Ike wanted a clear message sent to Moscow that the Middle East now formed part of America’s beat in the world, and from now on America would police it. This policy “involves certain burdens and indeed risks for the United States,” he solemnly noted. But Americans had already given “billions of dollars and thousands of precious lives” to the cause of freedom in Europe and Asia. The United States would expand its sphere of influence to ensure unfettered access to the black gold beneath the sands of Arabia. In early March Congress overwhelmingly passed the resolution.
