THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 7 OCTOBER 1967

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005974052
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: October 7, 1967

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The President's Daily Brief
?T`qTSe.c-t_. 7 October 1967
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DAILY BRIEF
7 OCTOBER 1967
1. South Vietnam
2. Soviet Union
More antigovernment demonstrations
appear in the offing, despite the hard-
line policy against this kind of
activity, announced yesterday by Thieu.
Specifically, student leaders plan
another rally in Saigon today, and
there is talk of a general strike of
businesses and transportation workers
in Hue. Continued pressure on the
security forces could wear down their
restraint, and provoke an incident
around which students and Buddhists
might be able to generate some real
mass support.
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3. Middle East
. Nonproliferation Moscow remains cooperative, but
Treaty pressure is building up among thee non-
aligned states and other critics of the
treaty for early referral of the draft
to the UN General Assembly. The cur-
rent status of the treaty is summarized
in today's Annex.
5. Panama
Two fairly powerful bombs exploded
in Panama City early this week, but
damage was minimal. These were more
sophisticated than the Molotov cock-
tails used in the past. Most likely
perpetrators are members of a small
pro-Castro terrorist group. There are
no signs that Arnulfo Arias' opposition
party was involved.
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6. Algeria-Morocco
The danger of new military clashes
between these hostile neighbors is
beginning to alarm
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ANNEX
Status of the Nonproliferation Treaty
A month after offering a compromise Article
III (safeguards), Moscow still is marking time and
maintaining a positive attitude toward joint
efforts with the US to achieve a complete text of
the treaty. Soviet delegates have given the US
the impression that they are prepared'to be flex-
ible about considering some interpretations and
changes for which they have shown little enthusiasm
in the past.
The Soviets share our reluctance to send the
draft to the United Nations until the Europeans
have agreed on a satisfactory safeguards article.
It had been hoped that this could be done by the
end of this month, but this now seems increasingly
unlikely. At the moment, progress is held up
awaiting EURATOM response to the proposed article.
Chances are slim that a final position will be
ready before late this month. Meanwhile, the non-
aligned states are pressing hard for early referral
of the treaty to the General Assembly where they
will have a larger forum for airing their grievances
against its provisions.
One of the main problems bothering the non-
aligned states is the question of security
assurances. This is particularly pertinent for
India, worried about the growing Chinese nuclear
capability, but it has also been raised by others.
For their part, the Italians, West Germans, and the
Japanese want the treaty to have a limited duration
and the first two insist on changes in the pro-
cedures for amending the treaty. The more basic
problem of nondiscrimination in peaceful uses of
nuclear energy is also sure to be given wide play
by Brazil, India, Japan, Italy and Sweden. These
countries are also demanding that the obligations
they would assume under the treaty be "balanced" by
commitments by the nuclear powers to cut back their
own nuclear capabilities.
In the interim, talks between the Soviet and
US ambassadors in Geneva are moving ahead to map
joint strategy on how to meet some of these objec-
tions.
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If it appears that a complete treaty text can-
not be forwarded to the UN General Assembly, the
Soviets have hinted at another tack that could be
taken. This would involve adjournment of the
Geneva sessions after hearing presentations by the
nonaligned. The Soviet and US delegations would
then work out a complete text in New York and re-
convene the disarmament conference there to review
it.
The Soviet Union also has agreed, at US urg-
ing, not to push at the conference of the Inter-
national Atomic Energy Agency for a general
resolution favoring the treaty. The US feared that
this would provide an occasion for countries
critical of the Soviet-US draft to register their
reservations and further complicate the already
difficult and drawn-out negotiations.
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Top Secret
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TOP SECRET
SPECIAL DAILY REPORT ON NORTH VIETNAM
FOR THE PRES I DENT !S EYES ONLY
TOP SECRET
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only*
7 October 1967
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
Doumer Bridge in operation: Rail and highway
traffic have been restored on the Doumer bridge,
* * *
Hanoi gets more aid agreements: East Germany
has joined other Communist countries in outlining
its support for North Vietnam. An aid agreement
*This report carries a second section on North
Vietnamese Reflections of US Political Attitudes
Toward the War.
