WORLD REACTION TO THE US BOMBING OF HANOI--HAIPHONG PETROLEUM INSTALLATIONS ON 29 AND 30 JUNE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00826A001000010002-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 19
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 7, 2006
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: July 1, 1966
• Content Type: IM

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This Document contains information affecting the Na-
tional Defense of the United States, within the mean-
ing o Title 18, Sections 793 and 794, of the U.S. Code, as
ame ,ded. Its transmission or revelation of its contents
to or~ receipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited
by law. The reproduction of this form is prohibited.
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No. 1370/66
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Directorate of Intelligence
1 July 1966
INTELLIGENCE MEMORANDUM*
World Reaction to the US Bombing of Hanoi-41aiphong
Petroleum Installations on 29 and 30 June
Up to 1400 EDT, 1 July, world reactions to the
US bombings of North Vietnamese petroleum installa-
tions near Hanoi and Haiphong on 29 and 30 June had
been mainly adverse. Only South Korea, Taiwan, the
Philippines, Thailand, and Australia had indicated
outright support for the US action, though a number
of other countries had expressed their acceptance of
the military judgment that the bombing was necessary.
Comments from a few other countries were sufficiently
noncommittal to indicate that their governments would
not openly oppose the US move.
*Prepared by the Office of Current Intelligence
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I. The USSR and Eastern Europe
1. Soviet propaganda media, like those of other
East European countries, condemned the US air strikes
on Hanoi-Haiphong petroleum installations on 29 and
30 June as "barbaric" and "inhuman." The Soviet
Government, however, on 30 June released a restrained
statement, consistent with remarks made by Premier
Kosygin earlier in the day, which was essentially a
restatement of past Soviet expressions of support for
North Vietnam and criticism of the "shameful crime"
committed by the United States. Though characterizing
the US raids as of a "particularly dangerous nature,"
the Soviet Union went no further than.its past state-
ments that it "has been and will be rendering the
DRV every assistance, economic and political as well
as by means of defense, in its struggle against im-
perialist attack." As had Kosygin, the Soviet Gov-
ernment statement reiterated the charge that US action
has proven US talk about a peaceful settlement to be
"empty verbiage."
2. During a 1 July speech before the graduates
of Soviet military academies, Soviet party chief
Brezhnev said, "We are drawing the proper conclusions
from the latest crimes of American imperialism. Our
assistance to Vietnam will keep growing." Brezhnev
could hardly have responded to the US actions with
less forcefulness, and his comment falls neatly within
the essentially pro forma Soviet response to date.
A. A. Roshchin, chief Soviet negotiator at the Geneva
Disarmament Conference, also made a perfunctory pro-
test against the US action, but at the same time re-
iterated that a Vietnam solution is not a condition
for a disarmament agreement.
3. Eastern European reaction so far has been
predictably critical but fails to make any specific
commitment of increased support for North Vietnam.
Commentaries from East Germany, Poland, Czechoslova-
kia, Rumania, Bulgaria, and Albania assail the "new
escalation" of "US brutality,T sing words such as
"barbarous" and "criminal aggression." Yugoslavia
says the bombing has "shattered to pieces" US state-
ments on a desire for peace in Vietnam. Albania's
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commentary echoed the main lines elsewhere in Eastern
Europe but took a swipe at the USSR for allegedly
siding with the United States in trying to discourage
DRV resistance by calling for a peaceful settlement.
Hungarian news media treated the bombings factually.
East European representatives at Geneva delivered
critical statements on 30 June, and the World Feder-
ation of Trade Unions headquarters in Prague pro-
tested to President Johnson and sent a solidarity
message to North Vietnamese Premier Ho Chi Minh.
4. Demonstrations staged before the US embassies
in Warsaw and Bucharest on 30 June did-minor damage
to the premises in both instances.
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II.. Asian Communist Countries
5. The initial Chinese Communist reaction to
the bombings took the form of an NCNA radiobroad--
cast on 29 June reporting that US aircraft had at-
tacked "the suburbs" of Hanoi and Haiphong and that
the North Vietnamese had "fought back heroically"
and "won a big victory" by downing seven US planes.
The first authoritative Chinese comment, a People's
Daily commentator article on 1 July, indicates that
Peking does not view the attacks as requiring any
change in its present policy toward the Vietnam war.
The article implies that the USSR shares responsibil-
ity for the US attacks, alleging that the US "plot of
attempting to gain peace through bombing" was car-
ried out "through the close collaboration of the
CPSU leaders." It repeats Peking's standard pledge
of "firm support" for the Vietnamese "no matter how
far US imperialism may escalate the war." No ref-
erence is made to direct Chinese involvement; rather,
the article implies that the Vietnamese will continue
to carry the primary responsibility for conducting
the war.
