Office of the Historian

464. Memorandum of a Conversation, Department of State, Washington, October 15, 19571

Washington, October 15, 1957

SUBJECT

  • U.S.-U.K. Memorandum of Understanding Concerning Military Assistance to Iraq
[Page 1069]

PARTICIPANTS

  • U.S.
    • The Secretary
    • Stuart W. Rockwell, NE
    • John Dorman, NE
  • U.K.
    • Selwyn Lloyd, British Foreign Secretary
    • Sir Harold Caccia, British Ambassador
    • Viscount Samuel Hood, Minister, British Embassy
    • Willie Morris, First Secretary, British Embassy
    • Denis Laskey, Private Secretary/ Foreign Secretary

The Secretary began the discussion of this item by referring to the 1954 memorandum of understanding between the United States and the United Kingdom with regard to the furnishing of military assistance to Iraq. He said that we are under strong pressure to provide assistance to the Iraqi Air Force and that other problems have arisen in connection with this memorandum. Mr. Rockwell described the principal aspects of the arrangement which were causing difficulty, and suggested that if the Secretary and the Foreign Secretary agreed, a group of officers from the British Embassy and the Department, and perhaps also American and British military officers, might meet to discuss ways in which greater flexibility under the memorandum might be achieved without departing from the substance of the arrangement.

Mr. Selwyn Lloyd said that he had no objection and the Secretary added that such a procedure would be agreeable to him. It was accordingly agreed that discussions would take place.2

  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 787.5–MSP/10–1557. Confidential. Drafted by Rockwell.↩
  2. After discussion between the Departments of Defense and State, negotiations began between U.S. and British representatives on the subject of air assistance to Iraq, extending into 1958. In June 1958, the United States established an air force section in its MAAG mission in Iraq. Documentation on this subject is ibid., 787.5–MSP.↩