Princeton University, H. Alexander Smith papers
No. 546
The Assistant Secretary of State for Far
Eastern Affairs (Allison) to Senator H. Alexander
Smith of New Jersey
My Dear Senator Smith: You have asked whether the Security Treaty with Australia and New Zealand, the Security Treaty with Japan, and the Mutual Defense Treaty with the Philippines would bind the United States to go to war in the event that any of these four countries is attacked by an outside power.
The Security Treaty with Australia and New Zealand and the Mutual Defense Treaty with the Philippines specifically state that each Party recognize that an armed attack in the Pacific area on any of the Parties would be dangerous to its own peace and safety and provide that in such an eventuality each Party would act to meet the common danger in accordance with its Constitutional processes. Thus, the United States would not be automatically drawn into a war involving these three countries.
The Security Treaty with Japan provides that the United States shall have the right to station forces in and about Japan and that such forces may be utilized to contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security in the Far East and to the security of Japan. The Treaty does not legally bind the United States to fight in the event that Japan is attacked; it simply makes available to the United States strategic bases and facilities for its use in the event that it determines to help defend Japan.
In considering these three treaties it should be borne in mind that they are not intended to involve the United States in a war; as [Page 1224] a matter of fact they are carefully worded to avoid any automatic involvement on the part of the United States. The essential purpose of these treaties is to deter any would-be aggressor from attacking certain countries which the United States considers to be of the utmost importance to its own security. In effect, the treaties serve notice on such a would-be aggressor that the United States is deeply concerned with the maintenance of peace and security in this area and will take appropriate steps to help maintain peace and security in the event of an armed attack on the area.
Sincerely yours,