123 EN 3/743: Telegram
The Minister in Afghanistan (Engert) to the Secretary of State
[Received July 27—1:12 p.m.]
34. I was received this afternoon by His Majesty the King of Afghanistan and presented my letters of credence as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States. The King was very cordial and after the formal addresses had been concluded we conversed in French which he speaks quite fluently.
He said that his Government had for many years harbored feelings of great sympathy, confidence and admiration for the United States and he was happy that the President had decided to open a permanent Legation at Kabul. The King then referred to a passage in my address in which I had used the expression “in a world tortured [Page 52] by strife” and said it was precisely because the world was so very sick that the genuine friendship between Afghanistan and the United States was doubly precious and he would do all he could to preserve that friendship.
I assured His Majesty of course that he could count on my hearty cooperation and added that America was bending every effort to help cure this sick world, first by fighting to destroy the forces of evil and secondly by a scrupulous observance of the principles of law and morality in our relations with other nations.