141. Letter From the Deputy Secretary of Defense (Gilpatric) to the Under Secretary of State (Ball)0
Dear George: In my letter of September 28th,1 I outlined our post-1963 objectives for the SAC bases in Morocco. The last paragraph of my letter took into account that AID had conducted a survey, the results of which were given to the Moroccan Government, concerning possible Moroccan use of the bases after 1963.
After careful study, the Secretary of the Air Force has concluded that to maintain any military usefulness along the lines proposed in my letter would be inordinately costly in money and personnel, and would have little prospect of success, if integral elements of the bases at Sidi Slimane and Ben Guerir were converted to Moroccan use. The problems of guarding the equipment against theft and the costs of operating utilities and other support facilities would probably be out of proportion to any potential military benefits.
Sidi Slimane and Ben Guerir have little, if any, true economic potential for the Moroccans. We know, however, that they are extremely interested in the development of Nouasseur as a civilian airport servicing Casablanca. Accordingly, I propose that in our discussions with the Moroccans we focus on the conversion of Nouasseur into a civil airport, and our willingness to assist Morocco in this regard, and also seek to [Page 216] work out arrangements under which Sidi Slimane and Ben Guerir will be retained by the USAF in a standby or “mothball” status.
If you agree with this course, I suggest that appropriate guidance be given to Ambassador Ferguson for his use in talks with the Moroccan authorities prior to the visit of King Moulay Hassan with the President. In the interim, I propose that representatives of our respective departments get together at an early date with other interested agencies, such as AID and FAA, and study how best we could assist the Moroccans in developing Nouasseur for civil use within the means available to our Government.
Sincerely,
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 771.56311/12-2662. Secret.↩
- See footnote 1, Document 140.↩