841.2368/8–2547: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Acting Secretary of State
74. Humelsine from Carter. Eyes only for Lovett from Marshall. Your 761 and my 632 refer. I want to make it clear that in approving submission of this problem to the Combined Chiefs of Staff, I do not accept either the premises or the categorical position taken by Mr. Bevin in his personal message to me.
As to his first and second paragraphs, I cannot reconcile his stated essentiality of British withdrawals by autumn with the drastically changed conditions that have occurred since March; He must also realize that the problem is much larger than the mere offset of British withdrawals by increase of Greek Army.
On Italy, my concern rests with the maintenance of at least a status quo in that area, and not on the desire of the British Government to fulfill a pledge to itself which manifestly can have but little effect on solution of its present financial problems.
It seems to me that our thorn-pulling operations on the British lion continue to be beset by her stubborn insistence on avoiding the garden path to wander in the thicket of purely local Labor Party misadventures. They are far too casual or freehanded in passing the buck of the international dilemma to US with little or no consideration for the harmful results.3
- Dated August 22, p. 308.↩
- Dated August 23; see footnote 2, p. 308.↩
- The text of telegram 74 was sent to Ambassador Douglas in telegram 3688, August 26. The Ambassador, in telegram 4641, August 27, 1 a. m., requested the Department to pass the following message to Secretary Marshall: “Please keep me informed and let me know if you wish me to make further representations. I could not agree more with your point of view.” (841.2368/8–2547, 8–2747)↩