509. Memorandum From Ulric Haynes of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy)1
Washington, December 14, 1965.
McGB:
Situation Report: Rhodesian Crisis
- 1.
- At Kenya’s request, today’s UNSC meeting on Rhodesia has been cancelled; Kenya reserves the right to call for another meeting later this week.
- 2.
- State’s approach to the major US suppliers of oil to Rhodesia on voluntary compliance with an oil embargo met with a reluctantly favorable response. While doubting the efficacy of an oil embargo, the oil companies’ sole condition was that the UK issue an order-in-council to provide them with “legal cover” for voluntary compliance.
- 3.
- Approaches to US importers of Rhodesian lithium, chrome and asbestos (accounting for about 75% of US imports from Rhodesia) for voluntary compliance with sanctions met with no apparent dissent. However, compliance would raise technical problems for some importers.
- 4.
- We have told the UK we are prepared to support a Zambian airlift with either three DC–7C’s or one 707 provided, (a) support is limited to a 2-month period, (b) cost is kept below $300,000 per month, and (c) it is understood this is not an open-end undertaking.
- 5.
- An IBRD Vice-President is enroute to Rhodesia and Zambia to explore the possibility of the Bank acting as a trustee or custodian of the Kariba Dam installation.
Comment: The cancellation of today’s UNSC meeting temporarily takes some of the pressure off the US and UK to broaden and intensify sanctions. Kenya’s request for cancellation is probably due to the lack of any instructions from the Kenyan Government. With increasing defections from the OAU December 15 deadline for a diplomatic break with the UK, the position of the Africans is both confused and weakened.
The next move is the UK’s when Wilson addresses the UNSC on Thursday.
Rick
- Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President, McGeorge Bundy, Vol. 17. Confidential. A copy was sent to Komer.↩