Office of the Historian

186. Memorandum of a Conversation, Department of State, Washington, July 17, 11:30 a.m.1

Washington, July 17, 11:30 a.m.

SUBJECT

  • U.S. Statement in Support of British Troop Move to Jordan

PARTICIPANTS

  • UK
    • Foreign Secretary Selwyn Lloyd
    • Admiral Denny, NATO Standing Group
    • Marshal of the RAF Dickson
    • Sir William Hayter, Foreign Office
    • Lord Hood, British Chargé d’Affaires
    • Mr. Roger Jackling, British Embassy Mr. Willie Morris, British Embassy
    • Mr. Denis Laskey, Private Secretary to FM
    • Mr. Donald Logan, Foreign Office
  • US
    • Secretary of State
    • Secretary of Defense
    • General Nathan Twining
    • Mr. Allen Dulles
    • General W. Wisenand
    • Under Secretary Herter
    • C—Mr. Frederick Reinhardt
    • NEA—Mr. William M. Rountree
    • EUR—Mr. C. Burke Elbrick
    • IO—Mr. Francis Wilcox
    • NE—Mr. Stuart Rockwell
    • NE—Mr. David Newsom

The Secretary and Mr. Lloyd agreed upon the following statement to be given out by the State Department spokesman: [Page 318]

“The United States Government supports the action of the Government of the United Kingdom in responding affirmatively to the urgent appeal of Jordan for assistance in the defense of Jordan’s independence and integrity. The United States believes that this is a justified exercise of the inherent right of nations to call for assistance when threatened.”2

In the course of drafting the statement, there was considerable discussion of the final sentence. The Secretary said, in discussing the “inherent right of nations to call for assistance,” he was thinking of Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.3 He said other arrangements by which the U.S. had troops in foreign countries were not reported to the United Nations, although generally the bilateral agreement on which the arrangements were based were reported to the United Nations. In emphasizing the threat to Jordan in the statement, he said he was conscious of the possibility of Soviet troops being sent to Syria at the request of the UAR and wanted to differentiate between action taken when a nation was threatened and that taken when there was no threat.4

  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 785.00/7–1758. Secret; Limit Distribution. Drafted by Newsom. The conversations at 11:30 a.m. on this and other aspects of the Middle East crisis were the first conversations of Lloyd’s visit, which began on July 17 and continued until July 20. For additional information on Lloyd’s visit, see footnote 1, Document 153.↩
  2. In addition to releasing this statement through the Department Spokesman, the Department sent a circular of the announcement to the principal posts in Europe and the Middle East for immediate release in those countries. (Circular telegram 62; Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 63 D 123, CF 1050)↩
  3. See footnote 4, Document 106.↩
  4. Later in this meeting, the group discussed the necessity to present to the U.N. Security Council that afternoon the British case for intervening in Jordan, and U.S. support for the British intervention. Dulles agreed that Lodge should provide a strong statement of support, but felt that an effort should be made to keep the Lebanon and Jordan matters separate. (Memorandum of conversation; Department of State, Central Files, 785.00/7–1758; included in the microfiche supplement) When the Security Council convened at 3 p.m., U.K. Representative Sir Pierson Dixon reported the dispatch of U.K. military forces to Jordan in response to a request from the King of Jordan. U.S. Representative Lodge expressed strong support for U.K. military assistance to Jordan, which he said pointed up the need for the United Nations to cope with the serious problem of indirect aggression in the area. Texts of these statements are printed in American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1958, pp. 982–987.

    The group also discussed U.K. military objectives in Jordan, which were described as limited to establishing security in the region in and around Amman, and in a related discussion considered the urgent need for increased fuel supplies for Jordan. (Memoranda of conversations; Department of State, Central Files, 785.58/7–1758 and 885.2553/7–1758, respectively; included in the microfiche supplement)

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