Mission Completed

Shrewd, good-humored James Prioleau Richards, special ambassador and onetime (1933-56) South Carolina Congressman, charged by the President with explaining the Eisenhower Doctrine to the Mideast governments, got a sudden change in signals last week. While Richards was in Greece, the word came through from the White House: Come Home.

The official reason for the recall was that the President wants Democrat Richards to take part in a bipartisan meeting on foreign aid at the White House. But beyond that was a factor that at once highlighted the success of the Richards tour and limited its future usefulness. A few days earlier, the U.S. Sixth Fleet, dispatched to the Eastern Mediterranean to "hold up the hand" of Jordan's King Hussein against his enemies, churned the waters from Syria to Egypt in a dramatic display of U.S. might. At the same time Jordan requested--and Washington immediately supplied--a $10 million grant to strengthen young King Hussein's struggle to rid his country of Communists and pro-Nasser extremists. Key Jordanian stipulation, to which the U.S. readily agreed: the U.S. money must be explicitly separate from doctrine funds. Moreover, said King Hussein, Jordan "had no intention" of inviting Richards to discuss the doctrine.

Eleven Approvals. The reason was evident. As Dick Richards ticked off success after success on his tour, Cairo and Moscow propagandists howled that both doctrine and its ambassador were the very embodiment of U.S. "colonialism," and King Hussein could not be expected to counter this impression among Jordanians in a week.

Thus, the very nature of his success elsewhere made Richards dangerous to Jordan. By pressing on King Hussein for an invitation to visit, or even by remaining in the area any longer, he would serve only to weaken the King's hand.

Richards had piled up a remarkable record during his harddriving, eight-week trip. Of the 13 countries he visited, eleven wholeheartedly bought into the doctrine or registered their general approval. Among the outright subscribers are the four Baghdad Pact members (Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan) and Greece. Saudi Arabia, with Lebanon, Libya and Ethiopia, have signed policy declarations expressing opposition to international Communism. Afghanistan, more circumspect because of neighboring Russia, welcomed the overall U.S. objective in the Middle East--national independence and economic betterment.

Two Holdouts. Israel, like Jordan, has implicitly subscribed to the doctrine without actually saying so, for internal reasons. The two holdouts are the Sudan and Yemen, both of which gave the mission a chilly reception. But neither flatly rejected the plan; in each country the door still remains open.

The net effect has been to isolate Egypt and Syria--whose fulminations against the doctrine were capped by their refusal to discuss it with Ambassador Richards--from their neighbors. More important, by the Richards mission the U.S. has set up a shield between the Middle East and Russia. Editorialized the New York Times: "The widespread acceptance [of the plan] has converted it from a unilateral American declaration . . . into a multilateral alignment which . . . rests on a common policy of defense against Communism."

As Ambassador Richards read his comeback orders, Washington flashed a new order to the Sixth Fleet. From the Pentagon to Fleet Commander Charles Randall Brown went the word: Mission accomplished; withdraw to the Central Mediterranean. Within hours "Cat" Brown and some 30 of his warships--including the giant carrier Forrestal--had pivoted hard west and were headed for Italian waters, where they will join in NATO exercises this week.

The object of the withdrawal was to demonstrate that the U.S., after its show of the flag in the Eastern Mediterranean, is confident of King Hussein's stability. But, just to make sure, the Pentagon ordered five Sixth Fleet transports, loaded with U.S. Marines and protected by a screen of destroyers, to remain behind for "fire-brigade duty" if the threat of war should flare again.

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