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signed on 5 October provides for credits to cover
East German goods and services to be delivered
during 1968-1970. A trade agreement for next year
calling for a substantial increase over 1967 also
was signed. Under it East Germany will supply
light industrial goods, trucks, medical and various
consumer goods.
North Vietnam also signed a 1968 trade agree-
ment with Communist China on 5 October. Although
details are not available, the trade pact un-
doubtedly recognizes North Vietnam's inability to
sustain exports, but assures Hanoi that necessary
goods will be supplied under the traditional trade
protocol. These agreements further round out the
efforts of the recent aid-seeking mission led by
Deputy Premier Le Thanh Nghi, which also produced
agreements with the Soviet Union, Communist China,
North Korea, Mongolia, Rumania, Bulgaria, and Cuba.
* * *
Mao meets with Vietnamese Delegation: The New
China News Agency reported on 5 October that Chair-
man Mao had that afternoon received members of the
Vietnamese delegation to the National Day celebra-
tions headed by Politburo members Le Thanh Nghi and
Hoang Van Hoan. Also present were Lin Piao and
Chou En-lai. The last time Mao publicly met with
Vietnamese leaders was in July 1965--close to the
high point in Sino-Vietnamese relations. Mao had
previously received the other principal foreign
visitors to the 1967 National Day ceremonies and a
failure to meet with the Vietnamese delegation would
have appeared as a slap in the face to Hanoi. How-
ever, the Chinese are apparently relatively satis-
fied with Hanoi's unyielding stance toward negotia-
tions--Peking in fact used National Day to demon-
strate it was reasonably confident of Vietnamese
determination to continue the war.
* * *
Hanoi on the Chinese presence in North Vietnam:
North Vietnam has extolled the extensive presence
of Chinese engineering, construction, and other
personnel in North Vietnam and has also publicly
alluded for the first time to Chinese personnel
engaging in combat on behalf of Vietnam. These
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admissions were contained in an article in the
party daily Nhan Dan by Minister of Communications
and Transport Phan Trong Tue written on the occa-
tion of Chinese National Day, and broadcast domes-
tically in North Vietnam on 2 October.
The article stated that the Chinese have sent
many outstanding scientific and technical cadres
and many skilled technical workers to "directly
help the Vietnamese in the communications and
transport fields as well as in many other technical
areas of our economy." The article praised the
Chinese railroad authority for giving "priority
treatment" to trains transporting aid goods from
China to Vietnam and transhipping aid from other
fraternal countries. Tue also praised the Chinese
for "fighting courageously" on behalf of Vietnam--
a clear and unprecedented allusion to the Chinese
antiaircraft units operating in North Vietnam:
Tue's enthusiastic.and detailed expression for
China's aid to Vietnam is in keeping with other
recent Hanoi statements which have stressed Sino-
'Vietnamese solidarity. These statements probably
stem from Hanoi's pleasure with the moderating
developments on the Chinese domestic scene.
II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
.ATTITUDES TOWARD THE WAR
A commentary by the Viet Cong's Liberation
Press Agency broadcast clandestinely in Vietnamese
to South Vietnam on 4 October contained a lengthy
and harshly worded attack on recent statements on
the war by President Johnson and UN Ambassador
Goldberg. The broadcast described "Johnson and
his clique in the US administration" as a "band of
cunning, deceitful, insolent, and stupid people."
It further asserted that the peace offensive which
the "Johnson clique has advertized for a long time"
is merely an "old trick accompanied by ambiguous
arguments which are disastrously indecisive."
The broadcast further asserted that the cur-
rent US peace effort was put forth "for the absurd
reason of continuing the war of aggression." Going
on in the same vein, the broadcast recounted in
vindictive language the "insolent deeds" of the US
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"aggressors" and emphasized that "Johnson's deceit-
ful arguments about peace negotiations have not
been able to deceive US and world public opinion
nor can they provide him with any hope of maintain-
ing his presidency for another term." The broad-
cast closed by restating the Communists' determina-
tion to continue the war until a settlement on
their terms_ can be achieved.
A Hanoi broadcast in English on 5 October
contained a condensed version of the Viet Cong
statement including the strongly, worded references
to the President and the "US peace fraud." It made
no mention of the 1968 presidential election,
however.
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