rational number

[mosaadabd460]

T
and military involvement have de
clined substantially .
Our relationship with the
leadership is changing. The gen
eration has passed or is passing
which recalls our initial help to
the newly independent countries.
This change happened early in
Algeria where the original leaders
of the FLN ( National Liberation
Front ) whom we had known
were replaced by those we did
not know . In Libya , those who
recognized and welcomed our
help to that country in its early
years have been replaced ; both
the present prosperity and the
changed circumstances have ob
literated recollections of that earlier relationship.
Where there has been an ab
rupt change in a country in
which we had close relations
with the previous regime, we
have had the added element of
suspicions regarding our inten
tions on the part of the new
leaders. Only time can overcome
such feelings .
The last decade, further, has
seen climactic events in the Near
East which have affected our
own relationships. Algeria broke diplomatic relations with us; rela
tions with the other three na
tions of the area became difficult
in the months immediately fol lowing the 1967 war. The belief
that we had helped Israel to win
the six -day war died hard . While
these nations may not have been
directly involved in the fighting ,
they were committed as Arabs and shared the feelings of humili
ation and bitterness over these
events . The Near Eastern issues
remain a serious, but not insur
mountable , problem in our rela
tions with North African coun
tries.
In 1971 , we have new interests
and requirements. For the first time in our peacetime history ,
we face shortages of significant
resources. One of them is natural
gas . In Washington, D.C. , early in
November 1971 , the local gas
utility announced it could take no
more new commercial customers;
there was simply not enough gas.
North Africa-and particularly
Algeria- has large gas reserves.
U.S. POLICY TOWARD
NORTH AFRICA
Our approach to North Africa
in these circumstances is based
on certain clear assumptions :
- First, North Africa remains
important to us as an area . We
20 °
0 °
209 ROMANIA 100
FRANCE YUGOSLAVIA U.S.S.R.
ITALY ATLANTIC BLACK SEA BULGARIA
OCEAN ALBANIAY
40
PORTUGAL SPAIN MED 1
GREECE Annaboo
TURKEY Skikdo Constantinelo
Bizerte €
ALGIERS TUNIS
Tangier Oran R
TUNISIA MALTA 9 Safaqis As
خ‌ .
خ•
خ‘
خ‌
CYPRUS SYRIA RABAT Fes Casablanca Meknes
MOROCCO
Marrakech Bechar
Leabsukhayrah LEBANON
TRIPOLI SE A MIRAQ Ghardaia
Ouargla ISRAEL BENGHAZI Tobruk GULF OF
SIDRA
Marsaal Burayqah JORDAN
CAIRO
ALGERIA Zillah Tindout In Amenas SAUDI
ARABIA PEL AAUN
SPANISH SAHARA
Sobha . LIBYA EGYPT
AlJawtآ؛
REDSEA
MAURITANIA MALI
NORTH AFRICA 202
Oil field A Gas field
Oil pipeline Gas pipeline NIGER CHAD
SUDAN 200
400
800
Oى‌¸
600 Miles 200 400 600 800
Kilometers
KHARTOUM Boundary representation is not necessarily authoritative 200
3