Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 55 Part 2.djvu/676

 1550 INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS OTHER THAN TREATIES [55 STAT. and independence of Iceland should be preserved because of the fact that any occupation of Iceland by a power whose only too clearly apparent plans for world conquest include the domination of the peoples of the New World would at once directly menace the security of the entire Western Hemisphere. It is for that reason that in response to your message, the Govern- ment of the United States will send immediately troops to supplement and eventually to replace the British forces now there. The steps so taken by the Government of the United States are taken in full recognition of the sovereignty and independence of Ice- land and with the clear understanding that American military or naval forces sent to Iceland will in no wise interfere in the slightest degree with the internal and domestic affairs of the Icelandic people; and with the further understanding that immediately upon the termi- nation of the present international emergency, all such military and naval forces will be at once withdrawn leaving the people of Iceland and their Government in full sovereign control of their own territory. The people of Iceland hold a proud position among the democracies of the world, with a historic tradition of freedom and of individual liberty which is more than a thousand years old. It is, therefore, all the more appropriate that in response to your message, the Govern- ment of the United States, while undertaking this defensive measure for the preservation of the independence and security of the democra- cies of the New World should at the same time be afforded the privi- lege of cooperating in this manner with your Government in the de- fense of the historic democracy of Iceland. I am communicating this message, for their information, to the Gov- ernments of all of the other nations of the Western Hemisphere.

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