Office of the Historian

176. Memorandum From Secretary of State Vance to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Brzezinski)1

Washington, August 9, 1979

SUBJECT

  • Liberalized Military Supply Policy for Morocco

In line with our efforts to move toward a more flexible arms supply policy for Morocco,2 we have begun consultations with the concerned Congressional committees on this subject, but will not have their considered views until early September.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has said it would reserve judgment pending a fact-finding trip to the area by Committee staff. That trip is now scheduled to start August 17; the staff has other business in the area and won’t be back to report until early September.

Steve Solarz, who chairs the Africa Subcommittee of the HFAC, is now traveling in the area. He said he would reserve judgment until after his trip and until he had conferred with his Committee colleagues in early September.3

Since we took Congress into our confidence in advance and stressed we wanted its views before any decision was made, I believe we are obligated to let these consultations run their course before making any specific decisions about new arms systems for Morocco. I will let you know by mid-September how these consultations work out and what we propose to do. Meanwhile, we are using the intervening period to try to restore effective communication with Hassan and to explore with other governments what possibilities may exist for bringing the protagonists in this struggle to the negotiating table.

  1. Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Brzezinski Office File, Country Chron File, Box 33, Morocco: 1979. Confidential.↩
  2. In an August 7 memorandum to Vance and Brown, Brzezinski wrote: “Confirming the understanding we reached during our July 20 meeting, you should take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that we adopt, without delay, a more flexible position regarding US military supplies for Morocco in the wake of stepped-up Polisario attacks within that country’s internationally recognized boundaries. This specifically includes the sale of OV–10 aircraft, the timing and feasibility of which the Secretary of State will determine following early consultations with appropriate committees of Congress.” (Ibid.)↩
  3. See Document 242.↩