THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 13 APRIL 1970

Document Type: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
0005977399
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
T
Document Page Count: 
9
Document Creation Date: 
August 14, 2016
Document Release Date: 
August 24, 2016
Sequence Number: 
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
April 13, 1970
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP79T00936A008200110001-4 The President's Daily Brief 13 April 1970 46' 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP79T00936A008200110001-4 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP79T00936A008200110001-4 FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 13 April 1970 PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS Weekend skirmishing in Laos centered on the govern- ment guerrilla base at Sam Thong, a few miles to the northwest of Long Tieng. (Page 1) On Page 2, In the Soviet,Union,two veteran regional party bosses-have been reassigned to. jobs in Moscow deal- ing with economics and technology. (Page 3) Vietnamese Communist forces are keeping up the pres- :::sure in two Cambodian border provinces. (Page 4) South Vietnamese veteran and student agitation has tapered off. (Page 4) Soviets (?ag6 4) FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP79T00936A008200110001-4 50X1 50X1 550X1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP79T00936A008200110001-4 LAOS: Current Situation AREA OF MAIN MAP Vientiane an Ban \ PLA/NE Nong,Pe 7 )(len Khouan JARR -;Large NVA forces' remai0Re- ha Tam eBleung pcivernment in,conteol j'of high groiEnd Xieng hbuangvilte,? Vang Vieng 20 M Iles lb 2O Kilometers/) 98182 4-70 CIA \ C I Goerriment-hela" Ideation- 3150X1 ; ? Qtimnist-held I cation-K, \ ) Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP79T00936A008200110001-4 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP79T00936A008200110001-4 FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY LAOS In the most significant ground action over the weekend, North Vietnamese forces launched an unsuc- cessful ground assault against the government base at Sam Thong early yesterday morning. This attack, the enemy's second major attempt to overrun the base within a week, proved costly to both sides--about 30 Communist attackers were killed,_as were 15 govern- ment defenders. The government has moved reinforce- ments into the camp and is still holding all its po- sitions, but late reports indicate enemy troops are again moving on the base from the north. Although the enemy still poses a signifi- cant threat to Sam Thong, government guer- rillas now are in control of all the prom- inent ridges to the north between Long Tieng and Tha Tam BZeung. The North Vietnamese are continuing to strengthen their supply lines southwest of the Plaine des Jarres. Recently, a North Vietnamese rear services unit moved into the area immediately northwest of Tha Tam Bleunq,/ North of the Plaine, Communist forces are edg- ing closer to the government base at Bouam Long. Government defenders have pulled back from a key po- sition guarding the southwestern approaches, and North Vietnamese troops have begun probing defenses within a mile of the base. 1 FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP79T00936A008200110001-4 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP79T00936A008200110001-4 - FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY CZECHOSLOVAKIA 2 FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP79T00936A008200110001-4 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP79T00936A008200110001-4 FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY USSR Pravda on 11 April announced the appointments of two regionalparty bosses to government jobs deal- ing with economic planning and technology. L. N. Yefremov was named first deputy chairman of the State Committee for Science and Technology; and T. I. Sokolov was appointed first deputy chairman of the State Planning Committee. Both men, who have specialized in management of agriculture, have been in eclipse for the past sev- eral years. Yefremov was demoted from the Presidium (Politburo) following Khrushchev's removal. Sokolov had run into trouble earlier, during the period when he was responsible for party affairs in the virgin lands. Ambassador Beam says that both appointments may be demotions, since the two men stand a chance of Losing the Central Committee status that went along with their former jobs. In the short run their appointments to the government bureaucracy represent an effort by the party to strengthen its con- trol over the management of the ailing So- viet economy. Last December, Brezhnev harshly criticized the poor economic per- formance of 1969 and placed much of the blame on the government bureaucracy. FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP79T00936A008200110001-4 50X1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP79T00936A008200110001-4 Vietnamese Communists Maintaining Military Pressure A 1,40Poww, la THAILAND Samrong. \el Siem Reap ..., Phnom Thbeng -.:. );14.1eancfiey .46.--,?- 4. 'Strling Tr ng .." 'Battambang 1)10" ;111,e h rDeLek heuminville mpong Thom (2A MB 0 Rom pang' s hhnang? v, .1 ? "4 VC attack in .1-I Phnom Penh? Y ?10.01(!smePetinr ? M , rmy clashes with 0 I k?li, Kompohg alakeo-* .Kampot 'Senmonorom. KOMPONG /C HAM ? Sihanoutville 12- mpong .? Cham Munot. utp PREY/vENG VC roc ,et attack S 0 ,L1 T H \l-lel'avy VC activity , \ rabek Prasot-- yay teng Ri ? \beaten oft-.17.- aigon .04 NAM .0 ?10- GULF OF SIAM 50 MILES 1 1 SOUTH CHINA SEA 98183 4-70 CIA Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP79T00936A008200110001-4 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP79T00936A008200110001-4 FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY NOTES Cambodia: The Communists are maintaining mili- tary pressure on government forces near the border. Large numbers of Viet Cong troops are still operating in eastern Svay Rieng Province, where another Commu- nist attack on Prasot was beaten off Saturday. The Communists are also more active in Prey Veng Province. Intercepted army messages indicate the presence of sizable Communist concentrations in Prey Veng, some of which are relativelyfar in from the border. South Vietnam: Veteran and student demonstra- tors for the moment at least are holding their fire. Most veterans seem willing to await the outcome of pending National Assembly action on new benefits. They also appear disposed to giVe the government a little time to deliver on its promise of new housing. The students, too, have been fairly quiet the last few days. But some of the more militant of them may be spurred into renewed agitation by the government's announcement yesterday that, beginning on 20 April, a military court will try 21 students on charges of treason or otherwise endangering national security. USSR: 4 FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP79T00936A008200110001-4 50X1 50X1 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP79T00936A008200110001-4 Top Secret Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP79T00936A008200110001-4