Office of the Historian

890E.00/159: Telegram

The Acting Secretary of State to the Diplomatic Agent and Consul General at Beirut (Wadsworth)

Washington, August 22, 1943—2 p.m.

220. Your 258, August 18, 6 p.m. Our action in respect of Syria and Lebanon has been guided by this Government’s established policy to defer recognition of another executive until:

1)
It is in possession of the machinery of State, administering the government with the assent of the people thereof
2)
It is in a position to fulfill the international obligations and responsibilities incumbent upon a sovereign state under treaties and international law.

We welcome the successful reestablishment of constitutional government in Syria as an important step toward the fulfillment of these conditions, but believe that there must be an effective transfer of substantial authority and power to the new government before serious consideration can be given to the extension of full recognition.

The local authorities should accordingly not be given the impression that full recognition of Syrian independence by this Government is to be expected in the near future.

Welles