Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, The Near and Middle East, Volume IX, Part 2

774.5 MSP/8–1354

No. 1356
The Director of the Foreign Operations Administration (Stassen) to the Secretary of State

secret

Washington, August 18, 1954.

Dear Mr. Secretary: There is transmitted herewith, in accordance with the instructions of the President, a copy of his Memorandum of Determination with respect to grant military assistance to Egypt.

For your information, there are also attached copies of the following additional documents pertaining to this transaction:

1. My memorandum of recommendation to the President.¹

2. My letters to the Chairman of the Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees of the Senate and the Foreign Affairs and Armed Services Committees of the House of Representatives.²

Sincerely yours,

Harold E. Stassen

[Enclosure]

August 12, 1954.

Memorandum for the Director of the Foreign Operations Administration³

Subject:

• Grant Military Assistance to Egypt

In accordance with the recommendation contained in your memorandum of August 12, 1954,⁴ and in order to authorize the furnishing of additional forms of military assistance to Egypt, I hereby remove the limitation contained in the second paragraph of my memorandum to you dated March 14, 1953,⁵ in which I found Egypt eligible for limited military assistance, and I further find that plans and arrangements agreed to between Egypt and the United Kingdom regarding the Suez Base are important to the defense of the Near East and require Egypt to take an important part therein. The furnishing of such additional forms of military assistance shall be subject to the conclusion of the agreement required by law with Egypt, which shall include a firm commitment that no military assistance furnished by the United States shall be used to undertake any act of aggression against any nation.

This determination shall remain secret until an appropriate time for its disclosure is reached in discussions with the Egyptian Government.

The Secretaries of State and Defense and Director of the Bureau of the Budget are to be notified by you of this determination. You will also notify the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

1. Not printed; this memorandum is attached, however, to the record copy of this letter.
2. None printed. a copy of these letters was also attached to the record copy of this letter.
3. The course of action presented to the President in this memorandum had the support of representatives of the Departments of State and Defense and of the Directors of the Bureau of the Budget and the Foreign Operations Administration.
4. Not printed; see footnote 1, above.
5. See the attachment to Stassen’s letter of Mar. 14, 1953, to the Secretary of State, Document 1120.