Office of the Historian

216. Memorandum From Secretary of Defense Weinberger to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Clark)1

Washington, May 17, 1983

SUBJECT

  • U.S.-Morocco Joint Military Commission (JMC) (U)

(C) We have just completed the second annual U.S.-Morocco JMC. Although the meeting took place in an atmosphere of mutual respect and candor, it was nevertheless under the cloud of Morocco’s very serious economic problems. As you recall, we took $52M of FMSCR away from Morocco as part of our reprogramming of $60M for El Salvador and, at this point, the Moroccans are within a few days of missing a $10.3M repayment on older loans, which will require us by law to invoke the Brooke Amendment.2 The Moroccans reminded us loud and clear of the commitment made by the President in his letter to King Hassan to do our utmost to restore the $52M.3 The message was strong: they expect us to deliver on the President’s promise and are asking our help in any way we can to assist them with their current arrearage problem, particularly as they are facing the paradoxical situation where their repayments virtually match our security assistance allocation.

(C) The Moroccans have contributed significantly to the stability of the Africa/Middle East region, and they have not been reluctant to support our objectives with troops, if necessary. I believe it is in our [Page 465] interest to continue to support Morocco, and we should do our utmost to assist this strong ally through this difficult period.4

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  1. Source: Reagan Library, Executive Secretariat, NSC Country File, Africa, Morocco (05/04/1983–07/31/1983). Confidential. Weinberger wrote: “Bill” above Clark’s typed name in the addressee line.↩
  2. See footnote 2, Document 215.↩
  3. See Document 213.↩
  4. In a May 24 memorandum to Weinberger, Clark replied: “I agree with your assessment of the importance of assisting this strong ally. We need to do our utmost to restore the $52 million of FMSCR taken from Morocco as a part of the reprogramming of $60 million to El Salvador.” (Reagan Library, Executive Secretariat, NSC Country File, Africa, Morocco (05/04/1983–07/31/1983))↩