Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–1963, Volume XVIII, Near East, 1962–1963

295. Memorandum From Robert W. Komer of the National Security Council Staff to President Kennedy⁰

Washington, July 12, 1963.

Yemen Wrap-Up. Without being foolhardy, or discounting the painful and unpredictable obstacles which keep cropping up, I believe I can reassure you that the Yemen affair is slowly being brought under control. On plus side, we think that Saudis have finally turned off aid, and their knowledge our squadron will be withdrawn if they start cheating again acts as a deterrent. UN observers, now in place, are another deterrent.

Problem now is to get the UAR to start carrying out its end of the bargain. Nasser’s assurance that UAR planes will stay well clear of border (Cairo 121)¹ is welcome response to our warnings. Badeau earlier hit Nasser’s No. 2 hard on getting disengagement going and the stupidity of using “poison gas.” Talbot went over same ground with UAR man here. Nasser’s promise to start withdrawing troops in August is good but not good enough, and we’re sending Badeau back in to badger him on this.

Meanwhile, the back country war in Yemen continues to seesaw back and forth. But State’s sense is that Saudi cessation of aid is gradually strangling Royalists, and that war will gradually subside to the level of tribal bickering which has always characterized Yemeni scene. Saudis and our other critics will keep pressing us to keep the Egyptians withdrawing. We’ll face recurrent flak on this over next 6/18 months, but I’m convinced that if we can keep the Saudis turned off and the Egyptians from being stupid, we have a controllable situation which can be gradually damped down.

Of course, UN operation is only funded till 1 September, so we also face recurrent problem in keeping it going. But we’ll keep prodding UAR and Saudis to contribute, and I’ve told State that if necessary we should be prepared to carry part of the bill through contributions in kind (e.g. lending US aircraft to fly observers in and out).

In sum, though it’s folly to be too optimistic, I think we’re getting Yemen under control. It’s taken a lot longer than initially expected, but we are on way to achieving our basic objectives of preventing Yemen war from spreading into full-fledged intra-Arab conflict (with risk of overt US/USSR involvement), and protecting our Saudi clients from their own folly while still not compromising our overall UAR policy.

R. W. Komer

0. Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, Yemen, 7/63. Secret. A handwritten note on the source text reads: “(Taken from Pres. week-end reading dtd 7/12/63—Tab 2-b).” An attached note from Komer to Bundy reads: “Mac—President has asked me twice how “my’ Yemen war is going, so I think weekend one-pager worthwhile. It summarizes latest word from Cairo and UN too.”
1. Document 294.