African Activist Archive

Retyped text of a letter to George Houser from G. Mennen Williams, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. The letter explains the U.S. Government decision to provide transport for the Belgian paratroopers who, with the authorization of the Government the Congo, engaged in the six-day humanitarian rescue operation in the Stanleyville area. The letter acknowledged the likelihood that many African leaders might misinterpret our action in the light of their own experiences in a colonial past or fear that this action might be taken as a precedent for subsequent interventions by other countries. It was also difficult to decide whether the rescue operation, if undertaken, would create the very calamity it was intended to avert, namely, a massacre of those being held as hostages. The letter discusses the OAU (Organization of African Unity), the International Red Cross, the Belgian Government, Mr. Kanza, Mr. Gbenye, the ANC (Armée Nationale Congolaise), Ambassador Attwood, Tshombe, the UN Civil Operations Program, Prime Minister Adoula, the Kenyan and Tanzanian Governments, and President Kasavubu.

African Activist Archive

Copy of G. Mennen Williams' Letter to George Houser

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