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January 21, 1976 - Scowcroft, Arthur House, John McGoff, Les Devilliers
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1553341
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January 21, 1976 - Scowcroft, Arthur House, John McGoff, Les Devilliers
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Memoranda of Conversations (Nixon and Ford Administrations)
Ford Administration Memoranda of Conversations
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Angola
South Africa
Diego Garcia (British Indian Ocean Territory)
Australia
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1976
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1976
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File scanned from the National Security Adviser's Memoranda of Conversation Collection at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
la,lb,1c
NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION
Presidential Libraries Withdrawal Sheet
WITHDRAWAL ID 018352
REASON FOR WITHDRAWAL
National security restriction
TYPE OF MATERIAL
Memorandum of Conversation
TITLE
Scowcroft, House, McGoff, and
Devilliers
DESCRIPTION
With attachments
CREATION DATE
01/21/1976
VOLUME
9 pages
COLLECTION/SERIES/FOLDER ID
031400776
COLLECTION TITLE
National Security Adviser. Memoranda of
Conversations
BOX NUMBER
17
FOLDER TITLE
January 21, 1976 - Scowcroft, Arthur
House, John McGoff, Les Devilliers
DATE WITHDRAWN
06/16/2004
WITHDRAWING ARCHIVIST
GG
MR05-08 #3
1a declarsifiet with
portions exempted
/ b apen in full
1C openin full
NR5/1107
MORI DocID: 1176031
1a
MEMORANDUM
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
SEGRET/SENSITIVE/EYES ONLY
EO 12958 3.3(b)(1)>25Yrs
MEMORANDUM OF CONVERSATION
(C)
PARTICIPANTS:
Lt. General Brent Scowcroft, Assistant to the President
for National Security Affairs
Arthur House, White House Fellow, NSC Staff
John McGoff, Panex Corporation
Les Devilliers, Deputy Secretary for Information,
Government of South Africa
DATE AND TIME:
Wednesday, January 21, 1976
3:00 p.m. - 3: 34 p.m.
PLACE:
The White House
General Scowcroft's Office
McGoff: UPITN keeps me moving. I am now a Vice President. We
serve 65 countries. The South African Broadcasting Corporation is a
client of ours. We have a worldwide news service, ABC News in the
United States uses our foreign film -- all of ABC's foreign films are from
UPITN. Through our 100 bureaus worldwide, we obtain information. We
have offices in the Middle East, Moscow, Salisbury and Luanda. In Luanda
our crew of British nationals has provided us with useful information in the
past few days. I will give you a document (hands document to General
Scowcroft). It shows that there are several hundred East Europeans at the
Hotel Tivoli in Luanda, over 8, 000 Cubans, one Congolese Liaison Officer
and one Portuguese Communist
I am very concerned about the course of this war. The Cubans and
Soviets are testing equipment, as was done in the Spanish War. The war
will shift power and will certainly frighten the Arabs if they see Soviet
successes in Angola. The long-term planning for this war began in 1956
and the final military decision was taken in August, 1974. I am a loyal
American, and I am concerned about American policy toward Angola. The
main problem is lack of direction of the people on the Hill.
On May 31, 1974, Admiral Jack McCain and I met with Vice
President Ford to talk about Africa. I will give you these documents
one concerns the Australian election of May 18 and the other the French
election of May 19. I don't know if they will be used.
FORD
DECLASSIFIED
with portions
&
SEGRET/SENSITIVE/EYES ONLY
exempted
E.O.
12350
MR05-08#3 RAC Review/C1A2th 9/14/06
GER
State Review 3/11/04 DIALtr 6/23/06
BY, HR NARA DATE 4/30/07
MORI DocID: 1176031
SEGRET/SENSITIVE/EYES ONLY
-2-
Scowcroft: I can assure you that they will be read.
McGoff: I was very pleased at the appointment of Tom Reed as Secretary
of the Air Force by President Ford. He is a good friend and we will have
a reception for him next week. His company will be hardput to replace him.
Devilliers: The Prime Minister of South Africa said that I should have a
full discussion with General Viljoen (General-Major Constance Viljoen)
the head of operations in Angola, before I left. General Viljoen said that we
cannot continue
We cannot be effective unless our
effort is "full-out".
We have agonized over this, and as you perhaps know, we have decided to
pull out in eight days. I have just learned that there have been some appeals
from Mobutu and Houphouet-Boigny. The Prime Minister is right now talking
in our Security Council about the possibility of staying in Angola.
they need military
help. Your arms boycott has been very effective - -- we don't know how to use
the weapons effectively. We are using World War II field guns, and they are
no matchfor the Soviet artillery.
What effect would an open appeal from Zaire to the United States have?
Scowcroft: I honestly don't know. Marginally, it might have some effect,
but Congress is insane on this issue. Even a loan is a problem. Certainly
an appeal from Zaire would not hurt.
Devilliers:
Viljoen would do it; he has the political and military expertise. He has met
with Mobutu.
Scowcroft: Let me look into it.
Devilliers: This is conventional warfare.
