appears to be moving more
decisively to end the turmoil. (Page 5)
USSR: Soviet scientists are seeking ways to reduce
the dangers of accidental loss of oxygen in space
or underwater environments. (Page 7)
Spain: The decision to lift the state of emergency
today is a concession to moderate officials. (Page 8)
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Italy: Selection of TV system (Page 9)
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THAILAND
XIEN
, TIJON
VI IH~
LON';
OF ENEMY UNITS
Battalion: VC
200-400
N V A
300-500
Regiment:
VC
1,000-1,500
NVA
1,200-2,000
Division:
VC
5,000-7,000
NVA
5,000-8,000
PH lJ
N
no
PH
Y-
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I
MILES
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I South Vietnam: Sharp ground battles developed
near the Demilitarized Zone, south of Da Nang, and
in the Mekong Delta on 23-24 March, as the enemy's
current offensive entered its fifth.week.
The Communists directed mortar and rocket fire
against the US base area at Long Binh, north of
Saigon, as well as against the Da Nang air base and
some 25 lesser targets throughout South Vietnam.
Allied spoiling operations and B-52 strikes
are probably:responsible for the enemy's failure
to conduct more substantial ground assaults in the
area surrounding Saigon during the past few days.
The evidence continues to indicate that the Commu-
nists, are still tr in to get set for new attacks
near the capital.
says -
sis ing two enemy a a ions targeted against the
Cholon sector of Saigon. A flurry of mortar and
rocket attacks against allied positions along the
corridor approaching Saigon from the west appears
to have been intended to screen the movement of
Communist units moving from that direction.
A preliminary report that 359,000 artillery
rounds were destroyed by an enemy attack in Binh
Dinh Province was in error. Later reporting in-
dicates that about. 37,000 artillery and mortar
rounds and some 7,000 mines were destroyed.
25 Mar 69 Central Intelligence Bulletin
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Laos: The government is taking steps to blunt
moves it expects the enemy to make in the northeast.
An intensive air campaign has been launched
to disrupt Communist offensive capabilities near
the Plaine des Jarres, and present plans call for
at least three more weeks of heavy strikes. Pilots
have reported a large number of secondary explosions
resulting from their attacks.
The Communists have moved cautiously since
capturing Na Khang over three weeks ago, and the
recent loss of a number of government positions in
the area has been more a result of the sagging mo-
rale of government troops than of enemy ground as-
saults.
The air strikes may upset the enemy's timing,
or cause the Communists otherwise to forgo offensive
actions in order to defend their rear areas. On the
other hand, the heavy strikes, directed against
positions that have been inviolate up to now for
political reasons, could trigger a sharp enemy re-
sponse.
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International Communism: Communist party
sources acknowledge that unresolved issues have
forced another postponement of the world Communist
conference.
The preparatory committee of
67 Communist
parties met in Moscow from 18 to
22
March
to ap-
prove draft documents and to fix
a
precise
date
for the conference, previously scheduled for some-
time in May. Differences over the language of the
documents, however, required that another full
committee meeting be scheduled 23 May and that the
conference itself be set back to 5 June.
C The leader of the Italian party delegation
yesterday issued a statement to the press in Mos-
cow which plainly indicated that the Italians had
taken exception to the draft proposed by the Rus-
sians. While the Italian statement did not spe-
cify which were the contested issues, Western press
sources in Moscow believe, probably rightly, that
the Italians balked at the Soviet position on three
points: The invasion of Czechoslovakia, the Sino-
Soviet border conflict, and the rift between Moscow
and Belgrade. A Moscow Radio broadcast has con-
ceded that the basic draft document has been re-
ferred back to the central committees of the vari-
ous parties for further scrutiny.
Budapest Radio also admitted yesterday that
there were differences of views. Broadcasts from
Prague and Belgrade referred to the "complicated
situation" within the world Communist movement.
The general course steered by the Soviets to-
ward a world conference has wound through five ma-
jor meetings in 1968 and several lower-level ses-
sions of groups working on the main conference doc-
ument. Throughout, Moscow has faced dissent and de-
lay. The opposition is variously reported to have
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come mainly from the Communist parties of Italy,
Rumania, France, Great Britain, Austria, and Spain.
