795.00/3–1152
The Secretary of State to the President
top secret
[Washington,] March 11, 1952.
Dear Mr. President: This is a brief report on developments in my field since you went away.1
- 1.
- The Communist campaign against us, charging that we have engaged in biological warfare, has been making headway in the Asian countries. We thought it necessary to take some further step to counteract it. After conferring with General Ridgway, I sent off last night a letter to the President of the International Red Cross, the text of which follows this message to you.2 We plan to release it when it has been delivered and to plug this heavily on the Voice of America and other media.
- 2.
- General Ridgway is worried about economic deterioration and mounting inflation in Korea and has asked for a top negotiator to work out agreements with the Korean Government to improve matters. We are talking with the Pentagon today and will suggest a joint approach to Joseph Dodge to do this for us.
- 3.
- We are also concerned about the stalemate which the truce negotiations seem to have reached. We are conferring with the Pentagon and will do so with General Ridgway who is now at Munsan. We hope to have a joint recommendation for you soon.
[Here follow paragraphs 4 and 5 in which the Secretary of State reported on the Batista Revolution in Cuba and the Soviet Union’s note [Page 80] of March 10 enclosing proposed principles for a peace treaty with a united Germany.]
Respectfully yours,
Dean
Acheson