Near East Region
1. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Lebanon
Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1964-66, POL 7 UAR. Limited Official Use. Drafted by Slator C. Blackiston, Jr., (NEA/NE); cleared by Director of the Office of Near Eastern Affairs Rodger P. Davies, in substance by Chief of the Fuels and Energy Division Andrew F. Ensor of the Office of International Resources, and Officer in Charge of Lebanon-Israel Affairs H. Earle Russell, Jr.; and approved by Jernegan. Repeated to Cairo.
2. Memorandum From Robert W. Komer of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy)
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Name File, Komer Memos, Vol. I. Secret.
3. Background Paper Prepared in the Department of State
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Komer Files, 12th CENTO Ministerial Council Session, April 28-29, 1964. Confidential. Drafted by Lee F. Dinsmore of the Office of Near Eastern Affairs; cleared by Davies, Jernegan, Deputy Director of the Office of Near Eastern and South Asian Regional Affairs John P. Walsh, and NEA/NR Officer in Charge of CENTO Affairs Matthew D. Smith, Jr.
4. National Intelligence Estimate
Source: Central Intelligence Agency, Job 79-R01012A, ODDI Registry of NIE and SNIE Files. Secret; Controlled Dissem. According to a note on the cover sheet, the estimate was submitted by the Director of Central Intelligence, and concurred in by the U.S. Intelligence Board on April 8. The Central Intelligence Agency and the intelligence organizations of the Departments of State, Defense, AEC, and NSA participated in its preparation. The State, Defense, AEC, and NSA representatives concurred; the FBI representative abstained, the subject being outside his jurisdiction. Paragraph references are to the Discussion portion of the estimate, not printed.
5. Memorandum of Conversation
Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1964-66, POL 1 NEAR E. Secret; Limit Distribution. Drafted by Officer in Charge of Arabian Peninsula Affairs George C. Moore.
6. Memorandum of Conversation
Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1964-66, POL 2 NEAR E. Confidential. Drafted by Wolle.
8. Special National Intelligence Estimate
Source: Central Intelligence Agency, Job 79-R01012A, ODDI Registry of NIE and SNIE Files. Secret; Controlled Dissem. According to a note on the cover sheet, the estimate was submitted by the Director of Central Intelligence, and concurred in by the U.S. Intelligence Board on July 15. The Central Intelligence Agency and the intelligence agencies of the Departments of State, Defense, and NSA participated in its preparation. The State, Defense, and NSA representatives concurred; the AEC and FBI representatives abstained, the subject being outside their jurisdiction. Paragraph references are to the Discussion portion of the estimate, not printed.
9. Memorandum From Robert W. Komer of the National Security Council Staff to President Johnson
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President, McGeorge Bundy, Vol. 15. Secret. The initial “L” on the memorandum indicates that the President saw it.
11. National Intelligence Estimate
Source: Department of State, NEA/IAI Files: Lot 70 D 304, POL 1 Israel, 1966, General Policy Background. Secret; Controlled Dissem. According to a note on the cover sheet, the estimate was submitted by Acting Director of Central Intelligence Helms, and concurred in by the U.S. Intelligence Board on February 17. The Central Intelligence Agency and the intelligence organizations of the Departments of State, Defense, and NSA participated in its preparation. The State, Defense, and NSA representatives concurred; the AEC and FBI representatives abstained because the subject was outside their jurisdiction. Paragraph references are to the Discussion portion of the estimate, not printed.
13. Circular Telegram From the Department of State to Certain Posts
Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1964-66, POL 3 ISLAMIC. Secret. Drafted by H. Eugene Bovis (NEA/UAR); cleared by Country Director for Israel and Arab-Israel Affairs Harrison M. Symmes, Director of the INR Office of Research and Analysis for Near East and South Asia James W. Spain, Bruce Buttles (NEA/P), Country Director for Ethiopia, Somalia, and Sudan Matthew J. Looram, Country Director for Turkey John M. Howison, and Staff Assistant Morris J. Amitay in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs; and approved by Davies. Sent to Rabat, Algiers, Tunis Tripoli, Khartoum, Mogadiscio, Cairo, Amman, Beirut, Damascus, Baghdad, Jidda, Taiz, Kuwait, Tel Aviv, Tehran, Ankara, Karachi, London, Paris, Rome, and Moscow.
14. Memorandum From Harold H. Saunders of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Special Assistant (Rostow)
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Name File, Saunders Memos. Secret.
15. Position Paper Prepared in the Department of State
Source: Department of State, NEA/RA Files: Lot 71 D 218, Papers re Communist Presence in the Middle East, 1966. Confidential. Drafted by Robert H. Flenner (EUR/SOV); cleared by Country Director for Soviet Union Affairs Malcolm Toon, Igor N. Belousovitch (INR/RSB), George C. Moore (NEA/ARP), Symmes, Country Director for United Arab Republic Affairs Donald C. Bergus, Country Director for Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq Alfred L. Atherton, and NEA Director of Regional Affairs Sidney Sober.
16. Circular Telegram From the Department of State to Certain Posts
Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1964-66, POL NEAR E-US. Secret; Limdis. Drafted by Bergus on October 26; cleared by Davies, and Country Director for Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Spanish Sahara, and Tunisia John F. Root; and approved by Hare. Sent to Cairo, Baghdad, Amman, Tel Aviv, Tripoli, Beyda, Jidda, Kuwait, Beirut, Algiers, Tunis, Damascus, Taiz, and Rabat.
