740.0011 European War 1939/23493
Memorandum by the Adviser on Political Relations (Murray) to the Assistant Secretary of State (Berle)
Mr. Berle: There are two considerations which, it seems to me, should be borne in mind in deciding whether it would be desirable for the Secretary to make a statement to offset the Germano-Italian Declaration of July 3, 1942.
Publication of that declaration has been prevented by the British in Egypt, consequently it would be impossible to use a statement there without letting the cat out of the bag.
A second and more important consideration is that the Germano-Italian Declaration is not confined to Egypt in its application but embraces the entire Near East in the following passage:
“… Axis forces … had the intention … of continuing military operations against England which aim at liberating the Near East from British domination.”
An adequate statement in rebuttal would have to be of equal scope. As you know, we have drafted a declaration, approval of which is pending, setting forth the intentions of this Government with respect to the entire Near East, and emphasizing the complete emptiness and cynicism of Axis promises. Such a declaration, if issued, will serve to cancel all Axis promises to the Near Eastern peoples: past, present and future.