641.74/11–2451: Telegram
The Ambassador in Egypt (Caffery) to the Department of State 1
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754. I found Stevenson in black despair yesterday. Events, he said, in canal zone are headed straight for an explosion to be followed by reoccupation of Egypt which inevitably will be followed by the British being thrown out of Egypt forever. I told him that things were not yet quite that bad.
Stevenson who is basically an intelligent man with good sound judgment has been pushed hither and yon by the Generals and one of his advisors and has made various recommendations which he now knows to be unsound and unreal and he hates to face the facts. However, he is now prepared to face them and I believe we may come up with joint approach that will make sense (mytel 749, Nov 23).2 An example of his difficulties is a new attempt of the military to shut off fuel oil. Stevenson knows that nothing could help the Communists more or hurt the British more than that particular manoeuver. Nevertheless, the military are pressing and are endeavoring to get it [Page 425] again before the London Cabinet.3 As I have remarked before, if the military shut off fuel oil again, let’s stop talking about finding a solution.
- Repeated to London, Paris for MacArthur, Rome for Acheson. The Secretary was in Rome to attend the Eighth Session of the North Atlantic Council, November 24–28; for documentation, see vol. iii, pt. 1, pp. 693 ff.↩
- Not printed.↩
- In telegram 2488 from London, November 24, Ambassador Gifford reported that British military authorities at Suez had been authorized to reinstitute a partial ban on oil shipments to the extent of stopping rail traffic 1 day in 7 and road traffic for 6 hours 1 day in 7. The measure had been authorized by Prime Minister Churchill on the grounds that British personnel checking oil shipments needed a respite from Egyptian terrorism. Gifford added that the Foreign Office had stated that should oil stocks fall to a danger level, the ban would be reexamined. (641.74/11–2451) In telegram 756 from Cairo, November 24, Caffery reported Stevenson’s reception of the Churchill decision with the words “‘they have defeated me’.” Caffery concluded by repeating and emphasizing the last sentence of the source text. (641.74/11–2451)↩