17. Information Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs (Hare) to Secretary of State Rusk
Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1964-66, POL UAR-US. Secret. Drafted by Bergus. The initials “DR” on the memorandum indicate that Rusk saw it.
18. Paper Prepared in the Department of State
Source: Department of State, NEA/ARP Files: Lot 69 D 350, POL 2a, Briefing Book Materials, Middle East, 1967, Meeting of NEA Advisers. Confidential. Prepared in the Office of Israel and Arab-Israel Affairs, Bureau of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs. No date appears on the memorandum; the date used was the drafting date. This paper was one of ten staff studies prepared for a panel of outside academic advisers scheduled to meet with NEA officers for a Near East Policy Review, February 10-11.
19. Paper Prepared in the Department of State
Source: Department of State, NEA/ARP Files: Lot 69 D 350, POL 2a, Briefing Book Materials, Middle East, 1967, Meeting of NEA Advisers. Confidential. Prepared in the Office of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, and Aden Affairs, Bureau of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs. No date appears on the memorandum; the date used is the drafting date. This paper was one of ten staff studies prepared for a panel of outside academic advisers scheduled to meet with NEA officers for a Near East Policy Review, February 10-11.
20. Memorandum From Harold H. Saunders of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Special Assistant (Rostow)
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Name File, Saunders Memos. Secret.
22. Report Prepared by the Special State-Defense Study Group
Source: Washington National Records Center, RG 330, OSD Files: FRC 72 A 2468, Middle East 319.2, 17 July 67. Secret. A stamped notation on the report indicates it was received in the Office of the Secretary of Defense on July 17 at 12:49 p.m. Attached to the memorandum is a July 17 transmittal memorandum from Ambassador Holmes to the Deputy Secretary of Defense, the Director of Central Intelligence, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Deputy Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs explaining that the report consists of an examination of U.S. national interests and develops a series of interlocking strategies and recommended policy initiatives which, if undertaken, should help to relieve many of the existing U.S. difficulties in the Middle East. Holmes noted that, taken together, these strategies and policy initiatives could serve as a sound doctrinal foundation for U.S. actions.
23. Memorandum From Harold H. Saunders of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Special Assistant (Rostow)
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Saunders Files, Middle East Water. Confidential.
24. Memorandum for the Record
Source: Central Intelligence Agency, DDO/NE (Critchfield) Files: Job 80-00205A, Box 5, IRG/NEA Working File, Near East, North Africa & Horn of Africa. Secret.
25. Record of Meeting
Source: Central Intelligence Agency, DDO/NE (Critchfield) Files: Job 80-00205A, Box 6, Soviet Presence in ME; Events Surrounding 1967 ME War. Secret. Drafted by Staff Director Arthur A. Hartman on September 18.
26. Paper Prepared in the Department of State
Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, SIG Files: Lot 70 D 263, SIG/MEMO: #52, 2/9/68, IRG/NEA, IRG/AF Study on “Western Interests in Arab Oil.” Secret. No drafting information appears on the memorandum. An attached memorandum from Battle to Katzenbach, January 18, 1968, states that the study was prepared by an interagency group in response to Katzenbach’s request at the time of the Senior Interdepartmental Group’s consideration of the Holmes report, and was approved by IRG/NEA and IRG/AF. It was forwarded to SIG members by Staff Director Hartman on February 8, 1968.
27. Memorandum for the Record
Source: Central Intelligence Agency, Job 80 R-01580R, DCI Ex. Reg. Files, IRG. Secret. Copies of this document with its attachment were distributed to the DCI and seven other offices in the CIA.
28. Paper Prepared in the Department of State
Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Conference Files: Lot 69 D 182, CF 293, 15th CENTO Ministerial Meeting, London, April 23-24, 1968, Vol. VII. Confidential. Drafted by NEA/NR Multilateral Organizations Adviser Robert A. Stein; cleared by Thomas Ball of the AID/NESA Office of South Asia Affairs, Irving Cheslaw (EUR/BMI), Colonel March (OJCS), Reed (DOD/ISA), Sober, Battle, and Katzenbach. This session of the council was attended by Foreign Minister Ardeshir Zahedi of Iran, Foreign Minister S.K. Dehlavi of Pakistan, Foreign Minister Ihsan Sabri Caglayangil of Turkey, Foreign Secretary Michael Stewart of the United Kingdom, and Under Secretary of State Katzenbach. For text of the communique, see Department of State Bulletin, May 13, 1968, p. 613. For documentation relating to the session, see the National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Conference Files: Lot 69 D 182, CF 293, 15th CENTO Ministerial Meeting, London, April 23-24, 1968, Vol. VII, and Department of State, NEA/RA Files: Lot 75 D 312, CENTO Files, 1965-1968 and CENTO Ministerial Files, 1962-1968.
29. Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs and Member of the Senior Interdepartmental Group (Battle) to the Under Secretary of State and Chairman of the Senior Interdepartmental Group (Katzenbach)
Source: Department of State, NEA/IRG Files, 68-29: Lot 70 D 503, U.S. Policy in the Middle East, Final Draft. Secret. Drafted by Staff Director for the Interdepartmental Regional Group Sidney Sober and cleared by Director of the Office of Inter-African Affairs Fred L. Hadsel.
30. Paper Prepared in the Department of State
Source: Department of State, NEA/IRG Files 68-29: Lot 70 D 503, U.S. Policy in the Middle East, Final Draft. Secret. No drafting information appears on the memorandum. The paper was prepared by the Interdepartmental Regional Group for Near East and South Asia in the Bureau of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs.