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August 23, 1974 - Ford, Kissinger, Syrian Foreign Minister Khaddam
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August 23, 1974 - Ford, Kissinger, Syrian Foreign Minister Khaddam
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Memoranda of Conversations (Nixon and Ford Administrations)
Ford Administration Memoranda of Conversations
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File scanned from the National Security Adviser's Memoranda of Conversation Collection at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
MEMORANDUM
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
SECRET/NODIS
MEMORANDUM OF CONVERSATION
PARTICIPANTS:
Abdel Halim Khaddam, Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Syrian Arab Republic
Rafiq Joejati, Chef de Cabinet to Minister Khaddam
Dr. Sabah Kabbani, Syrian Ambassador to US
President Gerald R. Ford
Dr. Henry A. Kissinger, Secretary of State and
Assistant to the President for National Security
Affairs
Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft, Deputy Assistant to the
President for National Security Affairs
Ambassador Richard Murphy, U.S. Ambassador
to Syria
Camille Nowfel, OPR/LS (Interpreter)
DATE AND TIME:
Friday, August 23, 1974
10:35 - 11:34 a. m.
PLACE:
The Oval Office
The White House
DECLASSIFIED
E.O. 12958, SEC. 3.5
NSC MEMO, 11/24/98, DEPT. GUIDELINES state 3/9/04
Review
[The press was admitted briefly at the beginning, during the exchange of
greetings. Then the press departed.]
Kissinger: I came to the airport 23 times and that is 40 minutes away
from Damascus.
NARA, DATE 3/29/04
Khaddam: Does that mean I will be coming 23 times to Washington?
President: This is your first visit to Washington?
STATE
Khaddam: Yes, but I've been to the United Nations. Washington is a
beautiful city.
a
FORE
Kissinger: They visited Capitol Hill yesterday.
GERALD
LIBRARY
BY
TOP SECRET XGDS (3)
SECRET/NODIS
CLASSIFIED BY: HENRY A. KISSINGER
SEGRET/NODIS
- 2 -
President: That is an interesting place.
Khaddam: We met with Speaker Albert and several Senators. We had
beneficial discussions with them.
Kissinger: He invited Javits to Syria.
President: That is fine hospitality.
Khaddam: We would in fact welcome such a visit. President Asad
told Secretary Kissinger that Congressmen with preconceived ideas
should visit and see things first hand.
President: I would hope they would accept, in order to get a true perspec-
tive of the problems.
Khaddam: That is true. This leads me to hope you could accept the invi-
tation of President Asad to visit Syria.
President: After I get a better hold on my responsibilities, I look forward
to visiting the Middle East and taking advantage of President Asad's
kind invitation.
Kissinger: You must starve yourself first for two days.
Khaddam: We had to offer Dr. Kissinger more food than usual because
we thought Israel was starving him. He was also flirting with Golda.
Kissinger: The Foreign Minister has a thing about Golda. I am going to
getboth of them together.
Khaddam: It can't happen. She is looking for someone to respond more
favorably to her desires.
President: It is wonderful to have you here. Dr. Kissinger has told
me how useful you were in the difficult discussions last spring. I want
to assure you--as I have every other dignitary who has visited here--that
I support Dr. Kissinger's efforts for peace and to establish a better peace
in the Middle East for the future. Dr. Kissinger is the most popular
public official in the United States.
Khaddam: Among women or men?
SECRET/NODIS
GERALD LIBRARY P FORD
SECRET/NODIS
- 3 -
President: Both. We are grateful also. We have talked about the
Middle East with Dr. Kissinger every day. We are grateful for the
meticulous adherence of Syria to the disengagement agreement. It
is wonderful groundwork for the future.
