Office of the Historian

107. Memorandum From the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (Murray) to the Deputy Secretary of Defense (Duncan)1

Washington, May 22, 1978

SUBJECT

  • U.S. Policy Towards Zaire

At the NSC Working Group meeting this morning, chaired by Dave Aaron, there was considerable discussion of the U.S. intermediate and longer term policy with respect to Zaire.2 The two alternatives posed were: (a) the U.S. should be greatly concerned about the future of Zaire [Page 291] and the political, economic, security, and diplomatic steps we might take to ensure Zaire’s solvency; and (b) Zaire is essentially a European-African problem, and our role should be minimal. State is preparing a paper now for interagency review on this subject.3 The paper is to be ready by Wednesday, and another Working Group meeting is scheduled for Thursday. An SCC meeting may be scheduled on Friday.4

The second major topic of discussion was Zaire’s security situation. It is felt that the Zairean armed forces are not able to provide the essential security environment for the return of the expatriate community to Kolwezi. (It may be that expatriates working elsewhere in the country will take the Shaba conflict as a sign that they ought to leave.) This means great difficulty for Zaire’s economy. It was decided that U.S. support for an international peacekeeping force was a desirable thing; however, we could not decide on the character of our support for an international force until we had a clearer idea of our longer run objectives in Zaire. (We will work with DIA to develop our own DOD5 ideas on possible peacekeeping forces.)

Robert J. Murray6
  1. Source: Washington National Records Center, OSD Files, FRC 330–81–0202, Box 72, Zaire—1978. Secret. A stamped notation in the upper right corner indicates that Duncan saw the memorandum on May 23. Duncan initialed the memorandum. Copies were sent to the Secretary of Defense, ASD/ISA, and Africa Reg/ISA.↩
  2. Presumably a reference to the SCC Working Group meeting. See Document 106.↩
  3. No paper has been found.↩
  4. The dates for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are May 24, 25, and 26.↩
  5. Murray wrote “DOD” in the sentence.↩
  6. Murray initialed “RJM” above his typed signature and wrote “I will keep you informed” at the bottom of the page.↩