A CIA document reveals differences between the Algerian military and President Chadli Bendjedid in the 1980s regarding the Western Sahara conflict. While military leaders called for escalation the Algerian President favored diplomacy.
After the attempted coup in July 1971, Hassan II became suspicious of the Americans to the point that CIA agents in Morocco were unaware of the Green March project. A State Department document states that Henry Kissinger, the former United States Secretary of State, was certain that the king was planning an attack against the Sahara controlled at the time by the Spanish. Kissinger shared the information with the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Secret documents obtained by the Washington Post revealed that CIA and West German intelligence used an encryption company to spy on 120 countries, including Morocco. The program was one of the longest secret partnerships that showed secret communications to at least four countries, including Israel.
Morocco spent 3.28% of its GDP in 2016 on its military, according to CIA World Factbook. Data, collected by the US agency, suggests that the Kingdom is ranked second in North Africa, behind Algeria.