Ex-secretary of Air Force Testifies on “eisenhower Doctrine”

Former Secretary of the Air Force Thomas K, Finletter testifying today before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on President Eisenhower’s planned policy for the Middle East, suggested that the proposals make it clear that the United States will not return to the. “policies and conditions of the days before the Israeli attack.”

Mr. Finletter told the committee that he thought the Eisenhower resolution was defective in not clarifying that the U.S. is bound by “certain principles in our dealings with peoples of the Near East on which we are not going to compromise. ” He said among these principles which the Eisenhower resolution should commit itself to upholding are:

1. Opposition to aggression or preparations for aggression by either Israel or the Arab states.

2. Maintenance of uninterrupted use of the Suez Canal to ships of all nations.

3. Non-acceptance of the economic and social warfare currently being carried on against Israel and against Americans and others of the Jewish faith.

Mr. Finletter told the committee that he thought U.S. policy in the Middle East was a “total failure” when Arabs discriminate against U. S. citizens. He called for a “diplomacy of principle” whether or not it displeases nations of the area.

Warning against programs which would allow the returning of conditions of the time prior to Israel’s invasion of Egypt, Mr. Finletter said if the U.S. commits itself to upholding basic principles in the area, it would have a better chance of reducing Soviet penetration and stabilizing good relations with the people of the area and of restoring relations with the allies of the free world.

U.S. tentative support of the Akaba area and the Gaza Strip occupation by the United Nations Emergency Force and by indications of U.S.Government support for keeping UN forces on the Israel-Arab boundaries was encouraging, he stated.