The U.S. and Morocco
JONAS, GILBERT
Recent American policies and negotiations over air bases have damaged traditional good relations The U.S. and Morocco By Gilbert Jonas AMERICA'S traditional prestige and goodwill in...
...But U. S. policy, dominated by concern for NATO and the "stability" of various French governments, has until recently regarded North Africa as a French sphere of influence...
...American identification with Spain does not improve our position...
...There is no substitute for a sound policy, even with the best information arm—and the USIA operation in Morocco is excellent...
...But the French proved highly sensitive even to this moderate approach...
...It is a foregone conclusion that the United States will have to evacuate the bases...
...But all of the aforementioned factors would not in themselves have produced the sharp reversal in America's position...
...The prime charge in this volatile situation covers the five American air bases in Morocco...
...As one close friend of Morocco noted: "It was as if Morocco were giving ten times that sum to the U. S." On the other hand, the U. S. assistance fell far short of Morocco's most pressing needs...
...There is no question that if U. S. personnel purchased their wares and services from Moroccan merchants, many Moroccans would benefit substantially...
...The community has found its expression in the concept of Maghreb—most recently defined as a North African Confederation...
...One of these risks is obviously associated with American support for France's colonial policy in neighboring Algeria...
...Roosevelt's encouragement of na tional aspirations during a meeting with the then Sultan, Mohammed V, helped to further this amity...
...The Moroccans countered with a five-year deadline...
...In 1955, France formally accorded Morocco her independence...
...Such an alliance is all the more logical because Morocco is a monarchy whereas Tunisia is a republic and Algeria would in all likelihood establish a republic upon achieving independence...
...Al though the U. S. identified itself with an intransigent French colonial policy during Morocco's independ ence struggle, the harm done by this was mitigated by the efforts of many American individuals and or ganizations who vigorously support ed the nationalist movement...
...In that year Morocco's budget deficit was met by a French appropriation of approximately 65 million dollars...
...Having ruled the entire area for a period of over 12 centuries, the Moroccans regard themselves as the natural leaders of North Africa...
...In September the United States finally agreed in principle to the evacuation of the air bases within seven years...
...and Morocco By Gilbert Jonas AMERICA'S traditional prestige and goodwill in Morocco have suffered a grave—and perhaps ir revocable—reversal during the past six months...
...Although this French influence exists, the most immediate problem is paradoxically the too-rapid liquidation of French holdings in Morocco...
...Morocco today is faced with a critiGILBERT JONAS recently returned from Morocco, where he studied the progress made since independence in 1955...
...when the French controlled Morocco...
...Tunisia has taken in about 200,000...
...The growing tensions arising from this visible disparity—economic and social—require very little heat to ignite the explosion...
...The Lebanon landings were apparently the final straw...
...Many Moroccans, including top Government leaders, expected the United States to provide adequate economic and financial assistance to meet this widening gap...
...But Moroccan prices on imports are so high that American servicemen would have to receive sizable salary supplements to fill their minimum needs...
...In a poverty-stricken na tion such as Morocco they can live exceedingly well even on an enlisted man's pay...
...At no time during this period did the Moroccan Government question the desirability of the bases themselves...
...Moroccan officials frankly acknowledge this...
...The resentment created by the special privileges of U. S. servicemen springs from nationalist sensitivity more than from the desire for eco nomic gain...
...More than 10,000 French citizens occupy important administrative and technical positions in and outside the Government...
...This has led to two logical events: in October Morocco was formally admitted to membership in the Arab League and in August the first Soviet trade mission, headed by the equivalent of an assistant secretary of state, arrived in Rabat to negotiate a commercial agreement...
...The mere presence of foreign troops—in uniform—on the soil of a newly-independent nation is enough of an irritant...
...French-language newspapers are an important pro-Paris voice on the Moroccan scene...
...That heat was provided by the landing of U. S. Marines in Lebanon in July...
...The crisis in French-Tunisian relations during the past year and the failure of France to find a solution in Algeria apparently resulted in a reappraisal of this course...
...About 30,000 French Army troops are stationed within Moroccan borders...
...Its roots are fundamental — religious, racial and linguistic identity, geographic proximity, historic affiliation, shared cultures, even a common enemy...
...No Moroccans, including the Sultan, were consulted...
...The 1955 treaty between France and Morocco recognized the legality of all the acts of the French Protectorate Govern ment with one specific exception— the building of the American air bases...
...Why," a Moroccan friend asked me, "could not your Government have used Spanish bases instead of ours...
