883.20/152
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Secretary of State (Long)
The Egyptian Minister23 came in at his own request. He was very much discouraged and disheartened about the developments on the Libyan frontier. He said that on the past two occasions when advances had been made by the Germans or the Italians he had not been apprehensive, but in the present circumstances he was very much disturbed. His Government had no Army and had been unable to obtain equipment for one though they had tried since 1936 at the time of the Convention they signed with England.24 At first Czechoslovakia was to make arms and then was overrun before the deliveries had begun, and subsequently Sweden had found its factories incapable of furnishing them in time to justify the contract. The result is that they are without arms. He alluded to the anti-British feeling which [Page 80] had developed in Egypt as early as 1935 and which had recurred since. He said that recently there had been an amplification of that feeling. He said his Government was now faced with a very difficult position. He did not know what attitude his Government would take, but governments must in the last analysis take steps to insure their own best interests.
The Minister asked whether the American air forces could not be concentrated upon the enemy and whether the tacticians could not supplement with American forces the present difficulty in which the English found themselves. I replied to the Minister that we hoped the situation was not as bad as it sounded, and that he might be assured that everything that could be done would be done to oppose the enemy.