795.00/7–750
Memorandum by Mr. John Foster Dulles, Consultant to the Secretary of State, to the Secretary of State
Mr. Hickerson has shown me the draft of proposed Security Council resolution1 requesting U.S. and other members to make forces and other assistance available to a unified command under the United States and requesting the United States to designate the commander of such forces.
I assume that General MacArthur would be designated.
In view of the extreme delicacy of the present situation; the importance of preventing the Korean fighting from developing into a world war; the importance of maintaining the confidence of the other members of the Security Council that their resolutions will be scrupulously complied with; and in view of the factors which you and I discussed with the President, I suggest that the President might want to emphasize by personal message to General MacArthur the delicate nature of the responsibilities which he will now be carrying, not only on behalf of the United States but on behalf of the United Nations, and the importance of instructing his staff to comply scrupulously with political and military limitations and instructions which may be sent, the reasons for which may not always be immediately apparent but which will often have behind them political considerations of gravity.
- The text of the resolution is printed, infra.↩