Office of the Historian

201. Summary of Conclusions of a Special Coordination Committee Meeting1

Washington, April 7, 1978, 2:30–3:20 p.m.

SUBJECT

  • The Horn of Africa, Angola and Rhodesia

PARTICIPANTS:

  • State

    • Cyrus Vance
    • William C. Harrop (Dep. Ass’t. Sec./African Affairs)

  • Defense

    • Harold Brown
    • Charles W. Duncan, Jr. (Deputy Secretary of Defense)
    • David E. McGiffert (Ass’t. Secretary/ISA)

  • JCS

    • General David C. Jones (Acting Chairman, JCS)

  • CIA

    • Stansfield Turner
    • James Potts (Chief, Africa Division)
    • White House
    • Zbigniew Brzezinski (Chairman)
    • David Aaron

  • NSC

    • Paul B. Henze (Notetaker)
    • Thomas Thornton

[Omitted here is material unrelated to Angola or Rhodesia.]

Angola:

The group agreed that the possibility of support for Savimbi, with the aim of complicating the Cuban position in Angola, would be desirable to explore. In light of the importance of Congressional attitudes it was decided that key Congressmen should be discreetly consulted on their attitude, e.g., on provision of communications equipment or other non-lethal help. State, CIA and the White House will take soundings in the next few days with Javits, Church, Zablocki, Hamilton, Cannon, Clark, G. Hart, Boland, Bayh and possibly others.2

[Page 592]

Rhodesia:

Possible overt and covert ways of bringing Nkomo into a relationship with the Salisbury government were discussed.3 It was decided that we first need to know exactly what the British are doing. CIA will put together everything it knows about this4 and the Secretary of State will pursue this subject when he meets shortly with Nkomo and David Owen.5

[Omitted here is material unrelated to Angola or Rhodesia.]

  1. Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Office, Meetings File, Box 10, SCC Meeting: #77 Held 5/15/78, 4/78–5/15/78. Secret; Sensitive. The meeting took place in the White House Situation Room. Carter initialed the Summary of Conclusions at the top of the first page.↩
  2. Carter wrote: “ok,” in the left-hand margin next to this sentence. An unknown hand wrote below the paragraph: “Not to be initiated until after the conclusion of the Vance trip to Africa.”↩
  3. In a March 31 memorandum to Aaron, Thornton offered his preliminary thoughts on ways to bring Nkomo into the internal settlement. (Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Office, Outside the System File, Box 45, [Africa]: 9/77–11/78) The Central Intelligence Agency responded to Thornton’s memorandum on April 7, with a more detailed analysis of possible covert actions. (Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, North/South, Funk, Subject File, Box 119, Zimbabwe: 3–9/78)↩
  4. Not found.↩
  5. See Documents 202 and 204.↩