Greece - US Department of State

Greece 711
made démarches in the Scandinavian and Benelux capitals to stress the
need to avoid raising Greece in NATO. We are hoping that these démarches
will succeed but we cannot be sure.
With respect to NATO, we conclude therefore:
a) The damage to NATO from an increase in United States military
aid to Greece can be reduced if the decision is announced after the
May and June NATO Ministerial Meetings.
b) Our efforts to further a Spanish link to NATO will be handicapped
if consideration of the link comes at a moment when the Greek
question is active, simply because of the emphasis the two issues would
give to NATO’s relationship to two “dictatorships.”
c) In order to avoid implying that our NATO partners can share
the responsibility for the decision to resume arms shipments, it is better
to inform our NATO partners rather than to consult with them since
we could never secure a favorable NATO verdict on this question.
d) A disruptive and noisy NATO discussion on the subject of
Greece would complicate our Congressional problem by highlighting
Greece as a weakness of the Alliance rather than as a positive element.
The Congressional Problem
The problem with Congress raised by the resumption of the shipment
of the suspended military equipment is at least of equal gravity,
posing a major public relations problem for the Administration vis-àvis
the Congress. Severe emotional attacks both in the Congress and
the press are anticipated. It seems inevitable that the decision to lift the
suspension of arms shipments will trigger an effort on the part of Congressional
critics to restrict the freedom of the Executive through
amendment of one or another pieces of legislation then before the Congress.
The targets for such action might include the Foreign Assistance
Appropriation Act, the Foreign Military Sales Act, and the Second Supplemental
Appropriation.
The intensity of public feeling in the United States and among our
allies in Western Europe and the consequent impact on the Congress
suggests the virtue of a joint State-Defense presentation of the decision
on the resumption of arms shipments to the Congressional leadership,
augmented by the Chairman and ranking minority members of key
committees.
The Prime Minister’s Letter
The Greek Prime Minister has transmitted a letter to you (Enclosure
No. 2) relating to the restoration of parliamentary government in Greece.
The key language in the letter is the Greek Prime Minister’s assertion
that “the situation is being led with steadfastness toward political normality
and parliamentary government on the basis of the November 15
constitution. . .” In another place the Prime Minister asserts that the
“Greek Government has no intention whatsoever to deviate from the full
restitution of political normality or to slacken its pace.”