740.0011 European War 1939/11491a: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Consul General at Algiers (Cole)
120. For Murphy. You should take the earliest occasion to point out to the North African authorities and to General Weygand when available the most unfortunate impression that would be created if in the face of the present aggression which threatens France and its colonies today, any French forces under the authority of the Vichy Government were to be used now to attack any other French Colonial Territory held by fellow Frenchmen even though not dependent upon the Vichy Government. In the view of the world such action would be tantamount to civil war between Frenchmen brought on as a result of pressure by the Germans upon the Vichy authorities.