Greece - US Department of State

Greece 843
337. Telegram From the Embassy in Greece to the Department of
State 1
Athens, June 19, 1972, 1459Z.
3416. Ref: State 108826; Athens 3340. 2 Subj: Briefing of military
students. 3 GOG reaction through General Angelis now appears to involve
Prime Minister Papadopoulos more than I had first assumed. Reaction
clearly in tune with character of Angelis. However, I now am
inclined to believe PriMin has assumed leading role. His growingly serious
opposition within the regime makes the alleged allegation of corruption
very difficult to accept. With three officers directly involved
and the High Hellenic Military Command, as well as Foreign Office
and Greek Embassy Washington, it is now rather likely that incident
will become widely known and certainly to his opposition within the
regime. PriMin knows in fact corruption is occurring within his circle
and that he is highly vulnerable on this issue with other leading and
still potent conspirators of the April 21, 1967 coup. In my view, he again
has acted unwisely and by his exaggerated reaction will find that incident
may hurt his position far more within the regime than if he had
played it down and accepted the Dept’s eminently-wise handling of
this case as a “misunderstanding.”
Tasca
1 Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 594,
Country Files—Middle East, Greece, Vol. III Jan 72–Oct 73. Secret; Nodis.
2 Telegram 108826 to Athens, June 17, instructed the Embassy to hold up delivery
of a letter from Moorer to Angelis. Telegram 3340 from Athens, June 15, had suggested
holding up the delivery. (Both ibid., RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, DEF 6–9 US)
3 On May 10 three Greek officers attending the U.S. Army Command and General
Staff College visited the Department of State for a briefing during which, according to
the Greeks, an official of the Department of State criticized Greek arrest of student demonstrators
and stated that the regime was “corrupt.” The Greek Government withdrew the
students and filed a series of protests with U.S. officials. In a June 12 letter to Rogers,
Laird expressed his displeasure over the incident. (Washington National Records Center,
RG 330, OASD/ISA Subject Files: FRC 330 75–0125, Greece 000.1–333, 1972)