Crossroads of Confidence

Once again the foundations of U.S. diplomatic policy in the Middle East were under test.

Well before his plane touched down in Turkey for the Baghdad Pact council meeting it had become clear that U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles was going to have to do something more than his official role as U.S. "observer" suggested. Some of the pact's Middle East members had decided that there was not much point in belonging to a club that offered few, if any, tangible benefits. What Iran wanted from the pact, its delegates made clear, was U.S. economic and military aid--and plenty of it.

Iraq's grey eminence, ex-Premier Nuri asSaid, who had risked most in making Iraq the only Arab nation to join the pact, came to Ankara with more specific demands. The U.S., Nuri insisted, must make up its mind to become a full member of the Baghdad Pact. He also wanted the U.S. to espouse a settlement for Palestine which would cut Israel back to its 1947 borders. Nuri hinted that if his demands were not met, Iraq's interest in staying in the pact would be scant indeed.

Turkey's Premier Adnan Menderes, a man who does not scare easily, took Nuri seriously enough to fly off to Baghdad for a hasty conference with Iraq's influential Crown Prince Abdul Illah; on his return, he looked anything but happy. The U.S. quietly withdrew an advance text of Dulles' opening speech. Plainly, the Baghdad powers had reached a crossroads of confidence, would not be content with the platitudes of sympathy and support.

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