Extract from a confidential report from Robert Brennan to Joseph P. Walshe (Dublin)
(219/3)

The delay in Hitler's projected invasion of England is raising hopes here that the British will be able to withstand the shock and may not be defeated after all. The consequence, as Anne O'Hare McCormick¹ points out in her article in the New York Times of July 29th, is a decided step up in the desire to help the British in every possible way. Further, it encourages the idea that the war may be a long one and, therefore, that American aid in output of planes and munitions may contribute to the ultimate defeat of Germany. The cutting of the U.S. supplies of oil and scrap metal, though primarily aimed at Japan, is also considered a help to England by depriving Germany of supplies through Spain.

The extension of the British blockade to include Spain and Portugal, though it adversely affects American trade interests, was received here not merely with equanimity but almost with applause.

[matter omitted]