Greece - US Department of State

Greece 771
—Senate Report. This is included to give you the flavor of the
Moose–Lowenstein report which is probably reflective of the current
mood on Capitol Hill. 6
Talking Points for Opening the Meeting
1. There is no crisis in Greece and the choice among options is
fairly narrow. However, it seemed worthwhile to review the situation
since it has turned out somewhat differently from what we anticipated
when the President made his decision to resume a normal military assistance
relationship last June.
2. You find on reading the IG paper that the choices are really relatively
narrow. Since the basic assumptions underlying policy have
changed, you would like to focus in the meeting on discussing whether
the basic elements of our strategy are still valid. The tactics will have
to be left to the State Department, but it does seem worthwhile here to
discuss basic objectives.
3. You would like, therefore, to aim at some sort of statement of
what it is we are and are not trying to achieve in Greece.
4. You would like to divide the discussion into two parts:
—the question of our general posture toward the military
government;
—the question of our posture toward King Constantine.
General US Posture Toward Greece
Background. The IG paper does not really distinguish clearly between
the two main options that it suggests. Option II is what Ambassador
Tasca says he is doing now—prodding the regime privately
on issues related to return to constitutional government. Option III is
what the IG paper says is our current policy—a “passive” policy of
prodding only modestly when the opportunity arises. We need to arrive
at a fairly precise statement of exactly what is going on and what
we will try to do within what limits. The following talking points are
suggested:
—The IG paper outlines four options, but it points out that only
Options II and III represent a real choice. Can we all agree on that?
—What is the difference between Options II and III? The IG paper
describes Option III as our present policy, while Ambassador Tasca
has sent in a cable [copy on top of the IG paper] 7 saying that Option
II reflects accurately the policy he has been following. Can someone
6
See footnote 4, Document 303.
7
Brackets in the original.