881.00/12–1647
The Diplomatic Agent at Tangier (Plitt) to the Secretary of State
No. 793
Sir: I have the honor to refer to Consul Pasquet’s top secret despatch no. 192 of December 9, 1947, on the subject: “Request of His Majesty the Sultan and Continued Tension with Resident General,” with specific reference to its last paragraph on page three in which [Page 735] General Juin is quoted as saying to the Sultan: “I desire to warn your Majesty that the United States are behind us.”
This is a surprising remark for the Resident General allegedly to have made unless he has learned of the recommendations contained in the report to the Department covering the meeting held in Paris last June. Insofar as I know, nothing has ever been said to him by any Foreign Service Officer in Morocco which could have prompted him to make such a statement. If it was made, the Sultan could very well believe that information on which General Juin based his retort stems either from Mr. Pasquet or me. If this be his guess, it would be difficult and infeasible to deny it.
General Juin could perhaps have learned from his superiors during his recent visit to Paris that our thinking is along lines of his alleged remarks to the Sultan. There is no way of course, whereby any observations on the subject can be made to the Quai d’Orsay without disclosing our knowledge of his meeting with the Sultan and the substance of his reputed talk with the latter. The report made by Consul Pasquet does, however, further emphasize the wisdom of our refraining, at least for the present, from making any premature commitment to the French or to the Moroccan Nationalists on the subject referred to in my despatch no. 748 of October 29, 1947.
Respectfully yours,