890E.00/210: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Diplomatic Agent and Consul General at Beirut (Wadsworth)
280. Department fully approves decision reported in your 315, November 15, 9 p.m.45 against participation of United States Military Police in any security patrols. Such American military personnel should be employed solely for protection of American lives and property. War Department concurs in foregoing.
In view of British military responsibility in area and of British commitments to which this Government is not a party, the British should take the initiative in any action which might be necessitated by French failure to meet the British or our own demands, or by undue delay in doing so. The Department would give careful consideration to a request from the French or British or both for American participation in a settlement, including membership in an “Allied Commission” of the type suggested in your 314, November 14, 9 p.m., but this Government is not prepared to take the lead in this respect, or to assume any new military responsibilities in this connection.
- Not printed.↩