Greece - US Department of State

Greece 613
whereas certain temporary constraints may well be required, the ultimate
success of their undertaking will rest on convincing the Greek
people of the necessity and desirability of the proposed reforms rather
than on coercing them into accepting them. One supposes, after all,
that Papadopoulos knows his Greek psychology as well, or better
than we do, and hence will not act in a manner calculated ultimately
to produce an explosion from which no one, certainly not he, would
profit.
One last topic, Dan, in a letter which I’m afraid is now getting terribly
long and rambling: that of the internal reaction in the United States
to the Greek situation. While it is generally conceded that the Nixon
Administration will be more relaxed about Greece, and probably less
inclined to badger the GOG, the Congressional opposition (Fraser, Edwards
& Co.) 14 will remain pretty much what it has been in the past,
and might even become more activist since it will be sharpened by
party differences. It seems to me, though, that if the new Administration
takes a firm and reasonable stand on Greece from the beginning
(recognizing that what really counts on balance is Greece’s strategic
loyalty to us more than the internal form of its government), there’snot
very much that the liberal minority in Congress can do about it
other than make noise. I hasten to admit, however, that this is easier
said than done, and all very well for me to advance from the safe distance
of Athens out from under the gun of the Congressional pressure
to which you fellows in the Department are regularly subjected. Still,
I doubt (especially if Papadopoulos helps us a little, by mitigating the
state of siege and gradually bringing some of the key articles of the
Constitution into force, which he, incidentally, shows every sign of intending
to do) 15 that opposition on the Hill would go to the lengths of
advocating further suspensions or cutbacks in the MAP for Greece.
With the Middle East as jittery as it is and the Soviet suppression of
Czech freedoms still being actively pursued, it would not make any
policy sense to jeopardize the strategic support we receive from Greece.
I would therefore hope that under the new Administration we could
successfully complete the process of delinking MAP from internal political
performance. We shall have to keep our “cool” and continue the
job of bringing our Greek policy into more realistic focus.
14 Congressmen Donald Fraser (D–Minnesota) and Don Edwards (D–California),
both members of the House Committee on Foreign Relations.
15 On July 11, 1968, the junta published the text of a 138-article Constitution. It was
approved by plebiscite on September 29 and officially put into effect on November 11
with certain of its articles held in abeyance. For text of the 1968 Constitution, see
D. George Kousalas, Greece: Uncertain Democracy (Washington: Public Affairs Press, 1973),
pp. 103–152.