227. Letter From the Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations (Bennet) to Representative Thomas Downey1
I am replying on behalf of the President to your letter of March 52 in which you and a number of your colleagues raised the issue of sending observers to the Rhodesian elections in April. The Administration appreciates having your views on this question.
As you know, the Administration has decided that it will not send observers to the April elections.3 Were the United States to send official observers, it would be contrary to our international legal obligations with respect to Rhodesia and could be construed as giving a degree of legitimacy to the Smith government and to the so-called internal settlement. Moreover, it would make our negotiating effort more difficult, seriously erode U.S. credibility with the Front Line and other African states, and encourage Salisbury’s hopes that additional U.S. moral and material support would be forthcoming.
The Administration nevertheless recognizes the independent authority of the Congress to inform itself, as it deems appropriate, on developments concerning current international issues, including Rhodesia. At the same time however, we would urge the Congress, in the course of its deliberations on this issue to consider the reasons which have led the Administration to decide not to send observers.4
The goal of our Rhodesia policy continues to be a fair and enduring settlement through which the people of Rhodesia, black and white, would be able to choose their future leadership in a secure atmosphere free from the intimidating effects of war. We believe that the best path for reaching this goal lies through the acceptance by the parties of impartially-administered, UN-supervised elections open to all. We firmly believe that our efforts to promote a fair settlement that can be accepted by both sides offers the only reasonable hope for ending the [Page 676] war and avoiding an outcome perilous for both the people of Rhodesia and for American interests in southern Africa.
Sincerely,
- Source: Carter Library, National Security Council, Institutional File, Box 186, PRC 100 Rhodesia, 4/5/79. Unclassified. ↩
- See Document 225. ↩
- See footnote 4, Document 223.↩
- In an April 9 memorandum, Vance informed Carter that the House defeated an amendment which would have authorized Carter to send official observers to the Rhodesian elections. Vance wrote: “While we are somewhat encouraged by this result, we do not consider it a reliable indication of how the House may vote on sanctions after a black government is installed.” (Carter Library, Plains File, Subject File, Box 39, State Department Evening Reports, 4/79)↩
- Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature. ↩