890F.248/4–2445
The Department of State to the British Embassy
Memorandum
The Department of State is informed by the American Joint Chiefs of Staff that the British Chiefs of Staff have concurred in the United States project to acquire and to construct a United States military air base at Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.85a
The British Chiefs of Staff have been asked to inform their Government of their concurrence in this project, and the Department of State is requested to ask the British Government to indicate its approval of this project to King Ibn Saud at the earliest possible date.
Accordingly, the Department of State would be grateful if the British Embassy were to communicate with the Foreign Office at [Page 882] London with a view to the issuance, as soon as possible, of appropriate instructions to the British Minister at Jidda.
- It should be noted that in these documents the words “airfield”, “field”, “airport”, and “airbase” are used interchangeably without any apparent distinction in meaning. In particular, the documentation indicates quite clearly that the United States did not contemplate the establishment of an extended military facility at an airfield to be constructed at Dhahran.↩