THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 23 AUGUST 1966

Document Type:

FOIA [1]

Keywords:

DIF-DUP [2]

Collection:

President's Daily Brief 1961-1969 [3]

Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST):

0005968486

Release Decision:

RIPPUB

Original Classification:

Document Page Count:

Document Creation Date:

September 16, 2015

Document Release Date:

September 16, 2015

Sequence Number:

Case Number:

Publication Date:

August 23, 1966

File:

Attachment	Size
DOC_0005968486.pdf [4]	101.33 KB

Body:

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004600460001-6 CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 23 AUGUST 1966 23 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004600460001-6 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004600460001-6 50X1 DAILY BRIEF 23 AUGUST 1966 1. West Germany 2. North Vietnam We doubt that Hanoi has sanctioned the recent Polish soundings on negotia- tions. A brief examination of this is at Annex. 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004600460001-6 50X6 beclassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004600460001-6 5 ca 1 3. South Vietnam 4. Communist China With just over two weeks to go be- fore the elections, the unofficial poll- sters are at work. One Saigon lawyer, an ex-minister of education, estimates the Buddhist boycott will be quite effec- tive in central Vietnam with only 30 or 40 percent of the electorate voting. He expects 50 percent in the southern prov- inces and about 60 percent turnout in Saigon. The embassy comments that if 50 percent of South Vietnam's five mil- lion registered voters go to the polls on 11 September it will be a significant achievement. Mao and company may be preparing to broaden the party purge. Today Peking's leading daily changed its tune somewhat by claiming that there is a "faction in power" which is resisting the party's leadership and "taking the road of capi- talism." Until now the line has been that only a "small handful" of people have been in opposition. Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004600460001-6 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24: CIA-RDP79T00936A004600460001-6 ANNEX Communist Diplomatic Activity on Vietnam We doubt that Hanoi has given its blessing to recent Polish soundings on negotiations. Twice within the past week Polish officials have urged us to stop bombing North Vietnam and accept--"in principle"--Hanoi's oft-repeated four points. Such signs of faith by us, the Poles hint broadly, could produce a more cooperative North Vietnamese position. There is little doubt that the North Vietnamese would like to see the bombing end. However, there has been no sign of give in any public or private statements coming from Hanoi. Only yesterday, the North Vietnamese reiterated their uncompromising po- sition in a foreign ministry statement condemning an Asian peace initiative proposed by the Thais. We believe the latest Polish proposals repre- sent a unilateral effort to promote some US conces- sions which Warsaw hopes might bring Hanoi and Wash- ington closer to the negotiating table. The current Polish effort is quite similar to that undertaken by the Rumanians last May--in fact, the price tag is identical. Both the Poles and the Rumanians seem convinced that the first move must come from Washington. As for the Soviets, there has been no sign from that quarter of any change in position nor of any effort to prod the North Vietnamese along. We believe it is likely that the recent Yalta meeting between top Soviet leaders and a very senior North Vietnamese delegation concerned itself with Soviet military and economic aid to North Vietnam-- and not with bringing the war to a conference table. 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004600460001-6 50X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004600460001--6 TOP SECRET TOP SECRET Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004600460001-6