155. Editorial Note

During a meeting with the President on August 3, Secretary Dulles, having reviewed developments on disarmament at London, turned to the situation in Oman. That portion of Dulles’ memorandum of the conversation reads as follows:

“I then spoke of the situation in Oman. I said I was greatly concerned that it could not be quickly wound up as a minor incident but that the Arab world would be drawn in in opposition to the UK, Nasser would have a new chance to assert Arab leadership, and we would be caught between our desire to maintain an influence in some of the Arab countries, notably Saudi Arabia, and our desire to maintain good ties with the UK. A small scale Suez might be in the making. I said it was some mystery about the decision to use ground troops. Selwyn Lloyd told me on Monday [July 29] that this was out of the question, and on Wednesday night Macmillan and Lloyd had said nothing to indicate that they expected to use ground troops, although Macmillan had indicated they were going to clean the matter up within ten days. The President said that what had happened confirmed the often demonstrated fact that conventional air power alone was not decisive. The President shared my concern at the prospects.” (Eisenhower Library, Dulles Papers, Meetings with the President)