Office of the Historian

795.00/6–2750: Telegram

The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Douglas) to the Secretary of State

top secret
niact
London, June 27, 1950—noon.
[Received June 27—9:08 a. m.]

3636. Personal for the Secretary.

1.
For what it is worth Holmes1 and I want to express our complete endorsement of the course of action we propose to take as outlined Deptel 3124 to London.2
2.
In view of the action contemplated, we both suggest giving very careful consideration to Moscow’s 1734 to Department.3 Secondly, if in any public announcement which we may make, the use of armed forces by the North Koreans is associated with the Soviet, either directly or indirectly, we may possibly be ourselves so committing the Soviet that they will find it difficult to save their face. Although we believe with confidence that the Soviet has not only approved of this action of aggression and has provided the North Koreans with the implements of war necessary to the operation, it would, we believe, be better for the present to reserve our own opinion for ourselves and our Allied governments than to express it publicly. In a situation of this sort which might develop into a general world conflagration, as a matter of principle, and in this particular case, as a matter of pragmatic tactics, we believe it essential so to refrain from committing a major power capable of precipitating a world war that it will not be embarrassed by what otherwise would be a moral if not a political retreat.
3.
Our position (Deptel 3124 to London) explained to Foreign Office this morning. Instruction in Deptel 3125 to London4 carried [Page 198] out. Cabinet meeting this morning to consider matter and instructions will be sent to Shone before this afternoon’s meeting Security Council. As Prime Minister5 will probably want to make statement in Commons this afternoon, Foreign Office requests that we be notified of precise hour of US release referred to in final paragraph Deptel 3124, together with exact text of our statement as they wish to confine any remarks by the Prime Minister to the area of our pronouncement. Foreign Office desires this information by 4 p. m. London daylight time today.6

Repeated niact Paris 1096 personal for Bruce; HICOG Frankfort niact 320, personal for McCloy7; Moscow niact 181, personal for Kirk; Brussels niact 159, personal for Murphy8; The Hague niact 148, personal for Chapin; Rome niact 308, personal for Dunn9.

Douglas
  1. Julius C. Holmes, Minister at the American Embassy in London.↩
  2. Transmitted on June 27 at 1 a. m., p. 186.↩
  3. Received on June 26 at 8:09 a. m., p. 169.↩
  4. Transmitted on June 27 at 1 a. m., p. 187.↩
  5. Clement Attlee.↩
  6. See footnote 5 to the memorandum of conversation by Mr. Jessup, June 27, 11:30 a. m., p. 201.↩
  7. John J. McCloy, U.S. High Commissioner for Germany.↩
  8. Robert D. Murphy, Ambassador in Belgium.↩
  9. James C. Dunn, Ambassador in Italy.↩