KRA ISTHMUS

Your telegram 763 of 1st December. [1] At a meeting this morning
the Prime Minister [2] stressed the importance of not seizing the
Peninsula without United States backing even if such backing were
only moral support.

His line was that to anticipate the Japanese on the Peninsula, if
the Japanese had not attacked Thailand elsewhere, would give
handle to isolationists in the United States to maintain that we
were aggressors thus weakening our claim to American support if
the Japanese attacked Thailand. The Chiefs of Staff view as to the
strategic importance of the Peninsula is that its seizure by the
Japanese would be serious but not too serious if political
considerations precluded our anticipating them. The above may be
some background to the telegram the Dominions Office sending
tonight. [3]

BRUCE