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Uganda

-240. Telegram 1 From the Embassy in Uganda to the Department of State, January 2, 1973, 0700Z [ PDF version   ] 

Ambassador Thomas P. Melady described the Amin regime as racist, erratic, brutal, inept, bellicose, irrational, ridiculous, militaristic, and, above all, xenophobic. He recommended that the United States continue to reduce its presence in Uganda.

Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970-73, POL Uganda. Secret; Exdis. Repeated to Addis Ababa, Bujumbura, Dar Es Salaam, Khartoum, Kigali, Kinshasa, London, Lourenco Marques, Lusaka, Mogadiscio, Nairobi, Paris, Rome, and USCINCEUR.

The intelligence note analyzed the prospects for General Amin's political survival, the future of Uganda, and the status of Uganda's relations within the region and with the United States.

Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970-73, POL Uganda. Secret; No Foreign Dissem; Controlled Dissem. Drafted by Summ, cleared by Reid, and approved by Denney.

Kissinger informed Nixon that the Department of State wished to phase out all USAID programs in Uganda because of deteriorating internal security. He recommended approval of Ambassador Melady's return to Kampala to oversee the phase out. Nixon disapproved the recommendation.

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 746, Uganda, Vol. 1. Secret. Sent for action. A notation on the memorandum reads: "The President has seen." Nixon circled the number 450 in the last sentence of the memorandum and added a handwritten notation that reads: "absolutely not -- cut to 100 maximum for all govt. agencies." He also highlighted the recommendation with a handwritten notation that reads: "No; Let the chargé do it - no appeal." Tab A, the text of a telegram to the President from General Amin on the signing of the Vietnam Peace Agreement, was not attached.

Rogers asked Nixon to reconsider his decision not to send Ambassador Melady back to Kampala, arguing that Melady's failure to return could endanger U.S. citizens in Uganda.

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 746, Uganda, Vol. 1. Confidential. Rogers highlighted the last sentence of the second paragraph and added a handwritten note that reads: "What I mean is that he is crazy--and we have to recognize it. WRR"

Kissinger explained that security concerns in Uganda had caused him to withhold a decision on Ambassador Melady's return to Kampala, but that the threat seemed now exaggerated, and he recommended disapproving Secretary Rogers' appeal. Nixon agreed with the recommendation.

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 746, Uganda, Vol. 1. Secret. Sent for action. A notation on the memorandum reads: "The President has seen." Nixon initialed next to "Agree." Tab A is Document 243; Tab B is Document 242.

Eliot reported that General Amin had sent two telegrams to President Nixon and Cambodian President Lon Nol criticizing U.S. policy in Cambodia, and that the Department responded by publicly announcing that Ambassador Melady would not return to Uganda nor would a new ambassador be nominated.

Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970-73, POL 15-1 Uganda. Confidential. Drafted by Schreiber (AF/E); Concurred in by AF/E and AF; Robert Blackwill signed for Eliot.

Kissinger informed Nixon that 112 Peace Corps Volunteers traveling by air charter to Zaire were detained in Uganda and held by General Amin.

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 746, Country Files, Africa, Uganda, Vol. I. Secret. Sent for information. A notation on the memorandum reads: "The President has seen."

Rush noted that the Embassy staff in Kampala had helped secure the release of Peace Corps Volunteers held by General Amin, and this showed the importance of maintaining a diplomatic presence in Uganda.

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 746, Country Files, Africa, Uganda, Vol. I. Confidential. A notation on Kissinger's covering memorandum of August 6 to the President, transmitting the Rush memorandum, reads: "The President has seen."

The Department reviewed AF/E Director Wendell Coote's meeting with Ugandan officials in New York. Coote said that he could not dismiss General Amin's recent threats to U.S. citizens, and although the United States did not intend to break relations with Uganda, it did plan to reduce Embassy staff in Kampala.

Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Policy Files, 1973. Confidential; Priority. Repeated to Dar Es Salaam, Kinshasa, London, and USUN. Drafted and approved by Coote.

In the portion of the minutes relating to Uganda, Assistant Secretary Newsom told Secretary Kissinger that General Amin's irrational behavior led the Africa Bureau to conclude that there was no purpose served by maintaining a U.S. presence in Uganda and that the Embassy should be closed without breaking off diplomatic relations. Kissinger agreed.

Source: National Archives, RG 59, Transcripts of Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's Staff Meetings, 1973-1977, Entry 5177, Box 1, Secretary's Staff Meetings. Secret. The Embassy closed on November 10. (Telegram 3355 from Kampala, November 10; ibid., Central Policy Files, 1973)

The Department reported on General Amin's efforts to improve relations with the United States, but concluded that it was not in the U.S. interest to make an early return to Uganda.

Source: Department of State, Nairobi Post Files: Lot 78 F 173, POL-DEF 19-8, POL Uganda 1975. Confidential. Repeated to London, Nairobi, and USUN.

Acting Assistant Secretary Mulcahy and AF/E Director Coote discussed U.S.-Uganda relations with Ugandan Minister of Cooperatives and Marketing Moustapha Ramathan. The Americans indicated that a U.S. Embassy in Kampala would have difficulty operating in an atmosphere of suspicion and baseless accusations of spy activity.

Source: Department of State, Nairobi Post Files: Lot 78 F 173, POL-DEF 19-8, POL Uganda 1975. Confidential. Drafted by Theodore M. Ford (AF/E), cleared by Coote and Mulcahy.

The FRG Ambassador in Uganda, representing U.S. interests, urged the United States to reopen its embassy in Kampala to counter growing Soviet influence.

Source: Department of State, Nairobi Embassy Files: Lot 78 F 173, POL-DEF 19-8, POL Uganda 1975. Confidential. Repeated to Nairobi, Dar Es Salaam, Lusaka, Kinshasa, Addis Ababa, Khartoum, Pretoria, and Tananarive.

Chargé Lannon Walker recommended acceding to Amin's request for a meeting with a high-level U.S. representative in Kinshasa on November 24, so long as the meeting remained secret.

Source: Ford Library, National Security Adviser, Presidential Country Files for Africa, Box 7, Zaire-State Department Telegrams, SECSTATE Nodis, 11/1/75-12/31/75. Secret; Eyes Only; Immediate; Nodis.

Chargé Walker transmitted a report of Acting Assistant Secretary Mulcahy's meeting with General Amin, in which they discussed problems in U.S.-Uganda relations and Angola. Mulcahy deflected a request for U.S. arms, but offered tentative help in identifying mining experts.

Source: Ford Library, National Security Adviser, Presidential Country Files for Africa, Box 7, Zaire-State Department Telegrams, SECSTATE Nodis, 11/1/75-12/31/75. Secret; Eyes Only; Niact Immediate; Nodis; Cherokee.

Ambassador Marshall presented pros and cons for reopening the U.S. Embassy in Uganda and recommended that the Embassy be reopened.

Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Policy Files, 1976. Secret; Exdis.

The Department transmitted a Briefing Memorandum for Deputy Assistant Secretary Seelye's meeting with Uganda Foreign Minister Juma Abdalla Oris. The memorandum instructed Seelye not to raise false hopes about reopening the U.S. Embassy in Kampala.

Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Policy Files, 1976. Confidential; Immediate. Drafted by Baker (AF/E), approved in AF/E and AF. The meeting did not take place after Liberian Foreign Minister Dennis showed the Ugandans a U.S. paper cataloging General Amin's hostile statements. (Telegram 253377 to Monrovia, October 13; ibid.)