249. Minutes of the Secretary of State’s Department Staff Meeting1 2
PRESENT
- The Secretary of State: HENRY A. KISSINGER
- KENNETH RUSH
- CURTIS TARR
- JACK B. KUBISCH
- WILLIAM J. CASEY
- JOSEPH J. SISCO
- ARTHUR W. HUMMEL, JR.
- DAVID D. NEWSOM
- GEORGE S. SPRINGSTEEN
- WINSTON LORD
- ROBERT J. McCLOSKEY
- THOMAS R. PICKERING
- LAWRENCE S. EAGLEBURGER
[Omitted here are portions of the discussion unrelated to Uganda.]
MR. NEWSOM: Finally, we have a combination of the sublime and the ridiculous in Africa in General Amin’s latest declaration. At his UN Day speech, after finishing his speech, the General picked up another piece of paper and declared that “At nine a.m. this morning, East Africa Time, which is six a.m. Greenwich Time, I had an inspiration from God.” The inspiration was that there ought to be a cease-fire in the Middle East. But more seriously, this illustrates—
SECRETARY KISSINGER: That’s how Rush conducts his staff meetings.
MR. RUSH: By inspiration.
MR. NEWSOM: We feel increasingly that this man is totally unbalanced and poses a threat to our citizens in Uganda. [Page 3] We have now reduced our Embassy to fourteen people, which is a hard core of the necessary officers for an Embassy in that country. However, we do now feel that there is really no purpose to be served by keeping our people there, and we have reached the conclusion in AF that we should get our people out—not break off diplomatic relations, but, close the Embassy, leave it to them as to whether they keep their Embassy in Washington open. But the last thing that General Amin did was to announce that any American who did not have an identity card would be arrested.
SECRETARY KISSINGER: Yes, I saw that.
MR. NEWSOM: Unless you have other feelings on this, Mr. Secretary, I think we will move in that direction.
SECRETARY KISSINGER: I have, no other feelings.
[Omitted here are portions of the discussion unrelated to Uganda.]
- Source: National Archives, RG 59, Transcripts of Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s Staff Meetings, 1973–1977, Entry 5177, Box 1, Secretary’s Staff Meetings. Secret. The Embassy closed on November 10. (Telegram 3355 from Kampala, November 10; ibid., Central Policy Files, 1973)↩
- In the portion of the minutes relating to Uganda, Assistant Secretary Newsom told Secretary Kissinger that General Amin’s irrational behavior led the Africa Bureau to conclude that there was no purpose served by maintaining a U.S. presence in Uganda and that the Embassy should be closed without breaking off diplomatic relations. Kissinger agreed.↩