6. Hanoi's reaction to the destruction of its
major petroleum storage facilities was officially
summed up in a sharply worded Foreign Ministry state-
ment of 30 June which labeled the action a "new
stage" of escalation by the Americans. Hanoi de-
picted the US raids mainly as a series of indiscrim-
inate attacks on residential and economic-targets
unrelated to the DRV war effort. Hanoi propaganda
construed the attacks as a victory for its air de-
fenses, claiming seven US aircraft shot down. The
pilot of one of the two US aircraft actually lost
in the attacks was also paraded in Hanoi.
7. On 1 July, Hanoi propaganda media maintained
a high level of protest over the US air strikes, em-
phasizing rebroadcasts of statements of support and
condolence from its supporters around the world. The
only threat of North Vietnamese retaliation came in
Hanoi predictions of action by the-Liberation Front
in South Vietnam against US forces there. In a
broadcast to international audiences on 1 July, Hanoi
boasted that the Liberation Front had already dealt
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the Americans a "stinging counterblow" by wiping out
a "whole column of US Yankees (1,715 enemy soldiers
including 800 American)" in an ambush along Route 13
in Binh Long Province. (US military sources report
that this battle involved a VC regiment-size attack
on allied units engaged in Operation EL PASO II, in
which the VC lost more than 300 men against US
losses of ten.)
8. North Korea.'s expectedly vitriolic denuncia-
tion of the strikes alleged that the bombing was the
first step in President Johnson's plan "to radically
expand the Vietnam war." The commentary, broadcast
by Pyongyang radio on 30 June, accused the US De-
partment of State of trying "to shift the responsi-
bility for war escalation to the DRV." Pyongyang's
statement, however, threatened no North Korean ini-
tiatives in support of Hanoi beyond the standard
pledge "to increase assistance to the fighting Viet-
namese brothers and surely bring US imperialism,,,:
justice."
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9. In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Wilson
reiterated his support of the general US position in
Vietnam, but dissociated himself and his government
from the bombings. He had previously made clear
that he would take this stand, and the US Embassy in
London has commented that considering his difficult
domestic position he went about as far as he was able
in support of the United States. The opposition Con-
servative Party has taken its strongest stand so far
in support of the United States, but this probably
stems more from a desire to embarrass Wilson than
from approval of the bombings.
10. Britain's left wing is predictably indig-
nant about the bombings, as expressed by statements
in Parliament and by anti-American demonstrations in
London.
11. Initial press reaction seems more interested
in a supposed Anglo-American conflict stemming from
Wilson's statement, and in criticizing Wilson's ef-
fort to have things both ways, than in the bombing
itself. Conservative-inclined papers followed the
party in supporting the US action; pro-Labor papers
praised Wilson's stand; and the independent London
Times expressed understanding of the military reasons
for the US decision though it doubted that bombings
had ever won a war.
12. Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt is-
sued a statement in Washington on 29 June, almost
simultaneously with the US air raids but not specifi-
cally referring to them, saying"'that "no man works
harder for peace in Vietnam" than President Johnson
and that Australia goes "all the way with LBJ." He
was also reported in the press as saying he accepted
the US military judgment to bomb North Vietnamese
oil depots.
13. Prime Minister Pearson of Canada told Com-
mons on 29 June that Canada has always ma ntained
that a letup in air bombings is a prerequisite to
peace negotiations in Vietnam and that bombing should
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be stopped. He added, however, that he understood
the United States did not regard the bombing of oil
facilities as a change in policy. Most Canadian
press headlines treat the US action as an escalation
of the Vietnam war. Canadians demonstrated before
the US Embassy in Ottawa and the Consulate General
in Vancouver.
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IV. Western Europe
14. French President de Gaulle on 30 June
joined Soviet leaders in a declaration that the war
in Vietnam represents a menace to world peace and
that foreign intervention in Vietnam should cease.
At a Kremlin reception on that date, however, De
Gaulle did not depart from a prepared text to re-
spond to Kosygin's comments on the air raids near
Hanoi and Haiphong. In Paris, the Secretary General
of the Foreign Ministry said only that he did not
have to tell the US ambassador the attitude of the
French Government toward the bombings. Most French
newspapers either condemned the bombings or judged
them likely to be ineffective. Only the rightist
L'Aurore found them "understandable."
15. West German press spokesman Karl-Guenther
von Hase announced that his government would regis-
ter no official reaction to the bombings. In a
parallel action, the Erhard cabinet approved the
equivalent of $6.25 million in new technical and
humanitarian aid for Vietnam. This act is being
construed as reaffirmation of West German faith in
US policy.
