Office of the Historian

176. Telegram From the Office of the Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to the Department of State1

Paris, September 5, 1956—8 p.m.

Polto 461. Suez. As indicated in reporting telegram on N.A.C. meeting on Suez this afternoon,2 U.S. did not participate in discussion except to endorse communiqué proposed by Secretary-General.

After meeting Lloyd protested somewhat to me at our failure to participate… .

I did not feel I could say anything except to endorse the Dulles plan now being discussed by five in Cairo, and that U.S. endorsement of Dulles plan was unnecessary and superfluous. If I had spoken and said no more, the implication of failure to support British and French positions might have been worse than keeping quiet. It was also difficult to take the floor and not respond to some of the statements made … . It seemed to me that to initiate any such argument was quite undesirable at this time, ran the risk of publicity about disputes in N.A.T.O. and might have encouraged participation by others and led the discussion much further than [Page 392] U.S. wanted it to go. It should be [noted] that no other permanent representative participated in any point.

Perkins
  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 974.7301/9–556. Secret; Limit Distribution. Received at 6:13 p.m. Repeated to London.↩
  2. Polto 462, September 5, not printed. (Ibid., 740.5/9–556)↩