6. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon1 2
SUBJECT:
- Admiral George Anderson’s Report on Mediterranean Trip
Admiral Anderson is just back from a trip to Italy, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Malta and Spain. He will compare notes with Messrs. Frank Lincoln and Robert Murphy before submitting a broader report in response to your request for a broad look at the area from Morocco to Iran. But in the meantime he has some reflections he wants to bring to your attention.
His main points are:
[Omitted here is discussion unrelated to North Africa.]
2. Deterioration in North Africa. Those Admiral Anderson talked with emphasized the threat to Tunisia and urged that the U.S. rely more on the Europeans to uphold the Free World position. More specifically in this connection he learned in confidence that the Moroccan government had approached the Spanish and Portuguese proposing a three-member defensive “arrangement.” He believes that Soviet involvement in North Africa is “more real than even our most suspicious political and intelligence authorities credit” and he feels our intelligence “leaves much to be desired” there.
- Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 274, President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, Vol. III. Secret; Nodis. Sent for information. President Nixon underlined a portion of the second paragraph and wrote in the margin, “I completely agree—Except for Tasca—virtually all career State people I have talked to do not adequately recognize this. They keep saying that the June ’67 war was a great ‘blow’ to Soviet in Mideast. Bunk.”↩
- Kissinger summarized Admiral George Anderson’s impression, based on his recent visit, that the Free World position in North Africa was deteriorating.↩