741.90G11/47: Telegram
The Minister Resident in Iraq (Knabenshue) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 26—5:37 a.m.]
329. Referring to my 328, November 25, 4 p.m. Subsequently Nuri has told me that he wishes to extend American influence in Iraq itself. He wants, with the consent of the British, American headmasters in secondary schools instead of British and he wishes to create a chiefly volunteer mechanized division with American equipment and American instructors. This would be a contravention of the Anglo-Iraq treaty and in my opinion we should not agree to it unless or even if the British were to agree. I gather that the British have agreed to a mechanized Iraqi division but with the delivery of equipment thereof unduly delayed. The British have also agreed to assign the Iraq Army for protection a certain section of their northeastern frontier. Nuri is showing signs of still wishing to press for a Palestinian settlement without waiting until end of war. This will tend to keep anti-British feeling alive and may lead to further difficulties.