740.5/11–651: Telegram
The Ambassador in France (Bruce) to the Department of State 1
priority
Secto 14.2 I. Fol is text MEC principles as provisionally agreed today between US UK and France (Deps Secto 8) for issuance by US UK France and Turks (possibly joined by South Africa, New Zealand and Australia).3
[Page 244]“In proceeding with their announced intention to establish the ME Command, the Govts of the US, UK, France and Turkey state they are guided by fol principles:
1. UN is world response to principle that peace is indivisible and security of all states is jeopardized by breaches of peace anywhere; at same time it is incumbent upon states of any area to be willing and able to undertake the initial defense of their area.
2. Def of the ME is vital to free world and its def against outside aggression can be secured only be cooperation of all interested states.
3. ME is intended to be center of cooperative efforts for def of area as a whole; achievement of peace and security in area thru the MEC will bring with it social and econ advancement.
4. A function of MEC will be to assist and support the states willing to join in the def of the ME and to develop capacity of each to play its proper role in def of area as a whole against outside aggression. It will not interfere in problems and disputes arising within the area.
5. The task of MEC at the outset will be primarily one of planning and providing the ME states on their request with assistance in the form of advice and training. It will also coordinate requests for arms and equipment submitted by states in the area willing to join in its def. Such assistance will be provided upon request by sponsoring states of MEC in a position to do so.
6. Supreme Allied Commander, ME, will command forces placed at his disposal and will develop plans for operations of all forces within area (or to be introduced into area) in time of war or international emergency. However, the placing of forces under command of SACME in peacetime is not prerequisite for joining in common effort for def of the ME. Movement of those troops placed under SACME’s command to or within the territories of states joining in def of ME will be made only with the agreement of the state or states concerned and in full accord with their national independence and sovereignty.
7. While details have yet to be formulated by the sponsoring states, at outset MEC will be an integrated Allied command and not a national command. The responsibility of SACME will be to ensure the effectiveness of the corporate def enterprise represented by the command. All states joining in this enterprise will become members on a basis of equality of the Middle East def liaison org which is to be the link between the command and the countries ready to join in the def of this area.
8. Any facilities granted to SACME in peacetime by states joining in the def of the ME will be the subj of specific agreements.
9. The broad mission of MEC and its cooperative character make it necessary that all states, whether territorially or not part of the [Page 245] area, act on basis of best interests of the cooperative def of area; MEC naturally will not further the national interest of any particular state.
10. Ultimate objective of MEC is to supply such deficiencies as exist at present in org and capacity for defense in the area so that the peacetime role of the states of the area in ME def will progessively increase, thus permitting the role of states not territorially part of ME to be reduced proportionately.
11. Sponsoring states of MEC do not regard initial form in which MEC will be organized as unchangeable; they believe MEC shld evolve in the manner which will enable it most effectively to provide for the def of the ME area as a whole.”
II. Above text still subj amendments but we must move fast to meet Nov 10 publication date which means form text by Nov 8. Both UK and France seem firm on wording above and US amendments shld be substantive since each change involves so many time consuming clearances.
III. Also provisionally agreed with UK and France is fol timetable.
1. Agreed draft of principles by Nov 8.
2. Instruct Arab caps (except Egypt) and Israel to arrange quadripartite approaches in most convenient manner to home govts on Nov 9 or as soon thereafter as possible. (Note: since door is still open for Egypt to accept proposals made to her she will not be made object of new quadripartite approach—Egypt will be merely informed principles as courtesy.)
3. Four powers to hand agreed principles to ME FonMins present Paris simultaneously with second stage above.
4. Four govts arrange publish statements Wash, Paris, Ankara and London.
IV. See Secto 15 for reaction to text by Turks FonMin.4
- Repeated to Ankara, London, Tel Aviv, Cairo, Jidda, Baghdad, Beirut, Damascus, and Amman.↩
- Acheson was in Paris between November 6–24 in connection with the opening of the Sixth Regular Session of the United Nations General Assembly. During the course of his stay, he took the opportunity to meet frequently with the Foreign Ministers of France and the United Kingdom to discuss outstanding problems facing the three countries.↩
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Between November 4–8, Acheson, Eden, and Schuman held a series of meetings to define common policy on the establishment of a Middle East Command using as a basis of discussion a draft proposal submitted by Eden on November 4 and transmitted to the Department in telegram Secto 4 on November 5. This proposal was redrafted on November 6 and sent to the Department in telegram Secto 8 of November 6, with Secretary Acheson’s editorial comments following the same day in telegram Secto 9 (740.5/11–551).
The Department of State on November 6 informally furnished the Office of the Secretary of Defense with its comment on a revision of the draft statement of principles, supra, prepared subsequent to the receipt of Secretary Acheson’s comments. The Secretary of Defense, under a covering letter dated November 7 to the Secretary of State, transmitted the revised draft statement as amended by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to which the Joint Chiefs of Staff from the military point of view perceived no objection. The Secretary of Defense concurred in the JCS version of the draft statement. The Joint Chiefs of Staff had deleted paragraph 6 of the Department of State revision and had amended paragraph 5 to read as follows:
“5. The task of the Middle East Command at the outset will be primarily one of planning and providing the Middle East states on their request with assistance in the form of advice and training. It will also coordinate requests for arms and equipment submitted by states in the area willing to join in its defense and will forward such requests, with recommendations of SACME, to sponsoring states of the Middle East Command which are in a position to provide such matériel.”
In telegram Tosec 13 of November 7, the Departments of State and Defense sent to Paris their version of the basic principles on the Middle East Command which, with several textual changes, was the same as the “Draft Statement … on the Basic Principles of the Middle East Command” submitted to the Department of Defense as the annex to Matthews’ letter to Lovett of October 31, supra. Tosec 13 noted that the Joint Chiefs of Staff perceived no objections to this Draft Statement from a military standpoint. (740.5/11–751)
↩ - Infra.↩