The Soviets have now been able to fix a date
for the conference, but they have little cause for
satisfaction over the outcome of the latest meet-
ing and little assurance that things will get bet-
ter. If Moscow had hoped to exploit the Sino-
Soviet border problem in its quest for greater dis-
cipline in the Communist world, it has been disap-
pointed. Some parties even appear willing to take
advantage of the dispute to enlarge their own area
of independence.
Central Intelligence Bulletin 4
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Pakistan: The government appears to be moving
more decisively to end the turmoil throughout the
country, even as opposition politicians step up
their pre-election activities.
Within the past week, President Ayub has ap-
pointed new governors for both East and West Paki-
stan. The new governor of West Pakistan is already
taking action to sort out the chaotic labor situa-
tion in his province. Although the new East Paki-
stani governor was a member of the previous prov-
incial government, he is reported to be acceptable
to the key opposition leader in the province.
Troops are again being used to restore order.
They were called into Karachi Sunday to guard stra-
tegic sites and have recently enforced curfews in
parts of East Pakistan. Ayub has issued a plea
to his people to settle down, and the home minister
has served notice that the disorders must stop.
There is still a possibility that the government
will resort to martial law, and the armed forces
have increased their readiness for this contingency.
Opposition leaders are going their separate
ways following the end of talks with Ayub ten days
ago. Most participants in the conference have ac-
cepted the limited agreement reached there and are
now pressing their individual causes. For example,
Mujibur Rahman, the key East Pakistani leader who
called the conference a failure, is nevertheless
conducting an election campaign. He has been urging
a return to peaceful agitation and has exerted a
calming influence among the Bengalis.
The urban areas of East Pakistan appear to have
quieted somewhat, perhaps as a result of weariness
over the protracted agitation and civil disruption.
Reports from the Bengali countryside, however, con-
tinue to depict violence and chaos.
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USSR: Soviet scientists are moving ahead with
efforts to find ways to reduce the dangers to hu-
mans from accidental loss of oxygen in space or
underwater environments.
An article in a recent Soviet scientific jour-
nal indicates that one approach the Soviets are
using is to look for pharmaceutical agents which
will increase the body's ability to cope with the
effects produced by deficiency of oxygen. Two So-
viet pharmacologists at a military medical academy
in Leningrad which supports space and underwater
science write that so far they have reviewed four
classes of agents for this purpose. Among the sub-
stances examined were certain stimulants of blood
circulation and breathing, various depressants such
as tranquilizers, vitamins and hormones affecting
the rate at which the body uses up energy, and other
drug preparations which would increase the body's
resistance to oxygen starvation.
The Soviets claim to have found one preparation
to be effective in prolonging the life of experi-
mental animals that were deprived of normal oxygen
intake; this substance is to be tried out on humans
in Soviet clinics. Up to now, however, the Soviets
do not seem to have made any breakthrough of their
own in this field, but are exploiting known pharma-
ceutical agents and information they obtain from
the West.
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Spain: The government's decision to lift
the state of emergency today--a month in advance of
its 90-day limit--is a concession to moderate of-
ficials who considered the decree an excessive re-
action to the student and labor unrest.
The decree did serve to warn discontented fac-
tions that the government will not tolerate demon-
strations and is prepared to take strong measures
to maintain order. During the state of emergency,
a small number of young professors were sent into
exile and several Communist groups in the Barcelona
area were broken up.
Two months of press censorship may make more
cautious a number of newspapers that had spoken out
against the government's inflexibility. Although
the information minister announced that prior press
censorship would now be dropped, the government will
still be able to discourage criticism by various
means developed since the press law went into ef-
fect in 1966.
The timing of the government's action was un-
doubtedly influenced by the forthcoming celebration,
on 1 April, of the 30th anniversary of the end of
the Civil War. Madrid was also concerned that for-
eign journalists attending the Eurovision festival
soon to be held in Spain would report critically on
the suspension of liberties and thus discourage
tourism. In addition, the government was reportedly
apprehensive over the effect the continuance of the
state of emergency would have on the bases agreement
negotiations being held this week in Washington.
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Italy: Rome now is considering choosing SECAM,
the French color TV system, which can interchange
programs with the Soviet network, instead of the
German PAL, which is compatible with the US system.
The North African countries will use SECAM, and
Italy would like to broadcast its programs through-
out the Mediterranean basin. Moreover, SECAM patent
holders are evidently making attractive offers to
Italian manufacturers. 25X1
Central Intelligence Bulletin
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Secret
Secret
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