IO Files: US/S/1616
Memorandum of Conversation, by Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Member of the United States Delegation to the General Assembly
Subject: Possible Use of the Atomic Bomb in Korea
| Participants: | Dr. Jamil M. Baroody,1 Delegation of Saudi Arabia |
| Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, United States Delegation |
After the meeting of the Third Committee2 this morning, Dr. Baroody spoke to me with deep emotion about the President’s announcement of yesterday concerning the possible use of the atomic bomb in Korea. Dr. Baroody said that this matter had been discussed at great length among representatives of all the “little countries” and that he would be grateful if I would transmit their views to the President.
Dr. Baroody said that the delegations representing the Near East and Asia were profoundly distressed and disturbed over the President’s announcement that he was considering the possibility of using the atomic bomb against the Chinese Communists. The word “possibility” would disappear by the time the announcement reached Asia, and people would hear only that the United States intended to use the atomic bomb against the Chinese Communists. The people of the whole Asiatic continent would never understand why the American people had decided to use the atomic bomb against them. They would regard it as an action of the white race against the colored races. They would never forget that the atomic bomb was used first against the Japanese and later against the Chinese, but never against any white peoples. This fact would have a disastrous effect upon the relations of the United States with the rest of the world for years to come. He said that everything possible should be done to prevent such a disaster.
I replied that I quite agreed that the atomic bomb was a terrible weapon but that I had to point out that other weapons were also terrible in their effect; indeed, war itself was a terrible thing. Whether the atomic bomb should be used in Korea would have to be decided entirely in terms of the military situation at a particular time; that would be true of any kind of weapon. I added that I hoped that it would not be necessary to use the atomic bomb in Korea.