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  4. Document 223

223. Memorandum From Fred Wettering of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Deputy Assistant for National Security Affairs (Poindexter)1

Washington, October 5, 1984

SUBJECT

  • Talking Points—Your Meeting with AID OFDA Director, General Julius Becton, Friday, October 5, 2:00 p.m.

You will meet with AID Director of the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, General Julius Becton, at 2:00 p.m. today, October 5.2 Richard Levine and I will sit in. General Becton has been named by Peter McPherson to be his African famine “czar” and head up a working group to coordinate USG responses to the continuing and deepening famine situation in Africa.

Peter McPherson wanted General Becton to see you for two reasons: to sensitize you to the magnitude of the problem, and to guard against any efforts by Ambassador Bob Keating to insert himself into this effort. (Peter considers Keating a White House man capable of pulling strings to get a piece of the action. Actually, Keating first proposed the czar idea, envisioning himself as czar, and Peter opposed it at that time.)

Peter is chairing an interagency group meeting on the problem next Tuesday3 which Richard and I will attend. Based on new information, it appears that the drought/famine potential in Africa for the next year could be several orders of magnitude worse than this last year, and we may have to commit additional resources and probably seek a supplemental appropriation as early as February. (OMB may resist this.) Another issue is whether the President should make a statement on World Food Day on October 16, noting the situation and pledging $150–200 million in programmed funds to help.4 (OMB will fight this, [Page 608] and Richard, Doug McMinn and others are against raising this matter during the next few weeks. More on this, as proposals come in.)

Talking points are attached (Tab A)5 for this meeting.

  1. Source: Reagan Library, African Affairs Directorate, NSC: Records, AF Famine [10/01/84–10/10/84]. Confidential. Sent for information. A copy was sent to Levine. Zerwick initialed for Wettering. A stamped notation in the upper right-hand margin reads, “NOTED.”↩
  2. No record of this meeting has been found.↩
  3. October 9. In an October 2 memorandum to multiple recipients, McPherson announced he was “calling a meeting of interested agencies to discuss the African food emergency” on October 9. Attached but not printed.↩
  4. On October 16, Reagan made a statement regarding food shortages in Africa without mentioning pledged funds, but mentioned funding in a statement on December 5. See Public Papers: Reagan, 1984, Book II, pp. 1560–1561 and 1866–1867.↩
  5. Dated October 5, attached but not printed.↩