Office of the Historian

510. Telegram From the Secretary of State to the Department of State1

Lima, July 26, 1956—6 p.m.

Dulte 4. Eyes only Acting Secretary and MacArthur. When does Secretary-General leave Near East and what is your present thinking regarding release stockpile statement?

I expect to have press conference Tuesday2 and assume Aswan Dam will be a principal topic. On this assumption I wonder whether it would not be useful either on Monday3 or at press conference to make stockpile statement so as to give further insight of our policies for the area and indicate that the Aswan Dam decision is not a mere isolated incident but one facet of Near East planning.4

Dulles
  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 711.6/7–2656. Top Secret. Drafted by Secretary Dulles. Received at 9:03 p.m. Dulles was in Lima representing President Eisenhower at the inauguration of President Prado.↩
  2. July 31.↩
  3. July 30.↩
  4. Assistant Secretary Allen, in a memorandum dated July 30, recommended to Secretary Dulles that he defer making a public statement on “Stockpile”, on the grounds that the Arabs in general and the Egyptians in particular would interpret such a statment as being essentially pro-Israeli and anti-Egyptian and might, in light of Nasser’s decision to nationalize the Suez Canal, increase the likehood of additional Arab actions against the West. (Department of State, S/S–NEA Files: Lot 61 D 417, Omega #10)↩