234. Memorandum for Record1
Messrs. Bundy and Komer saw UAR Ambassador Kamel briefly, as Bundy had promised during the Presidential party for Middle East ambassadors on the Sequoia the night before.2
Bundy said that following Kamel’s appeal (and Kamel’s own talk with the President on board the Sequoia) he had discussed the UAR problem with the President. The President and the Secretary of State were going to undertake a “careful review” of our relations with the UAR. More than this we couldn’t say at the present time. As the President himself had mentioned the previous evening, we wanted good relations with key countries like the UAR. But these had to be founded solidly on mutual respect. Aside from saying how hopeful we were about developments in Yemen, Bundy did not go into any specifics.
In return he got an abbreviated version of the now famous Kamel speech. The US had to provide food to the UAR to balance Soviet aid so that Nasser’s “stabilizing influence in the Middle East” would not disappear. Despite regrettable incidents, no basic US interests in the Middle East had been harmed; the Israeli problem was in the icebox, etc. But we were at a crucial crossroads. The diplomatic corps here was full of rumors that the US was switching to a tough policy of “tit for tat.” But this policy never worked. Great powers must be more magnanimous and less emotional than small ones if they were to preserve their vital interests, etc. For example, Nasser felt humiliated by the way we had turned off aid. Whether rightly or wrongly, Nasser also thought CIA was trying to cause trouble for him in Egypt.
Mr. Bundy reminded Kamel that he had dismissed the CIA canard the previous evening and assured him that we too sought friendly understanding. He was sure the Ambassador realized, however, that this must be a two way street.
- Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Name File, Komer Memos, Vol. I. Secret. Copies were sent to the Department of State and to Deputy Director for Central Intelligence Richard Helms.↩
- Kamel told Davies on August 27 that he had sat next to the President for an hour during the August 25 Sequoia cruise and presented the case for renewed aid to the UAR. He said the President displayed “keen interest” and finally asked him to continue the conversation with “his boss,” Bundy. (Memorandum of conversation; National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1964–66, POL UAR-US)↩