Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, Near East Region; Iran; Iraq, Volume XII

128. Memorandum From the Secretary of Defense (Wilson) to the Executive Secretary of the National Security Council (Lay)¹

Washington, May 15, 1956.

SUBJECT

• U.S. Adherence to the Baghdad Pact

REFERENCES

• 1. Memo from the JCS to the Sec Def, subject as above, dated 23 March 1956²
• 2. Memo from the Sec Def to the Executive Secretary, NSC, subject as above, dated 5 April 1956³
• 3. Letter from the Sec Def to the Secretary of State, dated 6 [5] April 1956⁴
• 4. Letter from the Secretary of State to the Sec Def, dated 23 April 1956⁵

1. This is in reference to my memorandum of 5 April 1956. I have subsequently received a letter from the Secretary of State in which he advises that immediate adherence by the United States to the Baghdad Pact would be politically inadvisable.

2. It is also my understanding that a review of NSC 5428 (U.S. Objectives and Policies with Respect to the Near East)⁶ is presently pending before the National Security Council. Because of this pending review and the views of the Secretary of State, and in consideration of the recommendation of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that adherence to the Pact is desirable from a military point of view, I recommend that the problem be considered by the National Security Council sometime during the latter part of 1956 to determine the desirability of announcing U.S. adherence during the January 1957 meeting of the Pact Council.⁷

CE. Wilson⁸

1. Source: Department of State, S/P–NSC Files: Lot 61 D 167, Near East. Top Secret.
2. Document 104.
3. This memorandum transmitted Document 104 to the NSC.
4. Document 109.
5. Document 126.
6. Foreign Relations, 1952–1954, vol. IX, Part 1, p. 525.
7. In a May 24 memorandum to the National Security Council, Lay indicated that Wilson’s memorandum of May 15 had been submitted to the President for consideration and that the President had on May 24 postponed the review of NSC 5428 directed in NSC Action No. 1447–c (see footnote 5, Document 66) and agreed to review U.S. adherence to the Baghdad Pact in late 1956. (Department of State, S/P–NSC Files: Lot 61 D 167, Near East)
8. Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.