The Cubans know the weapons. When they fire the Soviet rockets,
the UNITA forces run by the hundreds. They have never used this equipment.
SECRET/SENSITIVE/EYES ONLY
EO 12958 3.3 (b) (1) >25Yrs
FORD
(C)
LIBRARY &
MORI DocID: 1176031
SECRET/SENSITIVE/EYES ONLY
-3-
Scowcroft: If you leave, they will have to resort to guerilla warfare.
Without your help, they cannot manage conventional warfare.
Devilliers: Savimbi does not want us out.
Scowcroft: We understand. Some mercenaries would help.
McGoff: How can we help?
Scowcroft: We need help on the Hill.
McGoff: I am amazed at the insanity of Tunney and Clark. I think our
Congress has been penetrated. But there has been a contrary reaction
to Moynihan -- who is very popular.
Devilliers: Should I hold on this? It is very urgent. Time is running out.
It is too bad-this happened in an election year.
Scowcroft: I will pursue it. This is the Soviets' Vietnam -- not ours.
McGoff: Will we forsake our friends in the OAU?
Devilliers: We can handle the Cubans. The MIGS and the helicopters
give us problems. We cannot explain 50 dead as a border war.
Scowcroft: What can our military do?
Devilliers: Our military could give your military a pictur e of what is
needed in military terms.
We could better understand the material and equipment needs by consulting
together. It is not a question of massive equipment, just the right equipment.
I have a second point to raise. Might this be a good time you to meet with
our Prime Minister and perhaps Zaire?
Scowcroft: Not now. You did well at the OAU. Our judgment is that it
would not be best to push it
at this time.
Devilliers: I understand. We understand that Mobutu is thinking of a
military alliance between himself, Zambia, and South Africa. Mobutu's
SEGRET/SENSITIVE/EYES ONLY
FORD
&
GERALD
LIBRARY
MORI DocID: 1176031
SECRET/SENSITIVE/EYES ONLY
-4-
being attacked could help you. The problem is basically one of leadership.
The Cubans are very effective, compared to the African troops, but are
not difficult compared with the South African or American forces.
Scowcroft: A few good leaders make all the difference.
Devilliers: I hope we can have an exchange of expert views.
Scowcroft: I will pursue this. We have a key vote coming up in Congress
next week. We may lose it, but we will try.
SEGRET/SENSITIVE/EYES ONLY
193410 QUIC 8 FORD DEPARTS
1b
ANGOLA SITUATION REPORT
21 January 1976
1. 400 Russian military experts located at the Hotel Tivoli, Luanda
15 East German, Czech and Bulgarian officers, plus 1 Romanian and 1
Finnish
1 Brazilian Colonel
1 Portuguese Communist liaison man (Julio de Almirda)
1 liaison officer from the Congo (Jean Auguie)
Several hundred North Koreans
8000 Cubans
2. Conventional War
Weapons testing ground similar to Spain during Spanish Civil War
3. Victory by Russia will also shift the balance in the Middle East since that
strategic fact will impress the Arabs at the appointed time and Sadat will
not be able to argue it away. Soviets figure they can wait if they control
the flow of oil.
4. Soviet Naval vastly exceeds that of NATO.
5. Her strategy and long term plan is in operation and is being little influenced
by our State Department. The long term planning began in 1956 and the final
military decision was taken in August 1974.
DECLASSIFIED
E.O. 12958 SEC. 3.6
MR05-084 3 CIALER
State Review 3/11/04 DIAth 6/23/06
GERALD a FORD
BY HR NARA DATE 4/30/07
ANALYSIS
Two significant events on the world scene may have dire
affect on not only southern Africa but also upon the
United States. The Australian election on May 18 placed
George Whitlam back in power as Prime Minister of that
country. Whitlam continues to oppose the U. S.-British
military base on the pivotal island of Diego Garcia. And
the French election of May 19, although placing the pro-
American d'Estaing into power, does not give him an over-
whelming control of the government because of the closeness
of the election.
My reflections below on these political events should cause
us great concern.
John P. McGoff
DECLASSIFIED
E.O. 12958 SEC. 3.6
GERALD a
MR05-08#3 CIALT 9/14/06
State Review 3/11/04 DIALIW6123106
BY in NARA DATE 4/30/07
May 31, 1974
These two political events on the antipodes of the world will affect Russia's
thrust into the Indian Ocean and the lifeline of Europe's oil supplies from
the Persian Gulf; the whole future of East and southern Africa will figure
in the drama. The spotlight will focus upon:
a piece of barren desert on the east coast of Africa, controlled by
France, known as the territory of the Afars and Issas, with its modern harbor
of Djibouti;
a minute, V-shaped strip of Indian Ocean coral, overrun by wild donkeys
and giant land crabs, named after its Portuguese discoverer Diego Garcia;
the Kerguelen Islands, barren, cold, windswept, almost forgotten, where
some curious Russian scientific activities are taking place.
