Greece - US Department of State

Greece 805
In welcoming Ambassador Tasca the President complimented him
on his excellent performance in testifying before the House Foreign Affairs
and Senate Foreign Relations Committees. 2 Ambassador Tasca
replied that he was confident that the House action designed to prohibit
military grants or sales under the Foreign Assistance Act would
not necessarily inhibit the President. 3 The President would be able to
take the actions necessary to insure that U.S. security was not jeopardized
by a cessation of military shipments to Greece. Ambassador
Tasca stated that the House Committee understood that the President
would exercise the waiver and intentionally provided for this contingency
in the draft amendment.
The President then noted that the compulsion in Washington to
inflict changes in government upon Greece was on the whole selfdefeating.
At the same time, he noted that it would be especially helpful
if the Greek Government were to announce elections sometime in
the future and improve its stance with respect to martial law. He suggested
that Ambassador Tasca consider informing the Greek Government
that President Nixon, who remained their staunch friend, would
welcome in the near future some significant step towards the liberalization
of the regime.
The President then commented that he had finally authorized the
Vice President to visit Greece and that the visit would take place some-
2 For a sanitized text of Tasca’s August 3 testimony, see Greece, Spain, and the Southern
NATO Strategy. Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Europe of the Committee on Foreign
Affairs, House of Representatives, 92d Congress, 1st session, pp. 303–322. In a June 25 memorandum
to Haig, Saunders reported that the Department of State was inclined to bring
Tasca back from Athens to testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee “because
some critics in Congress have tried to drive a wedge between Tasca’s policy and
State Department policy.” Saunders noted that Tasca was “closer to the President” and
therefore the White House would be involved by inference. Haig saw no objection to
Tasca testifying and noted: “Tasca can take care of himself.” In backchannel message
1087 from Athens to Kissinger, June 29, Tasca offered to testify to refute critics of the administration’s
policy in Greece. (National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, Box
423, Backchannel Files—Backchannel Messages, Europe, Middle East, Latin America,
1971) Sonnenfeldt advised Haig on July 1 against “an open hearing on Greek policy.”
Saunders, however, recommended to Haig on July 2 that since the House Foreign Affairs
Committee had also requested that Tasca testify, they should agree rather than risk
a confrontation with the Congress. (Both memoranda are ibid., Box 594, Country Files—
Middle East, Greece, Vol. II 1 Nov 1970–31 Dec 1971)
3 Reference is to the Hays amendment; see footnote 3, Document 319. According
to a transcript prepared by the editors specifically for this volume, Tasca told the President:
“I tried to get across to them the point that much as we don’t like the kind of government
they’ve got, there’s no alternative to our policy and the only way we’re going
to get to democracy is through them, because they’re firmly in the saddle. And so we’re
going to have to work with them. If you want security [and] democracy, you’re going
to have to work with these fellows.” (National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials,
White House Tapes, August 4, 1971, Oval Office, Conversation No. 554–8)