345. Letter From the Secretary of State to the President1
Dear Mr. President: I write this a few hours before our arrival in Tehran.2
We had a full and interesting few hours in Marrakech on Thursday. Janet and I had been there some twenty years ago and much enjoyed seeing again the view from the hotel where, I recall, I began work on War, Peace and Change.
Although I had hoped it would be a quiet stay, the Moroccan Government made much of it. The Foreign Minister, Balafrej, came down from Rabat and was host at lunch and, acting for the King, at dinner. I gather, too, that the press has been anxious to build up my talks with him as containing considerably more than in fact they did. This may cause repercussions in France and in Spain, although, to the annoyance of the press, I declined to make any political observations to them.
Much of my conversation with Balafrej was general,3 but I took the occasion to deplore the activities of the irregular Moroccan liberation forces in territory now Spanish, and to urge moderation in the Moroccan Government’s demands on the Spanish Government to turn over south Morocco. I noted the danger that, if developments draw France and Spain on the one hand, and the North African nations on the other, into opposing blocs, the Soviets would intervene on behalf of North Africa; this would tend to put the United States on the other side, and the result would be a great disaster for all.4
I sense, however, that the Moroccans are bent on pushing Spain hard and the problem may become even more troublesome if in response Spain and France coordinate military action in the Sahara area and push north through ill-defined boundaries. I hope and believe my cautions at Marrakech have carried some weight.
Faithfully yours,
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 110.11–DU/1–2458. Secret; Niact. Transmitted in Dulte 3 from Tehran with the notation “Eyes Only Acting Secretary for President from Secretary.” Dulte 3 is the source text. A copy of the letter was sent to the White House under cover of a January 24 memorandum from Howe to Goodpaster. (Ibid., 611.71/1–2458)↩
- Prior to attending the Baghdad Pact meeting in Ankara, January 27–30, Dulles visited Morocco, January 23, and Iran, January 24–26.↩
- Memoranda of these conversations are in Department of State, Secretary’s Memoranda of Conversation: Lot 64 D 199.↩
- Dulles made the same points in a January 19 letter to Balafrej, sent to Rabat in telegram 685. (Ibid., Central Files, 771.022/1–1958)↩
- Dulte 3 bears this typed signature.↩