Foreign Relations of the United States, 1981–1988, Volume XXIV, North Africa

276. Telegram From the Embassy in Morocco to the Departments of State and Defense, the Commander-in-Chief, European Command, and the Secretary of the Air Force (Aldridge)¹

4315.

Rabat, April 29, 1988, 1939Z

Personal for DAS Ussery, ASD Armitage, LTGen Brown, Gen Richards and Mr. Aldridge from Ambassador Nassif. Subj: F–5E for Morocco (S).²

1. Entire text Secret.

2. Col-Maj Kadiri, Chief, External Intelligence Services (DGED), called on me this afternoon to relay a personal request from King Hassan with regard to SecDef Carlucci’s³ offer of excess USAF F–5E aircraft. He said that the King had told him specifically to ask me to intervene and ask the USG If it could provide ten F–5E’s in lieu of the six which were offered. He emphasized that while he understood the price of the aircraft would be somewhere between four hundred thousand and a million dollars that the King had asked that we provide these ten at quote a very good price unquote.⁴

3. This highly unusual method for receiving this request from the GOM, i.e. Kadiri to me instead of military to military, suggests the strong personal interest of King Hassan. It is this type of request and more importantly our response which Hassan uses to gauge our relationship.

4. Both my MUSLO Chief who had been summoned earlier to RMAF HQ’s where he received a similar request from Acting Chief, Col-Maj R’Rani and I informed our interlocutor that the balance of the aircrafts may have been spoken for but would do our best to determine if more were available.

5. It is my estimation that we have an opportunity to satisfy a valid need with material which is militarily correct and hopefully at a very generous price. We are awaiting the King’s response to the baseline proposal and are trying to get the exercise program off deadcenter. A positive response to this request could put us over the line and move us quickly in the direction we want to head vis-à-vis our military-to-military relationship with Morocco.

6. I strongly support the King’s request for four more F–5E aircraft. There is no question that he needs them. I have no idea whether the GOM believed that the SecDef would be offering up to 20 aircraft before he arrived but that is a possibility. Even so the request is a reasonable one and our ability to fulfill it for little or nothing would be very timely.

Nassif

1. Source: Washington National Records Center, OSD Files, FRC 330–90–0080, 1988 Official Records (Secret & Below) of the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense, and the Executive Secretary to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense, Box 11, Morocco. Secret; Immediate. Printed from a copy that indicates the original was received in the office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Information Service Center. A stamped notation reads: “SEC DEF HAS SEEN MAY 22 1988.” Underneath the stamp, Carlucci wrote: “We ought to try to do this. FC.”
2. Carlucci underlined the subject line.
3. Carlucci underlined: “SecDef Carlucci’s.”
4. Carlucci underlined: “Ten F–5E’s in lieu of the six which were offered” and “while he understood the price of the aircraft would be somewhere between four hundred thousand and a million dollars that the King had asked that we provide these ten at quote a very good price unquote.”