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    "localId": "486501118",
    "label": "Report, Central Intelligence Agency, Ireland, Situation Report 48",
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    "id": "486501118",
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    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Report, Central Intelligence Agency, Ireland, Situation Report 48",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/486501118",
    "collections": [
        "President's Secretary's Files (Truman Administration)",
        "Intelligence Files"
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    "productionDates": [
        {
            "day": 1,
            "logicalDate": "1949-04-01",
            "month": 4,
            "year": 1949
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{
    "seq": 33,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
    "url": "https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-psf/602196/875515/875515-02-033.tif",
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    "ocrText": "SECRET\nCHAPTER V\nSTRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS AFFECTING UNITED STATES SECURITY\nIreland is potentially a valuable ally because of its strategic location athwart the\nchief seaways and airways to and from Western Europe. Its terrain and topography\nlend themselves to rapid construction of airfields which would be invaluable as bases\nfor strategic bomber attacks as far east as the Ural Mountains. Defense of such bases\nfrom air attack by European-based planes would be greatly facilitated by the need for\nsuch planes to cross the anti-aircraft defenses of Great Britain. Naval and naval air\nbases in Ireland would extend the range and effectiveness of anti-submarine and con-\nvoy protection operations in the southwestern approaches to the United Kingdom and\nin the Eastern Atlantic generally. Availability of such bases would therefore be of\ngreatest value in the conduct of United States naval operations.\nAlthough Ireland's most important wartime contribution would be the use of its\nterritory, its potential manpower contribution is not inconsiderable. Lacking heavy\nindustry, Ireland would have little to offer economically beyond its usual agricultural\noutput.\nThe military inconvenience of Irish neutrality was amply demonstrated in World\nWar II. Irish neutrality would probably again be tolerable under conditions of global\nwarfare. However, and assuming these conditions, because hostile forces in Ireland\nwould outflank the main defenses of Great Britain, and because it could be used as a\nbase for bombing North America, the denial of Ireland to an enemy is an unavoidable\nprinciple of United States security.\n31\nSECRET"
}