10, Downing Street,                     
 
                            Whitehall.                      
 
                          May 21, 1944.                     
 
                                                            
 
 
                   My dear Mr. President,                   
 
                                                            
 
 
Many thanks for letting me see General Hurley's memorandum 
      on Persia, which I am returning to you herewith as requested. 
      I am sorry to have delayed answering it, but several Departments 
      of State had to be consulted on the points which it raised. The 
      General seems to have some ideas about British imperialism which 
      I confess make me rub my eyes. He makes out, for example, that 
      there is an irrepressible conflict between imperialism and democracy. 
      I make bold, however, to suggest that British imperialism has 
      spread and is spreading democracy more widely than any other 
        system of government since the beginning of time.   
 
                                                            
 
 
As regards Persia, however, I do not think that "British 
      imperialism" enters into the picture. It is true that we, 
      like the United States, are inevitably concerned about our strategic 
      supplies of oil, the more so because, unlike the United States, 
      we have no metropolitan sources. From the same security point 
      of view, we have responsibilities which we