16. The bombings were given widespread cover-
age in the West German press and radio. The Frank-
furter Allgemeine Zeitung, a journal of interna-
ti.onal repute, conceded that the attacks would make
the supply of Communist forces in the South more
difficult, but that they would not stop the infil-
tration. The Frankfurter Rundschau, an opposition
paper with a generally critical attitude toward US
Vietnam policy, said the bombings would reduce US
standing in Asia and would push North Vietnam into
closer dependency on Peking. Heinz Barth, the Wash-
ington correspondent of the respected Die Welt,
felt that President Johnson had departed from the
"middle course" formerly pursued, but was not yet
ready to take extreme steps.
17. In the Netherlands, Second Chamber Presi-
dent Van Thiel said that the great majority of Dutch
political and public opinion would understand that
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petroleum installations were legitimate military
targets. A Foreign Ministry official, however,
said that the figures on military infiltrations
into Vietnam given him by the US ambassador would
make it hard for his government to justify the
bombing of North Vietnam on the grounds that. such
bombing can be effective in reducing such infil-
tration.
18. According to a Belgian Foreign Ministry
official, the Belgian Government's first reaction
had been to say nothing about the bombings. Brit-
ish Prime Minister,Wilson's statement, however,
along with: a left-wing Socialist's demand to know
whether the Belgian Government had been informed
in advance, made it impossible to ignore the situa-
tion. The prime minister therefore admitted that
there had been no prior consultation and that he
"could not but regret" the extension of bombing
operations to densely, populated areas. Unofficial
reaction in the radio, TV, and press was in terms
of "new degrees of escalation."
19. Italian President Saragat stated his
understanding of the need for the US action but
indicated that the bombings would be a sensitive
problem for his government, particularly in the
light of British Prime Minister Wilson's declara-
tion. He noted that Premier Moro would have to face
Communist questions in parliament. The non-Commu-
nist Italian press generally reported the facts of
the bombings without polemics. The Communist press
treated the news predictably as "criminal American
escalation."
20. The official Vatican newspaper Observatore
Romano expressed "regret and anxiety" at the bomb-
ings and called again for a negotiated settlement
of the Vietnamese war.
21. In Portugal, the Director General of
Political Affairs in the Foreign Ministry expressed
no surprise or concern when informed bf the US ac-
tion.
22. In Norway, a high Foreign Ministry offi-
cial indicated that the government may not make any
statement, on the theory that unless it can say
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something helpful it is better to keep quiet. His
own view is that the bombing is a necessary military
action but that it would be hopeless to try to get
any positive statement of this nature through the
cabinet.
23. In Denmark, the Permanent Secretary of
the Foreign Ministry said the government would not
issue a statement, but that it agrees with the United
Kingdom's view and feels that the bombings will stif-
fen North Vietnamese resistance. The conservative,
press will not comment "until things simmer down."
The neutralist-minded Radical Liberal press and the
Social Democratic newspapers take a more critical
view and express great concern about casualties among
the civilian populace.
24. In Sweden, where the Vietnam question in
the past has aroused strong popular feeling, only
the television and:,:radio commentators have referred
to the stepped-up tempo of bombings. The commenta-
tor during the main newscast on 29 June noted that
the United States has decided to escalate the war
and quoted London's reaction.
25. As expected, the leftist press in Finland
is highly critical. One newspaper declared that con-
trol of the war in Vietnam is slipping from the hands
of President Johnson and into the hands of "military
circles and the men of the hard line."
26. Greek and Cypriot news media treated the
Hanoi-Haiphong bombings very briefly and factually
on 30 June. They also repeated comments from other
countries.
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27. Middle Eastern reaction is slight. The
Egyptian radio quotes the influential newspaper Al-
Ahram to the effect that "the escalation of the war
in Vietnam has occasioned a violent, direct reac-
tion throughout the world and incurred the denuncia-
tion of all peace-loving forces and peoples." The
paper says the bombings may precipitate a human
massacre unprecedented in the history of mankind. In
Syria, a newspaper which speaks for the government
denounced the US raids, saying that "America is try-
ing to restore the glories of the 18th and 19th cen-
turies (and)...to, impose its new colonialism on the
peoples." The highly respected independent Israeli
newspaper Maariv says the bombings mark the failure
of another stage in mediation efforts and raise the
danger of further escalation of the war. The Govern-
ment of Iran has issued no public comment as yet.
Press comments, which are fairly restrained gener-
ally regret the "extension" of the Vietnamese war.
There has been no reported comment from Turkey.
28. In India, both Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
and Foreign Minister Swaran Singh have publicly ex-
pressed deep concern and distress. Both remarked on
the danger of an escalation of hostilities and hoped
that the bombings would stop immediately. There
were rumors in New Delhi that India might make a new
Vietnam peace move. Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake
of Ceylon, in a break with his previous moderate
stand, condemned'--the US bombings as retarding the
realization of a negotiated peace and possibly lead-
ing to a widening of the Vietnam conflict. Senanayake
has been under pressure from his country's Buddhist
majority population to help the Buddhists of, South
Vietnam. Also under attack for indecisiveness of
leadership,'-he-may feel that by taking a hard line he
can prevent criticism from his left-wing opposition.
