250. Editorial Note
During a discussion of Middle East problems on November 21 between President Eisenhower and Secretary of the Treasury Humphrey, Acting Secretary of State Hoover, Acting Secretary of Defense Robertson, Director of Central Intelligence Allen Dulles, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Allen Dulles, and other officials, the President noted the importance of Saudi Arabia. A memorandum of the conversation by Goodpaster reads in part as follows: [Page 405]
“The President reiterated his feeling that we should work toward building up King Saud as a major figure in the Middle Eastern area. He thought we should probably search for some way to induce the British to get out of Buraimi. He thought that we must make sure that Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq at least are aware of what we are doing, and give their assent. We must explain a number of points to them very carefully. We must prevent the dissolution of Western Europe, and once withdrawal from the Suez has begun, we must let them know that we are going to aid Western Europe financially. We must stress the importance of restoring Saud’s oil markets in Western Europe. If we raise output from the U.S., it will be very hard to cut back. If at all possible, we should use Buraimi as an ace in the hole. We must face the question, what must we do in Europe and then the question, how do we square this with the Arabs?” (Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, DDE Diaries)