Pineau

Hoover said that he and Allen Dulles agreed that “Pineau is desperately trying to stall for time.”

Eisenhower 1956 David A. Nichols 2011

On the 16th, Eden and Lloyd flew to Paris for a five-hour secret meeting with Mollet and Pineau, to work on the details of a war plan that included a role for the Israelis.74

Eisenhower 1956 David A. Nichols 2011

That concern became more concrete about 5:00 P.M., when Douglas Dillon reported from Paris that the loquacious Pineau had shared with him intelligence reports indicating that the Soviet Union was planning to station aircraft on Syrian bases and the foreign minister had urged quick action by the General Assembly to head off such an initiative.

Eisenhower 1956 David A. Nichols 2011

The secretary-general—knowing that the British cabinet was in session and that French premier Guy Mollet and Foreign Minister Christian Pineau were scheduled to arrive in London—shrewdly moved the deadline from 8:00 P.M., to midnight to give those leaders more time to consider their situation.

Eisenhower 1956 David A. Nichols 2011

Dillon had asked how the Israeli concern about Iraqi troops and Jordan figured into this; Pineau had replied that the focus on Jordan was “primarily a smokescreen to divert attention from the decision to undertake a joint operation against Egypt.”

Eisenhower 1956 David A. Nichols 2011

Pineau may have confused this alleged call with the one Eisenhower made to Eden on November 6, just after the cease-fire was announced.

Eisenhower 1956 David A. Nichols 2011

“The vital matter,” Pineau had argued, “was to prevent [the] Soviets from turning [the] present action into general war.”

Eisenhower 1956 David A. Nichols 2011

When Lloyd proved reluctant, Pineau flew to London on October 23 and persuaded Eden to sign off on the Dayan plan.

Eisenhower 1956 David A. Nichols 2011

Then Dulles called Eisenhower for approval to go to London, saying his subordinates believed that no one else could handle Eden, Foreign Minister Lloyd, and French foreign minister Pineau.

Eisenhower 1956 David A. Nichols 2011

In New York on Friday morning, Dulles confronted the British and French foreign ministers, Selwyn Lloyd and Christian Pineau, about their sudden decision to appeal to the United Nations.49 He raised questions “as to your real purpose” and quoted Eisenhower to the effect that “military measures would start a war which would be extremely difficult to bring to an end.”

Eisenhower 1956 David A. Nichols 2011