6. Letter From the Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (Irwin) to the Deputy Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (Murphy)1
Dear Mr. Murphy: On 8 November 1957, the Secretary of State, in a memorandum for the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff,2 requested that the Joint Chiefs of Staff prepare, on an urgent basis, a plan for possible combined U.S.–U.K. military intervention in event of an imminent or actual coup d’etat in Jordan and/or Lebanon.
Such a plan has been prepared by representatives of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the British Chiefs of Staff. It has been reviewed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and found to be a suitable basis for the conduct of detailed operational planning. The Joint Chiefs of Staff consider, however, that the premature dissemination of this sensitive information to the level at which coordinated operational planning would be conducted might compromise the plan and jeopardize the U.S. position both in the United Nations and with the remainder of the Arab World. Accordingly, they consider that coordinated U.S.–U.K. operational planning should not be conducted at this time.
[Page 10]Subject to State Department concurrence, Mr. Quarles has approved the recommendation of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that no detailed coordinated U.S.–U.K. operational planning in support of this plan be conducted at this time. Your views are requested.
Upon receipt of your reply,3 the Joint Chiefs of Staff will provide appropriate information to the British Chiefs of Staff.
Sincerely yours,
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 785.00/2–658. Top Secret.↩
- Not found.↩
- On March 19, G. Frederick Reinhardt, replying for Murphy, sent a letter to Irwin indicating that the Department concurred in the view of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that no detailed, coordinated U.S.-U.K. operational planning in support of the overall plan was advisable at the time. (Department of State, Central Files, 785.00/2–658)↩