Greece - US Department of State

Greece 657
2. Outside Greece expatriate opponents of the military government—most
recently ex-Prime Minister Karamanlis—continue to press
for return to constitutional government, either by urging opposition
action in Greece or by urging US and western European action to isolate
Greece. They continue to seek signs of US support.
3. US-Greek relations. The Greek government has in essence asked
the Nixon Administration to stop pressing it to return to constitutional
government. It says it will do so as soon as possible, but it argues that
pressure from outside will not help and will only irritate US-Greek
relations.
E. The issues, therefore, are:
1. What are US interests in Greece? (Section II)
2. Do these interests require us to maintain a full-scale military assistance
program? (Section III)
3. How does the nature of government in Greece affect US interests?
(Section IV)
4. What are our options? (Section V)
II. What Are US interests in Greece?
A. US economic benefits from Greece are relatively small. US direct
investment by private firms is only $155 million. We maintain a
small surplus in our trade with Greece, but obtain no resources through
trade that we could not obtain elsewhere.
B. Specific US political benefits from Greece are negligible aside
from firm Greek support for a strong NATO and aside from a general
interest in any government that is not a source of international disorder
and is willing to do business according to general international
practice. The present Greek government has little influence over other
governments or in international forums. Opposition to military government
in some quarters has turned our normal relationship with a
NATO partner into a political issue.
C. In contrast to US economic or political interests some of our
strategic benefits from continued close association with Greece are
significant:
1. Greece’s military forces (160,000 men) are capable of a conventional
defense against attack by Bulgaria (159,000 men) without significant
US assistance or the use of nuclear weapons. Besides defending
Greece itself, these forces could help divert Warsaw Pact forces or
substitute for US forces in a US-Soviet conflict. [21 ⁄2 lines not declassified]
2. Greece could provide base and staging rights to the US for the
Middle East. The US bases in Greece are both suitable and probably
available for the staging of humanitarian, peace-keeping or military intervention
missions into the Middle East.