Khaddam: We are pleased to hear it and especially to know that U.S.
foreign policy will continue, particularly with respect to the objective
of bringing a just peace to the Middle East. Syrians and Arabs are
eager and dedicated to a just peace in the Middle East. We believe
the U.S. as a great power should and can play a key role in this
respect. In the US there are misconceptions about the Arab role in
this respect. In the U.S. there are misconceptions about the Arab role
in the world. This may be due to the Arab leaders shortcomings in
dealings with the West. Some like to ask the question: What do we
Arabs want? I would like to assure you the Arab countries have not
ever since 1948 launched a war against Israel. Israel has started
every one. In 1949 Israel asked admission to the UN and submitted
a map. The US accepted Israel and that map. A comparison with
today would show Israel four times the size of that map. The fact is
that is the only justification for Israel's desire for expansion. That
is why we desire peace--to stop this continual aggression against us.
There is talk about secure boundaries and changes to make them secure.
Dr. Kissinger and President Asad have discussed this and President Asad
made his position clear: Why should there be secure boundaries for
Israel and not for Syria? Why for a few Israelis and not for hundreds of
thousands of Syrians ?
With sophisticated aircraft and rockets, there is no longer much reliance
on geographic boundaries. Real security comes in one's desire for
peace. I want to reiterate our desire to help everything possible for peace
and help out those working for peace.
Kissinger: For the Syrian government to say these things is a revolutionary
thing.
President: We are interested in a just peace and will work with President
Asad to achieve it. And we are most anxious to broaden our relations
with you.
It is important for you and President Asad to understand the difficult
time we have had in the United States. President Nixon had serious
problems which led to his resignation, and I have serious problems
coming in under these circumstances, so we need some time. But
I
a
FORD
SECRET/NODIS
GERALD
LIBRARY
SECRET/NODIS
- 4 -
can reassure you that we believe there must be movement in the Middle
East and in your negotiations with Israel. It will be one of the major
steps to work for further movement in the Middle East.
Kissinger: But you won't send me to negotiate with Syrians again?
President: He did such a great job under such difficult circumstances that
he is not replaceable.
Khaddam: I think he played a key role under difficult circumstances. No
other U.S. official could have done so much in so short a time and acquired
the friendship of the Syrian people.
President: I can say this better than Kissinger: He has great affection
for President Asad and Syria.
Khaddam: We know this. We know the relationship between Dr. Kissinger
and President Asad and Dr. Kissinger and other Arab leaders is an import-
ant factor in achieving progress.
We hope your Administration will be one where there will be great progress
in relations with the Arab world. Your messages were received warmly
and made a good impression. We wonder why there were bad relations
in the past. We know the present state of relations is new, and the U.S.
leaders' understanding of the situation of the Arabs and willingness to
remove the causes of misunderstanding is very helpful.
President: This new relationship is good, and if we are to build on it,
it must be done in an atmosphere of peace. War is destructive of good
relationships -- we can advance onl y with peace.
Khaddam: The U.S. has made contacts with all the Arabs and found in
each a genuine desire for peace. The problem is not with the Arabs, but
with Israel, and its obstinate refusal to accept any of the UN resolutions.
For example, we signed a disengagement agreement and we have abided
by it. Israel has violated many provisions which I want to discuss with
Dr. Kissinger. Israel didn't withdraw from Quinetra before she destroyed
it -- not with bombs but bulldozers. Israel is making provocative remarks
about Syria's receiving Soviet arms. We would be pleased if we had the
tops in arms, but it is not so. The U.S. knows what we have been getting.
Their interest in bringing about problems between the U.S. and Soviet
Union and Syria worries us.
R.
FORD
SECRET/NODIS
GERALD
LIBRARY
SECRET/NODIS
- 5 -
President: We can't tolerate an atmosphere of war if we are going to
build for peace.
Kissinger: I told the Foreign Minister that Israel couldn't fight an
aggressive war with an open U.S. supply line. That's why Syria
shouldn't be provoked to do rash things and be maneuvered into being
the aggressor.
Khaddam: Israel called a general mobilization, massed its troops
at the borders, and opened long roads at the border. We have not
responded, but we can't ignore these measures. We believe Israel
would do everything possible to destroy the chance for peace. We won't
help Israel do that.
