Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, Near East Region; Iran; Iraq, Volume XII

87. Memorandum From Elbert G. Mathews of the Policy Planning Staff to the Director (Bowie)¹

Washington, December 13, 1955.

SUBJECT

• Meeting With Secretary Re NEA Draft Revision of NSC 5428

The following principal points emerged from the discussion with the Secretary on December 9 of the NEA draft revision of NSC 5428:²

1. The Secretary desires that relationships between the Near Eastern states, particularly Egypt, and Africa be covered in the paper.

2. The Secretary considers it necessary to emphasize that we must seek a modus vivendi with the Nasser regime in Egypt. Our courses of action in the Near East depend upon the success or failure of our efforts in that direction. The paper should accordingly set forth alternative courses of action based on the assumptions, (a) that we reach an accommodation with Nasser and (b) that we do not.

3. The Secretary considered that the NEA language with respect to US adherence to the Baghdad Pact was too categorical. He suggested that the formulation on this point should be more conditional, with particular reference to developments in the Arab-Israeli situation. Similarly, the Secretary questioned the desirability of calling for the adherence of Jordan and Lebanon to the Baghdad Pact without provisos relating to the Arab-Israeli situation and the state of our relations with Egypt.

4. The Secretary said that as military aid to Turkey was primarily NATO-oriented and to Pakistan SEATO-oriented courses of action concerning military aid to the Baghdad Pact should be restricted in this paper to Iraq and Iran. After some discussion, there was consensus that the military objective of military aid to Iran and Iraq was to enable those countries to maintain internal security and to give them confidence that in case of local Communist aggression that [they] would have sufficient strength for holding action until outside assistance could reach them.

5. The Secretary objected to stating as the first purpose of US economic aid the countering of Soviet influence in the Near East. He agreed that this was a purpose but desired that it be mentioned less prominently.

6. The Secretary questioned the advisability of stating categorically that we should maintain the Dhahran air base. He preferred the formulation that we seek to maintain the base with the implication that we were not prepared to pay an unreasonable price for it.

7. The Secretary commented that the proposal of an economic union among Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan was new to him and required further consideration.

8. The possibility of a tacit understanding with the USSR that it would cease doing certain things in the Near East that we disliked as long as we did not adhere to the Baghdad Pact or seek additional base rights in the Pact area was discussed. It was suggested that this was worth further thought.

9. The Secretary stated that in view of the impending visit of Eden and Macmillan he did not consider it desirable to put a revision of NSC 5428 into the NSC machinery at this time. The revision should be submitted after the visit and should reflect agreements and understandings that might be reached in the discussions with the two British statesmen. He thought, however, that the present paper could be usefully revised to serve as a background and position paper for the talks with the British.³

1. Source: Department of State, S/P Files: Lot 66 D 70, Near and Middle East. Secret.
2. In preparation for the December 9 meeting, Allen forwarded to Secretary Dulles on December 7 a revised draft of NSC 5428 prepared in NEA and concurred in by the Policy Planning Staff, the Bureaus of European Affairs and International Organization Affairs, the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, and Francis Russell. The revised draft is attached to a forwarding memorandum from Allen to Secretary Dulles. (Ibid., Central Files, 611.80/12–755)
3. Following the December 9 meeting, the Policy Planning Staff undertook a further revision of NSC 5428. The text of this draft revision was forwarded to George Allen on December 28 under cover of a memorandum from Bowie. (Ibid., 684A.86/12–2855)