452. Editorial Note
On July 14, 1967, the 303 Committee, the interdepartmental committee which reviewed and authorized covert operations, discussed a [text not declassified] proposal for covert support on a trial basis of paramilitary operations by dissident groups in Yemen with the purpose of increasing Nasser’s difficulties in Yemen and South Arabia. Deputy Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Foy D. Kohler, representing the Department of State, stated that in view of the tenseness and uncertainty throughout the Middle East, he wanted to discuss the matter with Secretary Rusk. At a meeting with the President on July 18, Rusk stated his opposition to the proposal. Secretary of Defense McNamara expressed his agreement, and the President said it was agreed that nothing would be done. At an August 7 meeting of the 303 Committee, chairman Walt Rostow reported that the Yemen proposal had arisen at a “Tuesday lunch” with “higher authority,” and that the Secretary of State was opposed. The 303 Committee did not approve the proposal. (Minutes of 303 Committee meetings, July 14 and August 7, 1967; National Security Council Intelligence Files, 303 Committee Files, Minutes—1967, and ibid., Yemen; memorandum from Helms to Rostow, July 15, 1967; ibid.; notes of meeting, July 18, 1967; Johnson Library, Tom Johnson’s Notes of Meetings)