Historical Documents - Office of the Historian

Washington, November 22, 1967.

1.: On 9 February the President told King Hassan we’d go ahead with a $14 million military credit. The Moroccans leaked this and the President was mad, but he later signed the required determination anyway.
2.: In early June we clamped a freeze on all military aid arrangements, including this.
3.: On 30 June, the President approved resuming negotiations in order to allow last-minute FY 67 funding.
4.: Immediately thereafter, however, State clamped its own freeze on because it ran into the prospect of a drastically reduced Congressional ceiling on military aid to Africa. State couldn’t see committing ourselves further when existing commitments wouldn’t even fit under the ceiling.
5.: In a nutshell: The King is disturbed. State wants to go ahead just as soon as the aid appropriation settles how much it has to divide up around Africa. We haven’t reneged. We just don’t want to move until we see where Congress comes out.2

Hal

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Morocco, Visit of King Hassan, 2/9–10/67. Confidential.↩
Telegram 78656 to Rabat, December 2, instructed the Embassy to inform the Moroccan Government “at the highest appropriate level” that the United States was prepared to move forward on the arms credit sale, and that details would be forwarded in a week, based on U.S. understanding of Moroccan desires as of June 1967. The Embassy was asked, if possible, to avoid mention of the specific $14 million figure, since the $40 million ceiling on grants and sales to Africa would place heavy limitations on U.S. ability to meet all African requirements. (Department of State, Central Files, DEF 19–8 US–MOR)↩

Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume XXIV, Africa