...The contrast in material well-being is obvious to anyone...
...Popular disappointment with the West's support of France in Algeria combined with U. S. failure to deliver the necessary economic support have made it increasingly impolitic for the Government to maintain a pro-Western course...
...Almost every observer agrees that today there is more widespread poverty in Morocco than there was in 1954...
...American servicemen, moreover, are the highest paid in the world...
...Moreover, the political risks inherent in accepting U. S. aid were already becoming apparent by last year...
...By last spring, the Istiqlal party press was already seriously questioning the wisdom of the American bases...
...But until recently this sympathy was not fervently reflected in the policies of the Morocca,n Government...
...It is difficult to see how the U. S. can retrieve its position in Morocco now...
...Today the Moroccan people are loyal to the ex-Sultan, King Mohammed V, who remains the major unifying figure in Morocco...
...cal economic situation...
...The Istiqlal party's campaign to extend Moroccan influence throughout the Sahara, including the removal of Spanish control, has also tended to awaken and feed .nationalist feeling...
...Short of a major policy overhauling, the United States can continue to anticipate further setbacks in Morocco and North Africa...
...Thus, for more than three years these bases have existed without legal status...
...Oust all foreigners—American, French, Spanish...
...Recent American policies and negotiations over air bases have damaged traditional good relations The U.S...
...In fact, working committees composed of representatives from all three nations have been coordinating such activities since last summer...
...Popular support for the Algerian liberation movement in Morocco is strong...
...Even the pro-Western Government did not dare support the American policy...
...Because of Moroccan sympathy for the Algerian nationalists, French economic support has been drastically curtailed and, during the mapy political crises, actually withheld...
...Last year the United States nego tiated agreements to provide Morocco with about 30 million dollars...
...Construction of these bases began in 1950...
...But should the Algerians, under the vigorous leadership of the National Liberation Front, and the Tunisians, under Habib Bourguiba, draw closer together, they might well dominate the modern Maghreb...
...In all fairness, it should be noted that, despite the urgency of its need, the Moroccan Government took an unusual amount of time before accepting the aid...
...These factors militate against any political federation in the foreseeable future, but they do not prevent consolidation of interests and activities in the fields of foreign policy, development, trade, culture, etc...
...The U. S. has always en joyed friendly relations with Moroc co...
...Because of her critical economic position, the Moroccan Government attempted to pursue a more moderate course in order to avoid an absolute break with France, which threatened to cut off all the financial assistance it had pledged when independence was granted...
...During that period, representatives of both nations have attempted to negotiate an agreement...
...Coupled with the rapid liquidation of French investments, this loss of external assistance has magnified the poverty of the Moroccan people...
...The normal annual population increase is probably close to 300,000, to which must be added almost one million people in Tangier and the other territories taken back from Spain...
...By and large, the subject of these negotiations has involved certain privileges maintained for the personnel of the U. S. Air Force, such as commissaries, post exchanges, the import of luxury items on a duty-free basis, etc...
...Many important vestiges of the colonial regime, however, have not yet been liquidated...
...Thus, informed Americans in Rabat could have easily predicted strong Moroccan opposition to the U. S. landings...
...The campaign recently took a great step with a conference in Rabat composed of delegates from various parts of the Sahara outside of Morocco, all of whom swore allegiance to King Mohammed...
...While there is no significant support for Colonel Nasser in Morocco—he too is a threat to Morocco's traditional leadership in North Africa—there is a growing sympathy for the "Arab cause" coupled with increased disenchantment with the West...
...During the past three years prices have risen substantially...
...The basic fact is that the United States is still pursuing a Europe-oriented, containment-centered policy at a time when Morocco-—indeed most of Africa—is moving rapidly toward non-alignment between East and West...
...But the rise to power of de Gaulle seems to have interrupted this reappraisal and afforded France a respite—possibly her last—from any major American policy shift...
...But when these bases were used to load marines and equipment for the Lebanon venture, the outcry was all but unanimous: "Moroccan soil is being used to kill our Arab brothers," the journalistic indictments shrieked...
...But a countertrend is decidedly underway because of pro-Western attitudes of the King and previous governments...
...The influx of some 100,000 refugees lias intensified it...
...The community of interest felt by Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria is ancient...
...The opposition became so vociferous that the Government itself felt obliged to repudiate the U. S. action...
...Various French groups still control vital economic interests and the Moroccan economy is still within the franc bloc...
Vol. 41 • December 1958 • No. 46
