Office of the Historian

357. Memorandum From the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the Secretary of Defense (Wilson)1

Washington,October 26, 1955.

SUBJECT

  • Deterrence of Major Armed Conflict Between Israel and Egypt or Other Arab States
1.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff submit herewith their views regarding a document entitled “Draft Revision Proposed as a Substitute for Paragraphs 10–13 of the Supplementary Statement of Policy in NSC 5428,”2 which was prepared by the National Security Council Planning Board for consideration by the National Security Council at its meeting on Thursday, 27 October 1955.3
2.
In their memorandum to you dated 19 October 1955, subject as above, the Joint Chiefs of Staff4 submitted comments on the previous Planning Board draft report dated 17 October 1955.5 They note that, in general, the substance of their comments has been incorporated in the draft revisions now under consideration.
3.
Subparagraph 10 A d. The wording of this bracketed subparagraph is the same as that recommended by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in their memorandum referred to above. For the reasons previously given, they favor the retention of this possible course of action in the statement of policy to be contained in paragraph 10 A.
4.
Subparagraph 10 B. This paragraph proposed by the Department of State indicates that, since economic actions may not be adequate [Page 650] for the purpose, a study should be initiated now to determine the desirability and feasibility of taking military action, including a blockade. A study undertaken at this time, with respect to military actions other than a blockade, would necessarily be based not only upon many imponderables but also upon the assumptions the validity of which would be open to question. The Joint Chiefs of Staff have previously pointed out that a decision to take such military action or to refrain from doing so should be made in the light of the situation then existing. The desirability and feasibility of such action would be taken into consideration in making that decision. For these reasons, the Joint Chiefs of Staff would recommend the deletion of this paragraph from the policy. This deletion would in no way affect the continuing planning function of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
5.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff recommend that, subject to the foregoing comments, you concur in the draft revised paragraphs.

For the Joint Chiefs of Staff:

Arthur Radford6
Chairman
  1. Source: Department of State,S/S–NSC Files: Lot 63 D 351,NSC 5428 Memos (Nov–Dec. 1955). Top Secret. The source text is a copy which Lay circulated on October 26 as an enclosure to a memorandum to the members of the National Security Council as well as to the Secretary of the Treasury, the Attorney General, the Special Assistant to the President on Disarmament, the Director of the Bureau of the Budget, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, and the Director of Central Intelligence.↩
  2. See the enclosure to Document 351.↩
  3. See Document 361.↩
  4. Document 344.↩
  5. See the enclosure to Document 340.↩
  6. Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.↩