Greece - US Department of State

Greece 639
253. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National
Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon 1
SUBJECT
Your Query About Effectiveness of Greek Forces
Washington, September 24, 1969.
You asked about a statement in the Christian Science Monitor 2 that
“the Greek army no longer exists as a stable, organized force in being.
It is divided and humiliated and its effectiveness as an instrument of
the Greek nation is broken.”
Attached is the Defense Intelligence Agency’s judgment 3 that except
for problems resulting partly from our suspension of arms, “there
is no indication that any of the Greek Armed Forces have had their capabilities
degraded as a result of the internal political situation.”
CIA feels that there may be some damage to morale because of
Junta interference with the officer corps, but that this would make little
difference in a foreign war and has not affected the basic capability
of the army.
State feels that the army might even be more effective than before
the coup, because the junta has removed some dead wood at the top.
Stories like that in the Monitor appear regularly and often seem
generated by anti-junta expatriates.
1
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 593,
Country Files—Middle East, Greece, Vol. I Jan 69–Oct 70. Secret. Sent for information. A
notation on the memorandum, presumably made by Nixon, reads: “good.”
2
August 28, 1969.
3
Attached but not printed.