399. Letter From the Director of the Office of Near Eastern Affairs (Rockwell) to the Chargé in Jordan (Wright)1
Dear Ken: With King Hussein’s visit to Washington now a matter of history, I thought it might be useful to apprise you informally of some of the background developments connected with his trip.
As far as we can determine, all has gone well and there have been until now no major hitches. Apparently His Majesty enjoyed his brief stay in Hawaii, although Hawaiian hospitality was so extensive that His Majesty felt called upon to cancel a hurried air trip around the Islands. Our State Department representative at CINCPAC reports that our military authorities in Hawaii as well as the Governor spared no effort to make the King happy.
Although we and probably even the Jordanians may have had some forebodings as to the official discussions which would be held in Washington, our talks with the Jordanians were surprisingly cordial and smooth. You will be receiving copies of the various memoranda of conversation which deal with the substance of the talks. The King himself participated only in the discussion with the President and in the initial talk with Acting Secretary Herter. In the other discussions at the Department Samir el-Rifa’i ably expressed Jordanian views. There was common agreement that we had not come together to conduct any negotiations and this helped to clear the air. In our discussions of our over-all assistance to Jordan there was virtually nothing new. We were pleased to be able to indicate that the DLF loan for the phosphate company was approved in principle. Perhaps of greatest interest to the Jordanians was the revelation that we are prepared to follow up the Risden recommendations with a modest three-year military assistance program. Assistant Secretary of Defense Irwin orally conveyed the rough outlines of what we proposed to do by way of military aid but we avoided disclosing any priorities, time schedule, or any monetary implications. We hope to convey to the Jordanians in writing at a later date more precise information concerning our military assistance intentions but in general believe that much of the detail will have to be worked out through continuing consultations. What seemed to please the Jordanians more than anything else was the fact, subject to Congressional appropriations, that we are prepared to commit ourselves to a program of three years’ duration.
[Page 708]In his public appearances while in Washington, His Majesty conducted himself extremely well. He spoke at the National Press Club and made a TV appearance on “Face the Nation”. In both he produced highly diplomatic answers despite some very loaded questions. As you can imagine, there were quite a number of questions about the Arab-Israeli issue. The King answered most of them by resorting to a simple formula that it behooves the United Nations to find a “just solution” to this question. No amount of badgering moved him very far from this safe line. Other questions centered largely on general Middle East matters such as Iraq and Nasser. Your coaching and our own may have done some good but His Majesty found it difficult to avoid occasionally thinly veiled criticism of Nasser. For example, when asked about Iraq, his usual reply was that to appraise the Iraqi situation properly one must place it in a general area framework. He would then note that “certain governments” allowed communism to enter into the Arab world by accepting aid from the Soviets and in other ways cooperating with the Communist bloc. He would note that Jordan was first among those who recognized the Communist threat and inveighed against it. For their efforts, the Jordanians (the King) were violently attacked. Now these “certain governments” are preaching the same message which caused Jordan to be subjected to such heavy criticism. The newsmen, of course, found no difficulty in identifying Nasser as the primary target for the King’s critical remarks.
Publicity on the King’s visit has been unusually good. Even while he was in Washington and New York newspapers published pictures about his visit. All during his Washington stay, Washington and New York newspapers gave him a remarkable amount of space, particularly in the society columns. Even since his departure from Washington our papers have been covering quite adequately his visits to Annapolis, Norfolk, Williamsburg, and Knoxville. One of the reasons for this unusual amount of publicity no doubt is the fact that Americans are generally attracted by a youthful monarch. In addition, of course, many have heard of his great courage during the crisis of last summer. There also, of course, may be considerable interest in him as a potential rival in the Arab world to President Nasser of the United Arab Republic.
As far as his post-Washington tour is concerned, it apparently is going along satisfactorily. However, the King has been registering some complaints that the schedule is too crowded. Apparently he had in mind primarily a vacation tour with plenty of relaxation. In fact, the tour is not as crowded as that of most official visitors. [10 lines of source text not declassified] Also responsible undoubtedly is the fact that His Majesty’s personal habits have been to stay up late in talking sessions with his cronies and to rise late in the mornings. Today he is moving on to California where there are at least three nights free as well as all [Page 709] day Sunday. We would hope that in California his spirits will improve. Actually, almost all the places included on the King’s itinerary were those which he had suggested to you in Amman. Perhaps he did not realize at that time that visiting these various points of interest would sharply curtail time available for complete relaxation.
In your recent telegrams there has been considerable emphasis on the point that unless Rifa’i and the King come back with significant sums of money there may be political changes in Jordan. As you know, no significant additions have been made to our Jordanian assistance program as a result of this visit. Our impression, however, is that both the King and Rifa’i left Washington far from being displeased. On the contrary, they both seemed very happy. The impression given is that more important than actual quantities of assistance was the success which they achieved in selling themselves as upstanding friends of the West, deserving of full understanding and respect. The most friendly attention and publicity which they received undoubtedly gave them great personal satisfaction and encouragement. We would hope that this satisfaction will tide them over in the months ahead and encourage them to constructive leadership wherein the quantities of American assistance would be placed in proper perspective.
All in all, we feel the King’s trip was a success. We believe it is important that the Jordanians also have the same feeling and trust that in your discussions with the Jordanians you will be able to encourage them to consider the trip as having been successful. The psychological element is always an important factor and in this case it would be well if the Jordanians generally reached the conclusion that the visit to Washington by the King and the Prime Minister was highly worthwhile.
In closing, let me thank you for the fine work which you and your associates did in providing us with advance information which contributed significantly to the visit’s success. We will, of course, be interested in Jordanian reactions as you report them to us in the weeks ahead.
Sincerely yours,