Why the United States was unlikely to be surprised at Suez

Was Eisenhower simply lucky at Suez because the crisis could have produced disastrous consequences for the United States?

The panel argues that allied staff integration gave the United States substantial awareness and room to respond whichever way the operation developed.

The panel rejects the idea that the United States had no practical warning of the 1956 Suez operation. NATO arrangements placed British and American officers inside one another's Atlantic amphibious staffs, giving them direct exposure to ports, planning activity, and force preparation. An experienced US Marine officer working amid a major British concentration would be expected to recognize what was happening even without formal political disclosure. The distinction is between Washington disapproving of the operation and American military personnel being physically unable to observe its preparations.