740.0011 European War 1939/12114: Telegram
The Ambassador in France (Leahy) to the Secretary of State
[Received 9:15 p.m.]
705. The military news from Syria today Rochat said confirms that the French have withdrawn north of Sidon but that their positions there seem strong; in other areas the French are even counterattacking he claimed. He admitted that the German “offer” to send military assistance—of what specific sort he did not know—to the French defence of Syria is becoming more “insistent”. He is pleased as are our other friends in the Foreign Office that the French Government has firmly declined this “offer”: they feel that France’s moral position will be much stronger even if Syria is lost, (and they probably realize that it would be lost to France anyway if Germany does occupy the territory, whether to send assistance or otherwise).