President Eisenhower was said here today as having decided to prevent the carving up of Jordan by Syria and Iraq and also to put Israel on notice that the United States opposes any possible Israeli move against Jordan.
The official explanation for ordering the U.S. Sixth Fleet to move immediately to the Eastern Mediterranean was that it might be necessary to remove American nationals from the trouble zone. Privately, however, authorities indicated it was a show of force to restrain Egypt, Syria and Israel. The State Department said that the movement of the Sixth Fleet to the Mediterranean “represents a return of the fleet to where it has customarily been stationed in the last six months.”
The State Department also issued a statement with regard to Jordan, emphasizing that “the independence and integrity” of Jordan is threatened by “international Communism.” It stressed the fact that the U.S. Congress has passed a resolution on the Middle East which stated that the preservation of the independence and integrity of the nations of the Middle East was vital to the national interests of the United States and to world peace.
President Eisenhower, vacationing in Georgia, was in telephone communication again today with Secretary of State Dulles on the Jordanian crisis. There was some speculation here that Congressional leaders may be consulted.
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