Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, The Near and Middle East, Volume IX, Part 2

780.5/1–2954

No. 1403
Memorandum by the Director of the Foreign Operations Administration (Stassen) to the President¹

top secret

Washington, January 22, 1954.

Subject:

• Grant Military Assistance for Iraq

Attachments:

a.

Letter from the Under Secretary of State to the Director of Foreign Operations Administration dated January 15, 1954,² and

b.

Copy of letter from the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs to the Secretary of State dated January 4, 1954³

The attached letters from the Departments of State and Defense recommend that the President make a determination that Iraq meets the requirements for grant military assistance which are prescribed by Section 202(b) of the Mutual Security Act of 1951, as amended. Under this Section, the President may authorize the provision of military aid, if he finds it essential to the purposes of the Act, to any nation in the general area of the Near East and Africa which he determines to be of direct importance to the defense of the area and whose increased ability to defend itself is important to the security of the United States.

It is my belief that a grant aid program for Iraq would serve the purposes of the Mutual Security Act, both on an immediate bilateral basis and potentially with Iraq as a member of a Northern Tier defense arrangement, which might also include Turkey, Iran and Pakistan. The strategic importance of Iraq has been recognized by the National Security Council in NSC 155/1 which advocates limited military assistance for these countries. The Department of Defense proposes an initial program of $10 million for Iraq, and this proposal is endorsed by the Department of State. A program of this amount would be funded from the $30 million provided specifically by the Congress for use in the Middle East under Section 202(b) of the Mutual Security Act of 1951, as amended.

I concur in the recommendation that Iraq be granted military assistance and recommend that the President sign the attached determination. Since Section 202(b) requires that four Committees of the Congress be notified whenever such a determination is made, there is also attached for your signature suggested letters to these Committees giving the necessary notification.⁴

Harold E. Stassen

1. The source text was attached to a letter from Stassen to the Secretary of State, dated Jan. 29, notifying him that the President agreed Iraq should receive military assistance. Also attached to the letter was a copy of a memorandum by the President to the Director of the Foreign Operations Administration, dated Jan. 26. The memorandum informed Stassen that the President found Iraq of direct importance to the defense of the Near East area. Since the increased ability of Iraq to defend itself was important to the security of the United States, the President had found it essential for the purpose of the Mutual Security Act of 1951, as amended, that the Government of Iraq be provided with military assistance according to the provisions of the Mutual Defense Assistance Act of 1949, as amended. The Secretaries of State and Defense and the Director of the Bureau of the Budget were to be notified by the Director of the Foreign Operations Administration of the Presidential determination. (780.5/1–2954)
2. Supra.
3. Not printed, but see footnote 3, supra.
4. Not printed.