Since the end of the 19th century, the Russians - first under the Czars - have
pushed south towards the Indian Ocean, snapping up one central Asian principality
after another until blocked by the British in Persia. Today the Soviets are
advancing again, and for the first time in 70 years a Russian naval fleet is at
large in the Indian Ocean.
Admiral Gortschkov, architect of Russia's naval resurgence, is sending in
missile cruisers while Britain is left with only an archipelago of islands -
the Seychelles - and the disputed base of Diego Garcia. India, once Britain's
largest domain, is today allied to Russia. There are Soviet bases at Vishkapatnam
and Vizianagram, and Indian-provided facilities for the Russians in the Andaman
and Nicobar Islands.
Gortschkov's fleet also enjoys naval facilities in the key area of the horn of
Africa, close to the Bab el Mandeb ("the gate of tears") where the Red Sea
joins the Indian Ocean, and the oil states of the Persian Gulf. These are in
the former British harbor of Aden and on Socotra Island (now part of the
socialist Republic of South Yemen), at the former British harbor of Zeila,
and at the former Italian base of Mogadishu (now part of the Republic of Somalia).
Russia has had up to 30 warships cruising in the Indian Ocean simultaneously,
and she is negotiating with the former British colony of Mauritius, now pro-
Soviet, for an agreement on facilities for "fishing ships" - trawlers - whose
role as intelligence gatherers is widely known. The opposition in Mauritius
has, in fact, accused the predominantly Indian government of Sir Seewoosagur
Ramgoolam of providing military facilities for the Russians. More ominously,
with the reopening of the Suez Canal scheduled for 1975, the Russian Mediter-
ranean fleet, the ninth Eskadra, which now includes two 40,000 ton aircraft
carriers, will have direct access to the Indian Ocean.
ANALYSIS - Page 2
The Russians' main aim is to put pressure on the Gulf oil states. Of these,
Iraq is already a Soviet satellite, and the others are weak, virtually power-
less. In contrast, pro-West Iran is building up its military strength and
buying missile-carrying warships. Another reason for Soviet presence in the
Indian Ocean is fear of U.S. nuclear submarines carrying Polaris and Poseidon
missiles set for firing at targets in the USSR. The missiles, believed to be
second in number only to those in the Mediterranean, account for the presence
of many Soviet vessels with sensitive tracking and monitoring equipment.
The Soviet presence gains extra dimension from the waning of western influence
in the Indian Ocean and with the impending doom of Mozambique and the eventual
take over of Angola.
The USN says it needs the Diego Garcia base to supply its ships in Arabian and
Iranian waters. Admiral Elmo Zumwalt has told the Senate that American ships
need "essential elements of naval support at Diego Garcia."
The U. S. is withdrawing military personnel from the Kagnew base in Ethiopia,
replacing them with civilians, because it does not want to be drawn into a
potential Ethiopian-Somalian conflict in the horn of Africa. This means that
the transfer of the communication system at Kagnew to Diego Garcia is threatened.
It is not only left-oriented, third world countries such as India, Bangladesh,
Tanzania, Somalia, and Mauritius who have come out against the base at Diego and
have supported verbal Soviet attacks on these "imperialist plans". Australia,
under George Whitlam, is pressing Britain to cancel Diego, and it is getting
fervent response among the Labor left.
It is known that the Whitlam government is receptive to a Russian request to
establish a satellite and tracking station in western Australia. Such an action
would make it possible for a Soviet tracking station to destroy American military
communications satellites with laser beams.
We have yet to know whether the French elections have decided the fate of Djibouti.
France has a strong military presence in Djibouti - a 5,000 man army, including
half a brigade of the Foreign Legion, an armored and an artillery regiment with
two Air Force fighter squadrons, a naval unit including the combat vessel "La
Combattante", and two minesweepers. The area is run by a legislative assembly
and a local government loyal to France.
If France withdraws, Djibouti - a town inhabited mostly by Somalian Issas - would
be the flashpoint for a war between Ehtiopia and Somalia, both of which border
FORD
the territory.
de
GERALD
ANALYSIS - Page 3
In Somali hands, Djibouti would give the Russians final control of the "gate
of tears" - the Red Sea route into the Indian Ocean - and more influence over
the Persian Gulf.
Had d'Estaing's election been overwhelming, there would have been no question
about France reinforcing Djibouti, but that remains in doubt now.
There is speculation that the Soviets have misused a Franco-Russian weather
investigation scheme on the Kerguelen Islands in the southern Indian Ocean.
Some sources say Soviets have sneaked in weather tracking rockets to be fired
from the islands, electronic gadgets to monitor South African and French
communications in the Indian Ocean.
The closeness of the French election should also have an affect on relations
with South Africa. At the present time, the French provide military supplies
to South Africa in addition to other kinds of military cooperation. A cutoff
of this support could place the whole of southern Africa in great jeopardy,
leaving it even more susceptible to Soviet and Red Chinese penetration.
The United States should reassess its position as it relates to an arms embargo
against the Republic of South Africa. They are important to our defense, our
oil supplies from the Middle East, as well as for the important role they will
play in the economic development of the rest of Africa.
FORD LIBRARY & GERATO