149. Memorandum From Secretary of Defense Gates to President Eisenhower0
SUBJECT
- French Cooperation on Defense Matters
There is considerable evidence, both in terms of French actions and statements of responsible leaders, that the French Government is following a calculated policy of non-cooperation in defense matters. Without question this policy flows from President De Gaulle.
The French actions which substantiate this view are: (1) Advocating coordinated military efforts rather than unified control. This has [Page 316] resulted in almost a complete block to integrated air defense. (2) Refusal to accept any atomic stockpile on French soil. This has forced the United States to withdraw elements of the strike force from France. (3) Withdrawal of important elements of French naval forces from SACEUR command and institution of effort toward coordinated fleet movements. (4) Lack of cooperation on infrastructure matters.
That this is a calculated program seems apparent from comments of French military and political authorities. M. Guillamat, in conversation with me on the evening of Wednesday, December 16, requested that military discussions in the NATO Council not be extended.1 Further discussion was useless, he said, since he could not alter France’s position; he was acting on instructions from higher authority. Ambassador Alphand, prior to our departure from Washington, made a similar statement to Mr. Irwin, speaking of the difficulty our two countries were having with respect to cooperation in defense matters.1 Both Guillamat and Alphand recommended that you speak frankly on these issues with President de Gaulle.
The foregoing supports the conclusion that discussion between you and President De Gaulle in the frankest terms offers the only possibility of securing French cooperation to our philosophy of unified defense or of clarifying the basic issues that concern President de Gaulle. I recommend this course of action.