Topaz - Leon Uris [88]
October, 1956
André Devereaux and United States Ambassador Rawlins met Marshall McKittrick at Orly Field. The matter was so urgent that the two Americans were briefed in the limousine en route to Paris.
“In four hours,” André said, “we are issuing a joint ultimatum with the British for Egypt and Israel to cease fire and recognize a demarcation line ten kilometers from the Canal.”
“A unilateral action?”
“Yes.”
“Are you in league with the Israelis?”
“I don’t know,” André answered. “I am advising you that if the cease-fire is not accepted, a joint French-British Expeditionary Force, now gathering in Cyprus, will move in and seize the Canal.”
The reaction of the Americans was to accept the news with studied calm and to digest it in terms of their own situation. France and Britain could well be dragging America into a war without consultation.
“You people might have given us a day’s notice,” McKittrick said at last.
“I would suspect we didn’t want to be talked out of the action,” André answered.
“Well, we’ve got a busy afternoon,” the Ambassador said.
“What is expected of the United States?” McKittrick asked.
“As an ally, to recognize our position and understand that we do this in the international interest.”
As Ambassador Rawlins and Marshall McKittrick plunged into the business of advising Washington and awaiting instructions, André reported to a Vice Administrator of SDECE, Colonel Gabriel Brune, that the United States had been informed of the pending action.
As one of the last shows of naked, old-fashioned imperialism shaped up, the information reached the President of the United States, who hastily summoned his advisers.
The position seemed clear. France and Britain were traditional allies, who needed international controls returned to the Suez Canal or continue to be at the mercy of the Egyptian dictator, Gamal Abdel Nasser. France had further brief to overthrow Nasser for his overt sympathy and help to the Algerian rebels.
The West, in general, was deeply concerned over Nasser’s flirtation with the Soviet Union, the massive importation of Soviet arms to Egypt, and the frightening specter that the Soviet Union would break through to the Mediterranean.
As for Israel, the invasion of Sinai became a necessity for national survival, to stop the harassments from Egypt and to check the buildup of Soviet-supplied weapons. And finally, Israel needed to break open the blockade of the Red Sea for use as a sea lane to Asia.
The entire operation smelled of collusion between French-British interests and Israel. But this, obviously, was to remain a secret and a mystery for another decade.
Three and a half hours after his arrival in Paris and a half-hour before the cease-fire ultimatum, André Devereaux entered the Ambassador’s office in the American Embassy.
“The position of the United States,” the Ambassador said, “is to act as though we have not been informed of your intention to seize the Canal. After the cease-fire ultimatum and your invasion we will officially pronounce surprise and indignation. In any event, we must not appear partners to this venture. This will allow us the freedom to stand off the Soviet Union as fellow neutrals.”
“Now for Christ’s sake,” McKittrick added, “take that god-damned Canal in the next seventy-two hours. It must be an accomplished fact, because after that we’ll have to back any United Nations aggression charges against you. Get that Canal first and then we can talk it to death.”
The American position was reported to Colonel Brune at almost the same moment the cease-fire ultimatum was being delivered to Nasser and Ben-Gurion.
Nasser rejected the ultimatum, and a war fever swept London and Paris as British and French planes bombed the Egyptian airfields in prelude to invasion while their joint expeditionary force set sail from Cyprus.
André’s personal knowledge of these events ended with his delivery of the message from the Americans.
These were the days before La Croix’s formal ascent to power. Although the official heart of the executive