120.32145A/8–1153
Memorandum by the Deputy Director of the Office of African Affairs (Cyr) to the Deputy Executive Director of the Bureau of Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs (Pick)1
Subject:
- Comments Regarding Need for Assigning a Defense Attaché to Cover the Central African Federation Area.
The Department of the Army, G–2, Intelligence, recommends that if the Department of State should elect to follow the proposal in despatch [Page 332] No. 256 of May 8, 19532 from the American Consul General at Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, that a Defense Attaché be included in the complement of the Consulate General at that post, this should be accomplished by secondarily accrediting to Salisbury the Army Attaché presently assigned to the Union of South Africa.
AF is not convinced that the military importance of the Central African Federation area is at present sufficient to warrant the assignment of a Defense Attaché to Salisbury. Under the Federal Constitution responsibility for defense legislation of the Federal area is given to the Federation, with certain powers reserved to the United Kingdom Government, which would probably include Imperial defense requirements. The geographic location and the climate of the land-locked Central African Federation make it primarily important as a safe “back area”, useful in time of emergency for training air crews and ground troops. This would be facilitated by the concentration of secondary industries in Southern Rhodesia, and the presence of about 200,000 Europeans in the Federation area who, along with the 6,000,000 Africans, form a reservoir of skills and military manpower.
However, it is to be noted that the recently reconstituted East Africa Command has its headquarters at Nairobi, although the Command embraces the six mainland territories of British East and British Central Africa, its southern limit being the Limpopo River and its northern limit the Ethiopian border. The choice of Nairobi is in recognition of the more strategic position of the Nairobi-Mombasa area, a geographic “flanking” position on the lifeline to the Middle and Far East. This is of increasing importance in Imperial military considerations in view of the weakening British position in the Suez base area. It would, therefore, be more logical to assign a Defense Attaché to Nairobi at the present time than to Salisbury. However, even at Nairobi the need is not at present clearly demonstrable.
In sum, AF believes that at the present time it is not necessary to assign a Defense Attaché to Salisbury. If, as is likely, the military importance of the Federation area increases as the Federation develops, AF would be agreeable to a re-examination of the need for a Defense Attaché at that post and, of course, will continue to watch with care the military situation and potential of the area. For political reasons, AF believes that, even if the need can be demonstrated, the Federation area should not be covered by the Army Attaché now resident in South Africa. One of the principal objectives of the Federation is to minimize the influence of the Union of South Africa in the Federation area. It might, therefore, be taken amiss by the Federation Government if the United States should assign the Federation area, as a sort of appendage for military coverage purposes, to the office of our Army Attaché in the Union.