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publicly to take sirles in the contro–
versy.
Battle Lines Form
In August of 1979, Mauritania with–
drew from its section of the former
Spanish Sabara. Tts government signed
a peace treaty with Polisario, dropping
out of the fight because of the high
economic cost of the war. In response,
Morocco moved its troops into the
vacated area. The fight has thus become
a bitter contest between the Algerian–
supported Polisario and the troops of
Morocco's King Hassan II.
Algeria's apparent interest in the
creation of an independent Saharan
state stems from its desire for an
Atlantic Ocean outlet- either by
outright annexation or through a
Polisario state under its tutelage.
But Algeria is not tbe only power
behind the Polisario. In an interview,
Morocco's King Hassan angrily
charged that Libya, too, is providing
the guerrillas with communist-made
arms, and that Cuba's African expe–
ditionary force is training the guerril–
las and directing their attacks.
March 1980
Based on prisoner interroga–
tions and battlefield evidence, it
is confirmed that Cuban troops
are participating in the fighting
directly alongside thePolisarios.
Cuban and Vietnameseadvisers
have reportedly been seen in
Tindouf.
Kremlin Master Plan
King Hassan has been outspoken in
bis analysis of the Saharan conflict.
He charges that the conflict is
actually part of a Kremlin master
planto gain control of the Mediterra–
nean as well as North Afríca!
"The Sahara matter is not just
another conflict between the Magh–
reb countries of Algeria and Moroc–
co," he declared. "It is a Kremlin
dossier. We are fighting a war that is
part of a Russian plot against Europe
itself. ... We [Moroccans] are the
key to the Mediterranean Sea and to
Southern Europe."
Western analysts and strategic
planners have not been blind to this
possibility. They regard it as vital for
American policy that King Hassan
remain firmly on bis throne in Mo–
rocco. The loss of sueh a pro-Western
Arab moderate would be a crippling
blow to U.S. Mideast policy. The
result would be a radicalleftist state
along the strategically important
northwest African coastline- with
ominous implications.
"The Russian tactics
in
Africa are
like the tactics of a parrot climbing a
tree," King Hassan observed in a
recent interview. "First carne Ango–
Ja, then Congo Brazzaville, then
Ethiopia, and afterward the Sabara.
Step by step. If they get the Sahara,
the Russians will have a window on
the Atlantic, as they have always
wanted, and the key to the Mediter–
ranean. The American Sixth Fleet
wilJ have to sail back borne and leave
these seas to the Russian Fleets."
King Hassan observed that the
United States appears to
be
so para–
lyzed by its Vietnam experience that it
hesitatesto help imperiled friends.
In the wake of the fall of other
pro-U.S. rulers in Iran and Nicara–
gua and Washington's abandonment
ofTaiwan, the Saharan crisis is being
viewed as a major test of U.S. resolve
to stand by its longtime allíes. At
stake is America's credibility in the
eyes of governments resisting leftist
forces which serve the strategic inter–
ests of the Soviet Union.
With these considerations in mind,
President Jimmy Carter has askedCon–
gress to approve the sale to Morocco of
Bronco armed 'reconnaissance aircraft,
Cobra attack helicopters, F-5E fighter
planes and antitank missiles.
Morocco's King needs these weap–
ons to beat back the Polisario insur–
gency, or at least to be strong enough
to negotiate should that ever become
a possibility. Even with the approval
of Congress, which has veto power
over arms sales, delivery of the arma–
ments is months away. The dilemma
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