85. Memorandum From the Under Secretary of State (Hoover) to the Secretary of State1
I concur in the attached memorandum from Mr. Allen.2
At the Budget hearings on November 30, in the presence of Department of Defense officials, I expressed the view of the Department of State in the strongest possible terms of the necessity for increasing military strength in the Bagdad Pact area, especially in Iraq, Iran, and Pakistan. I expressed the opinion that the Department did not believe that the appropriations requested of Congress for FY 57 would provide the requisite degree of backing unless expenditures were to be made from other accounts which were not indicated in the presentation.
The Department of State, to my intimate knowledge, has had continuous difference of opinion over the period of the last two years while I have been in the Department, with Defense officials regarding appropriate military levels in many of the Middle East countries. This point of view has been presented by the Department of State on many occasions before the National Security Council in connection with Middle East papers.
You will recall on several occasions that the President had personally requested Defense and the JCS to consider expanded force levels in this area. So far, no action has been forthcoming.