April 14, 1950
S/S
The Secretary said that at Cabinet meeting this morning the President raised the matter of the NSC paper on arms for the Arabs. The President said that he was sending a letter to the agencies concerned, referring it back to the NSC for further study. The President said he thought that the paper was much too one-sided and that it would cause trouble.
The Secretary said that he thought there were three points to consider:
1. The military necessity for arming the Egyptians.
2. The fact that we were not doing what we should to arm the Jews appropriately. The President said that he had this point in mind and Secretary Johnson said that he now understood the President's viewpoint on this.
3. Trouble would be allayed if the British, French and the United States could get non-aggression declarations from the Middle East countries which could be announced. These declarations would have to go beyond the use of these particular arms in question. The Secretary said that the President was much interested in this idea.
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