ABSTRACT
The recognition of Eritrea’s importance to the imperial network of the United States required a general consensus within the military-industrial establishment on the precise definition of American interests in Eritrea—the retention and steady expansion of those crucial communications facilities. The American Embassy correctly appraised the Ethiopian actions in Eritrea as methodical and calculated, rather than as a reflection of that state’s failure to understand Eritrean sentiments. The occurrences surrounding the September 1952 promulgation of the new Eritrean constitution had sobered the mood of the nationalist forces, generating a pervasive pessimism with an overlay of confusion and disorganization. In early June 1956, sensing the imminent downfall of the federation, Ibrahim Sultan informed the American Consulate that, if US assistance was not forthcoming, Eritrea would seek succor from other states—including the Soviet Union and various Arab states. A degree of deniability of the American presence in Eritrea was provided by Israel, which had supplied Ethiopia with counterinsurgency experts from the mid-sixties.
