10. Memorandum of Telephone Conversation Between President Eisenhower and Secretary of State Dulles0
TELEPHONE CALL TO THE PRESIDENT
I told the President that further examination into the Okinawa situation had led us to conclude that the moment was not opportune actually to propose a return to the Japanese Government of administrative control in Okinawa. Our military dispositions were at present scattered all around the island in a way which was incompatible with our limiting our jurisdiction to one or two enclaves. MacArthur concurred in the view that it would not be wise to move in this matter at the present time.
I said to the President that I felt that the military people should start on a program which might take three to five years to rearrange their affairs on Okinawa so as to facilitate subsequently a return to the Japanese of most of the administrative responsibilities over the Okinawan people. [Page 22] I recalled in this connection that the Nash report1 had recommended a wider dispersal in the Pacific of some facilities now on Okinawa. The President said he thought this was a sound approach. He said he did not want to take it up in the NSC meeting but that I should explain this situation to McElroy and say that the President approved some such program and felt that unless we got in a position to do this we would have on our hands in a few years a Cyprus situation that would make our position there untenable or at least far from secure.