NEA Files: Lot 55–D36
Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of South Asian Affairs (Hare)
Substance of Response of the Acting Secretary to the British Ambassador, at the First Meeting on October 16, 1947
The Acting Secretary appreciated the helpful presentation of the British Ambassador. We were in agreement regarding Anglo-American coordination of approach in the area to which the Ambassador had so aptly referred as the “great crescent.”
We were also in accord regarding the importance to both our countries and to the cause of world peace that the British remain in [Page 569] the Middle East and that in order to do so they should have facilities in the area to make their position strategically tenable.
In respect of Cyrenaica we understood how important it is for the British to have bases there and elsewhere in the area, and we were prepared to take up Cyrenaica as the first item for discussion with a view to working out a common approach.