271. Editorial Note
At the 273d meeting of the National Security Council on January 18, the Council adopted, apparently without discussion, the draft [Page 715] statement of policy contained in NSC 5601, supra. NSC 5601, as adopted and approved by the President in NSC Action No. 1504, was “referred for implementation to all appropriate executive departments and agencies of the U.S. Government, and to the Operations Coordinating Board as the coordinating agency.”
At the same meeting, Director of Central Intelligence Allen Dulles reported as follows during his briefing on significant world developments affecting U.S. security:
“The Director of Central Intelligence said that he had a word or two to say with respect to Yugoslavia although what he was going to say was not likely to change the Council’s decision on the previous agenda item since it was still the estimate of the intelligence community that Marshal Tito’s primary objective was to maintain the independence of Yugoslavia. Mr. Dulles then proceeded to cite the recent trade agreements between Yugoslavia and several of the Soviet Bloc countries. Mr. Dulles estimated that as a result of these agreements Yugoslav trade with the Bloc might rise from 20 per cent at the present time to perhaps 30 per cent in the next few years. He pointed out that before Yugoslavia broke away from the Soviet Bloc, 50 per cent of its foreign trade had been with the Bloc. Mr. Dulles next referred to Marshal Tito’s hostile remarks about the Baghdad Pact uttered in the communiqué with Colonel Nasser at the conclusion of Tito’s visit to Cairo. [6 lines of source text not declassified]” (Memorandum of discussion by Gleason; Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, NSC Records)