751G.5/4–2554: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Secretary of State, at Geneva1
Tedul 4. Bonnet delivered text of Bidault’s reply to you2 late last night and we had a long discussion. I pointed out what the United States already had done and the impossibility of direct United States intervention without congressional authority, all of which I said you had already explained in detail to Bidault. I said that this authority could only be obtained as the result of a declaration of intention by the several nations most imminently threatened in Asia, in concert with ourselves, and that we had hoped that such a declaration would have been forthcoming before this. There had been delay and misunderstanding and it would be desirable for Bidault to impress upon Eden the sense of urgency and the necessity for concerted action which his message so clearly indicates and which we have stressed for some time. The President has been informed of the above and feels, as before, that concerted action is the only acceptable formula.
Just before sending this I read your Dulte 173 and believe I took exactly same line with Bonnet. I went somewhat further by emphasizing that an inglorious end to the French position in Indochina [Page 1404] would have inevitable effects on Morocco and Tunisia, and ultimately to the position of France among the free world powers, all of which gave us the gravest concern and was the reason for our willingness to respond to the extent of our ability to the requests we had received.