153. Editorial Note
President Eisenhower met with President Franco of Spain in Madrid on December 22 and reviewed for him his good will trip. The President discussed Afghanistan as follows:
“The President then spoke of his brief visit to Afghanistan. He said it was the poorest country he has seen anywhere. Two or three families seemed to rule the country, making it an oligarchy rather than an absolute monarchy. The King, for example, has two relatives who are Royal Highnesses, and are in addition, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister respectively. Understandably, the ruling group is very anxious for outside financial help and a lot of this is coming to them from the Soviet Union. Afghanistan is a crossroads of the East, and the Soviets can and do pinpoint their aid to try to get control of the country. The President recalled that he had come in on an airfield built by the Soviets (it was not a good airfield like the one at Torrejon) and was escorted in by Soviet MIG’s manned by Afghanistan pilots and on the field there were Soviet bombers given to Afghanistan.
“The Afghans say that they can remain independent and that their purpose is to remain neutral. The President doesn’t see how this can be done, for while the royal family may continue to stay on in power, the Soviets are gradually bringing roads through and around the country and through other construction are also getting more and more of a grip on the nation and in time the President thought it would be likely to become Soviet dominated. However, there is one cause for hope and that was that almost every citizen of Kabul, a large city, was out on the street when the President arrived to greet him, pushing forward eagerly to show the warmth of their welcome. This seemed to imply that the people wanted to stay independent.” (Memorandum of conversation by William N. Fraleigh; Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1521)
At a meeting with Congressional leaders on January 11, Eisenhower reported on his good will visit, including the following observations on Afghanistan:
“The President [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] mentioned the Soviet influence in this country and the poverty. He mentioned the disadvantage of the fact that the government is run as a family business. He expressed doubt as to the realism of their agreement to accept extensive aid of the Soviets without being influenced politically. He recognized, however, that the Afghans are a tough and independent people.” (Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, DDE Diaries)
Eisenhower recalled his trip to Afghanistan in his memoir, The White House Years: Waging Peace, 1956–1961 (Garden City, NY, 1965), pages 497–499.