156. Informal Record of a Meeting, Secretary Dulles’ Office, Department of State, Washington, December 3, 1956, 11:07 a.m.1
PARTICIPANTS
- The Secretary
- The Under Secretary
- Mr. Murphy
- Mr. Henderson
- Mr. Elbrick
- Mr. Wilcox
- Mr. Phleger
- Mr. Rountree
- Mr. Bowie
- Mr. MacArthur
- Mr. Mathews
- Mr. Burdett
- Mr. Rockwell
- Mr. Wilkins
- Mr. Sisco
- Mr. Greene
Mr. Rountree reviewed the present situation in the Middle East to bring the Secretary up to date. He noted that one pressing question requiring US decision is aid to Jordan. We have asked the British for their views but we may have to move in the next few days to provide budgetary assistance to Jordan, some of which helps support the Arab Legion, in order to forestall a Soviet move. Another problem awaiting decision is the desire of Turkey and Iraq for US assistance in the form of military aircraft and radar. State and Defense agree and do not have any objection to the stationing of US air units including pilots in Turkey, although a definition of their mission is still needed. There is also no objection to radar units in Turkey. On Iraq there is no objection to radar but it is felt no US planes and pilots should be stationed there.
The Secretary concurred with these views on Turkey and Iraq and thought that the current definition of national defense missions might be expanded to accommodate a request by Turkey to NATO for air units to supplement their own air force. The Secretary also discussed the desirability of establishing a solid line to prevent Soviet airlift into Syria, possibly by some combination of NATO and Baghdad Pact countries.
[Page 367]A detailed paper by S/P and NEA outlining proposed actions was discussed at some length.2 The Secretary thought it overly ambitious to try to establish a charter for the Arab countries’ relations with the Atlantic Community; he thought it would be better to ride a rising tide of Arab nationalism by some such means as endorsement of the Arabs’ own efforts to maintain their independence and security against international communism and Western imperialism. He thought the US could give financial support to a balanced organization of Arab countries perhaps through some mechanism analogous to that of the Marshall Plan.
There was some discussion of Saudi Arabia taking the lead in establishing such an organization and bringing Turkey, Iran and Pakistan in; the Secretary thought it might be better to keep the organization Arab and noted that Turkey is already covered in NATO and Pakistan in SEATO; thus, there remains the problem only of Iran. It was also explained that while the long-term objective would be to get all the Arab states together, it might prove desirable as a preliminary step to exclude and thus isolate Egypt and Syria as a means of diminishing Nasser’s influence so that he could not aspire to take over leadership of the larger group.
S/P and NEA were to further redraft their paper, taking into account the discussion.
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 780.00/12–356. Secret. Drafted by Joseph N. Greene, Jr. The time of the meeting is from Dulles’ Appointment Book. (Princeton University, Dulles Papers)↩
- Reference is presumably to two papers forwarded to Secretary Dulles on November 30 under cover of a memorandum from Bowie. The two were also forwarded to Acting Secretary Hoover on December 1 under cover of a separate memorandum from Bowie. The first, entitled “Program To Counter Soviet Penetration in the Middle East,” according to the covering memorandum, reflected the views of the Bureau of Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs and the Policy Planning Staff. The second, “Proposal for Middle East Charter,” was drafted by Burdett and Mathews on November 30. (Both in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 62 D 181, CF 815) Presumably both papers were taken by Secretary Dulles when he left for the North Atlantic Council Ministerial meeting at Paris on December 8. Earlier drafts of the “Proposal for Middle East Charter” are in the form of draft memoranda from Rountree to Hoover, prepared by Burdett on November 26 and 29. (Ibid., L/UNA Files: Lot 62 D 205, International Security—Middle East Charter Nov. 1956)↩