225. Editorial Note

On September 22, President Eisenhower addressed the U.N. General Assembly. His comments concerning the Congo read as follows:

“In response to the call of the Republic of the Congo, the United Nations, under its outstanding Secretary General, has recently mounted a large-scale effort to provide that new Republic with help. That effort has been flagrantly attacked by a few nations which wish to prolong strife in the Congo for their own purposes. The criticism directed by these nations against the Secretary-General, who has honourably and effectively fulfilled the mandate which he received from the United Nations, is nothing less than a direct attack upon the United Nations itself. In my opinion the Secretary-General has earned the support and the gratitude of every peace-loving nation.

“The people of the Congo are entitled to build up their country in peace and freedom. Intervention by other nations in their internal affairs would deny them that right and create a focus of conflict in the heart of Africa. The issue thus posed in the Congo could well arise elsewhere in Africa. The resolution of this issue will determine whether the United Nations is able to protect not only the new nations of Africa, but also other countries against outside pressures.”

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The President also made several proposals relating to Africa which pertained to the Congo; see Document 34. For the record of the meeting, see U.N. doc. A/PV.868; the text of the speech is printed in American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1960, pages 60–70.