Office of the Historian

485. Memorandum From the President’s Special Assistant (Rostow) to President Johnson1

Washington, February 28, 1968, 1:45 p.m.

SUBJECT

  • Tanks for Pakistan

In the attached (Tab A)2 Katzenbach recommends that you authorize formal notice to Italy that we approve their sale of 200 M–47 tanks (100 now and 100 later) to Pakistan. This would meet the immediate need Ayub discussed with you at the Karachi airport. McNamara and Gaud join in the recommendation, and Luke Battle has raised the general proposition of a third-country sale with Senator Symington’s Subcommittee of the SFRC (with Fulbright in the room) and got no objection.

This is the result of a lengthy effort to get Ayub his tanks without sinking the arms policy for South Asia we announced last April and thereby provoking another storm on the Hill which could scuttle the [Page 950] Aid Bill. The Italians would make the sale pursuant to a general franchise we are negotiating under which they will be our agents in Europe for buying, rehabilitating, and reselling used tanks. The preliminary price ($40,000–$50,000) quoted to the Paks is reasonable.

In return for your approval, Ayub has promised to scrap old tanks on a one-for-one basis, to give us a full rundown on their present armor (including their ChiCom tanks), not to buy any more ChiCom tanks, and not to buy any more tanks from anybody without consulting with us.

At Tab B3 are State’s findings that neither the Conte nor the Symington Amendments—dealing with poor-country arms purchases—affect this sale.

I recommend you approve.

One issue of tactics remains. The present thinking in State and Defense is to tell Ben Oehlert that you have approved 200 tanks but authorize him to tell Ayub about only 100. The argument is that we are better off to see how he performs on his end of the bargain before telling him about the second tranche. There is some merit to this case, but the effect on Ayub would be considerably different if we told him about all 200. He has dealt with our bureaucracy for a long time; he would know there is a connection between the larger number and your Karachi conversation.

Walt

Approve Katzenbach memo

Disapprove

Call me

Tell Ayub about the first 100 tanks only

Tell Ayub about all 200 tanks4

  1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Pakistan, Vol. IX, Cables, 5/68–11/68. Secret; Exdis.↩
  2. Reference is to a February 27 memorandum from Katzenbach to the President entitled “Approval of Italian Sale of M–47 Tanks to Pakistan.” (Ibid.)↩
  3. Not printed.↩
  4. Johnson checked this option.↩