2 1 I 'f RM E ner- AF partment of State see No F-2016-07743 Doc No 017980053 Date 07 31 2017 DEPARTMENT OF STATE KQD FOR RM USE ONLY EUR FE CU IHR ID FBO AGE COM FFIB 1 INT LAB TAR TR AIR '33 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE HIINDLING mania To Department of State 4 RECEIVED 0 5 OF STATE I I FROM Amconsul HALIFAX DATE July 21 1972 SUBJECT Dissent Message U S Assistance to Essentially Totalitarian Regimes Value of Old UNRRA and China Relief Mission Approach REF State April 8 ARMY CIA NAVY SENT SHAME 03D USIA NSA This airgram transmits a dissenting view submitted by ESQ-2 Izlexander L Peaslee Principal Officer I 1972 JUL 25' p 5 25 COPYFLO-PBR As a retiring FSO with 29 years of Government service I would like to suggest that the United States Government would in the long run ensure its security more effectively by reducing its assistance and close ties to essentially totalitarian governments cements are primarily directed at totalitarian governments of the right such as Greece Brazil Argentina Pakistan and Paraguay inasmuch as we already pro- vide little assistance to most of the totalitarian governments of the left Without going into any detail it has been my impression that much of the aid has not been effectively used and has often gone to those individuals who already are well off Even more unfortunately our aid has been interpreted as approval of undemocratic regimes We find Admiral l-Ioorer in his New Year's message of several years ago praising our fine ties with Brazil at the very time that the New York Times and other sources are documenting torture and methods used in' preventing free expression of opinion recall that in the final days of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration UNRRA assistance program and in the work of its 0 5 supported successor the China Relief Mission CRM those programs were quite successful in maintaining efficiency in their Operations by simply cutting off aid to regions whenever corruption was noted LII-men OFFICIAL USE ran 1 macaw In DOM ea 05- 323 Lenten ndUunhcunou Approved by Tailed by Clearances ALPeasleemt ALPeaslee UNCLASSIFIED US Department of State Case No F-2016-07743 Doc No 017980053 Date 07 31 2017 5 UNCLASSIFIED US Department of State Case No Doc No C17980053 Date 07 31 2017 LIHITED OFFICIAL USE A-E3 No public statement was made but local officials knew why the aid had stopped This produced good results considering the chaos of the time on mainland China in the midst of a civil war l'I believe that a similar approach might be usefully considered in our aid to those countries that are unrepresentative in their governments In the long run we lose the goodwill of those who are oppressed by those governments and we gain none from the totalitarian regimes which usually take the attitude What have you done for me lately We also lose the money The people whose support we lose are usually the ones most influential in the longer run future of their ecuntry They often turn to more extreme means of getting their way and the right wing regime leads to the later far left And we are seen as opportunists who do not really believe in representative government One of the arguments used against such a policy is that the specific regime is vital to our national security However if this is true then why encourage a swing from one extreme to the other and secondly what totalitarian regime can we point to since world War II that really has been essential to our security Declassify on Augustl 1972 LILITED OFFICIAL USE I UNCLASSIFIED US Department of State Case No Doc No C17980053 Date 0713112017 UNCLASSIFIED US Department of State Case No F-2016-O7743 Doc No Date RELEASE IN FULL July 28 1972 i I 1 Mr Alexander L Peaslee 1 1702 Burnley Avenue 5 Charlottesville Virginiazfi7p Dear Mr Peaslee This will acknowledge receipt by the Department of State of the Dissent Channel messages you trans- mitted prior to your departure from Halifax These messages have been brought to the attention of Principal Officers of the Department and the Assistant Secretaries for East Asian Affairs and European Affairs As the Dissent Channel is intended for internal expression of views the LOU classification of these messages will be maintained beyond August 1 Sincerely yours signed wuuam 1- William I Cargo Director Planning and Coordination Staff nv H a UNCLASSIFIED US Department of State Case No F-2016-07743 Doc No 017980055 Date 07 31 2017