President: I hope you understand that we won't support Israel in any
aggression. We must have like attitudes from the Arabs. We must have
an atmosphere of peace to work toward a settlement.
Khaddam: I believe the fact that you have had a number of Arabs in
Washington this month illustrates the Arabs' desire for peace. I know
your Administration is busy because of problems and the change of
Administration. I realize that although the transition took place very
unusually and quietly, you will have problems for a certain period. In
spite of this, we have met with you, and others have, to talk with you
and do everything possible to bring the efforts for peace to a successful end.
President: This is very reassuring to the American people, that the
Arabs are thus indicating their desires for a peaceful settlement. You
must know the American people will not understand another oil embargo.
They didn't understand it before, when we were working for peace, and
they wouldn't tolerate it again.
Khaddam: I would like to say something I mentioned once to Dr. Kissinger
at the lunch in my honor at the American Embassy in Syria. At that time
he said that six months before it would have been crazy to think that the
U.S. Secretary of State would be having lunch in Syria. Since then the U.S.
has had a new understanding of the Arabs. The situation was very difficult
from 1950 until the last years. The Arabs had a feeling of injustice. Not
only U.S. aid and support of Israel, but many actions -- also the plight
of the Palestinians for 25 years -- gave the Arabs a bad feeling of lack
of justice. There was no parallel between the way the U.S. treated the
Arabs and U.S. interests in the Arab world. The Arabs are good people --
Fune
as good as the American people.
&
SECRET/NODIS
GERALD
LIBRARY
SECRET/NODIS
- 6 -
President: The American people are interested in expanding relations
with Arabs. Dr. Kissinger's efforts have given the American people a
better understanding and appreciation of the Arabs. That's why we must
have a peaceful atmosphere. An oil embargo would destroy this feeling
of friendliness and cooperation with the Arabs.
Khaddam: As far as anything of a military nature, the Arabs will not
undertake anything of that nature.
President: That's reassuring.
Khaddam: Why did we resort to war on October 6? Because for six
years we had been trying for support and got no help at all. Imagine
the Nazi in every sense of the word -- troops only 60 kilometers from
your capital. If you come, I could show you mutilated Syrian children
from Israeli bombs. We could have bombed Israeli cities, but we didn't.
Even in war one should have traditional customs; war has its rules. We
kept our operations in a military context.
I want to say a few simple words, Mr. President. The United States now
has a great opportunity to put a strong priority on relations with the
Arabs. The Arabs love Americans and admire their background. Condi-
tions for a good relationship exist. What we need is a man of courage
like you and men like Dr. Kissinger who understands the problems. You
will find great willingness on our side to cooperate.
Kissinger: Foreign Minister Khaddam has made many helpful statements
here which will help remove the [bad] image of Syria in American minds.
Khaddam: Let me assure you these statements reflect our official
position and are made in sincerity and are true. I meant what I said.
When you meet President Asad, you will find him a man who wants peace
in all seriousness and wants good relations with the United States.
President: I look forward to meeting with him and working for a just
FORD
peace in the Middle East. I appreciate your words about the American
a
people. They want to cooperate with the Arabs. We have many citizens
of Arab extraction. If we can work together, it will be very beneficial
to the cause of peace.
GERAGO
Khaddam: I thank you very much for your kind words and for making it
possible for this meeting. I will convey my impressions to President Asad.
I will convey anything you might wish to President Asad.
SECRET/NODIS
SECRET/NODIS
- 7 -
President: Please convey my greetings and appreciation for his
statesmanlike position since October. And Secretary Kissinger and
I will work with him and you to move forward, and I reiterate the
promise of President Nixon and Secretary Kissinger that we are
committed to move forward.
FORD
SECRET/NODIS
a LIBRARY OERALD
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DECLASSIFIED
NSC MEMO, 11/24/96, STATE DEPT. GUIDELINES state Review 3/9/04
E.O. 12958, SEC. 3.5
GERALO R
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