Pakistan as yet has issued no statement either ap-
proving or condemning the bombings and may not react
officially.
29. Japanese officials publicly minimize the
prospect that the US bombing of the petroleum instal-
lations near Haiphong and Hanoi will result in an
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expansion of US military action in Vietnam. Chief
Cabinet Secretary Hashimoto has said the bombing
should be regarded as within minimum military re-
quirements. He voiced Japan's longstanding opposi-
tion to escalation of military actions and its
hopes for a peaceful settlement.
30. The US Embassy notes that the bombing has
stimulated popular fears that the war will be ex-
panded. The leftist opposition is making efforts
to use the bombing issue to mobilize mass demon-
strations. The Japanese police, however, do not
anticipate large-scale turnouts.
31. The South Korean foreign minister has an-
nounced that his government considers the recent
US bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong as "appropriate
in view of the current phase of the war." Offi-
cial statements have reflected satisfaction that
Seoul had been given advance notice of the bomb=
ing.
32. The Taipei-press gave the bombings ban-
ner headlines on 30 June. All editorial comment
was highly favorable in many cases, suggesting
that it marked an "increasingly positive" US pol-
icy that would lessen the efficiency of the North
Vietnamese military machine and "safeguard vic-
tory."
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33. Commenting in Canberra where he has been at-
tending the SEATO Ministers' Council, Philippine
Foreign Minister Narciso Ramos described the initial
bombings as a bold and wise move. "It is about time
these installations were bombed," he said. He went
on to praise the US maneuver for confining itself
to installations where "no civilian areas were af-
fected." Thai Foreign Minister Thanat Khoman, also
in Canberra, viewed the bombings as something that
would shorten the war and bring peace and stability.
34. The Hong Kong Government, probably with
London's concurrence, has requested an indefinite
postponement of a scheduled 3 July rest and recup-
eration visit to the colony by the US aircraft car-
rier Ranger, The government fears the Chinese Com-
munists would send another note of protest over
the visit and possibly incite demonstrations in Hong
Kong.
35. No Indonesian comment has been reported.
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36. Latin America, as usual, is responding
slowly to news of the Hanoi-Haiphong air raids. Cu-
ban Premier Fidel Castro said in a speech on the
night of 29 June that the US bombings are "one more
criminal adventuristic step which is driving the
world toward a conflict of vast proportions." Castro
said also that the new US policy stems from growing
world opposition to the US Vietnamese position and
that President Johnson is simply following in Hit-
ler's footsteps.
37. All Costa Rican information media have
given extensive coverage to the bombing raids, but
there has been no editorial reaction. All govern-
ment officials contacted by the US Embassy see the
raids as a logical extension of US military activ-
ities in Vietnam. Although there has been no edi-
torial comment in Uruguay to date, most newspapers
describe the bombing raids as a new escalation in
the war. All newspapers emphasize British Prime
Minister Wilson's statement lamenting the'raids,
while the Communist newspaper El Popular and Monte-
video's two largest radio stations repeat Senator
Morse's comment that, As a result of the raids the
American flag should be flown at half mast." The
Brazilian press has given factual treatment to the
bombing raids with no editorial comment to date.
The US Embassy does not anticipate any official
government reaction.
38. African reaction is also sparse. The
government of Ghana expressed concern to the Ameri-
can ambassador over the bombings. It emphasized
the importance of creating an atmosphere in which
genuine negotiations could be held to solve the
Vietnamese problem; it did not consider the bomb-
ings conducive to the creation of such an atmosphere.
Radio Mali on 30 June carried a critical news re-
port, quoting Chinese Communist and North Vietnamese
news sources and mentioning adverse world reaction.
There has been no formal public statement by the
government of Mali as yet. The Malian foreign min-
ister as very disturbed and felt that a military
solution was not the answer to the problem, but he
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recognized that the United States had to do what it
thought was right. The Ugandan acting foreign min-
ister stated that he was opposed to the war and it
was up to the United States and North Vietnam to
find a way to stop it. He recognized, however, that
the Hanoi-Haiphong bombings did not alter the basic
situation. The press in Kenya carried an editorial
on 30 June saying that the United States is playing
a dangerous game, that Red China has said it would
enter the war if the United States bombs civilian
populations, and that America's allies must convince
President Johnson that escalation of the war must
stop.
39. United Nations Secretary General U Thant
has expressed deep regret over the bombings. Other
comment heard in UN corridors has been sparse but
generally unfavorable.
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