Foreign Relations of the United States, 1947, General; The United Nations, Volume I

SWNCC Files

Statement Presented by the Department of State to the State–War–Navy Coordinating Committee ¹

confidential
SWNCC 219/16

[Washington,] March 17, 1947.

Implementation of General Assembly Resolution Regarding the Presence of Armed Forces Stationed on Territory of Other Members

the problem

1. To determine what action the United States should take with reference to the recommendation made by the General Assembly regarding the presence of armed forces on the territory of other Members of the United Nations.

facts bearing on the problem

2. The General Assembly of the United Nations on December 14, 1946 passed by acclamation a resolution on the Principles Governing the General Regulation and Reduction of Armaments (A/267)² which contained in paragraph 7 the following recommendation:

“It (the General Assembly) recommends the Members to undertake … the withdrawal without delay of armed forces stationed in the territories of Members without their consent freely and publicly expressed in treaties or agreements consistent with the Charter and not contradicting international agreements.”

3. This recommendation grew out of an Egyptian proposal³ to add a somewhat similar provision to a resolution calling for certain information about the armed forces of Member States on foreign territory which the Soviet Government introduced first in the Security Council and later in the General Assembly in the hope that it would prove embarrassing to the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom. The Soviet proposal was introduced in the Security Council on August 29, 1946 (S/144),⁴ but after debate a majority of the members of that body voted not to place the matter on the Council’s agenda. The Soviet Government then introduced a similar resolution in the General Assembly,⁵ but that body adopted in place of it the part of the reduction of armaments resolution quoted above and a resolution (A/269) calling upon the Security Council to determine, as soon as possible, the information which UN Members should be called upon to furnish in order to give effect to the regulation of armaments resolution.⁶

4. As frequently stated by the President and the Secretary of State and more recently by the President in his speech on October 23, 1946,⁷ it is the policy of the United States to support the United Nations with all the resources in its possession. While never formally expressed, this policy would appear to imply that the United States will endeavor to comply with all recommendations of the General Assembly. Furthermore, compliance with the Assembly’s resolution would serve to disarm any criticism leveled at the U.S. by a state intent on exploiting this country’s inaction in the matter. While there are a number of cases in which armed forces of the United States are stationed on the territory of other Members without published agreements, it is believed that the negotiating and publishing of such agreements will, for the most part, involve only routine negotiations. For these reasons, the United States should seek to comply with the recommendation of the General Assembly.

5. The term “armed forces” as used in this recommendation might be interpreted to cover all uniformed members of armed services or to cover only troops intended for or prepared for combat. The broad interpretation is preferable since it was the interpretation most generally used in the course of the debate and since a restricted interpretation might make possible adverse propaganda such as has been directed against the United States in the past. Members of the offices of Military and Naval Attachés, however, can be excluded from this definition since their presence is justified by international custom and is covered by the issuance of visas and by agréments.

6. Fulfillment of the requirements of the General Assembly Resolution that consent shall be “freely and publicly expressed in treaties or agreements” may be achieved by the conclusion of formal treaties or agreements, by an exchange of notes, or by the release of a joint communiqué. It may be the policy of the United States in some instances to negotiate a formal treaty with another state covering the presence of U.S. armed personnel in that nation’s territory; in such cases no further agreements would need to be obtained to implement the General Assembly Resolution. However, in other instances, the preferable method of satisfying the Resolution’s requirements would be by the aforesaid exchange of notes, a procedure which has the additional advantage of providing documents appropriate for registration with the United Nations Secretariat. Where this is impracticable, a joint communiqué by the governments concerned might be sufficient. To serve its purpose, such an exchange of notes, or communiqués, should indicate that the U.S. armed force personnel stationed in the territory of the other member State have been and continue to be so stationed with the consent of the government concerned, should mention already published agreements covering the presence of any of them, and wherever such is the case, should mention that the number is small and that no combat troops are included. Wherever it would prove difficult to arrange for the negotiation of an exchange of notes or a joint communiqué, an effort should be made to find some other acceptable method by which the requirements of the recommendation could be satisfied.

7. It is recommended that each exchange of notes be registered with the Secretariat of the United Nations which would automatically publish them in its regular series. This procedure would fulfill the requirements of the General Assembly Resolution passed on December 14, 1946 entitled “Registration and Publication of Treaties and International Agreements; Regulation to Give Effect To Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations.”⁸

8. It is suggested that conversations with the British Government for an exchange of notes or for a joint communiqué precede negotiations with other governments in order that the former may be acquainted with the general procedure which the United States intends to follow.

9. It would appear to be desirable to arrange for the registration of the exchange of notes as they are negotiated. Since the recommendation of the General Assembly was passed on December 14, 1946, the negotiations of the agreements should be consummated with a minimum of delay. It would be reasonable to fix June 1 as the target date prior to which all notes and communiqués should be negotiated.

10. When comprehensive information on the subject was last assembled, it was found that the United States was maintaining armed force personnel in 57 territories of United Nations Member States, but that in only 20 out of such territories were all of the personnel covered by published agreements, and it was estimated that arrangements would have to be made with 19 separate governments to cover all the armed force personnel in the remainder of such territories. Since considerable changes in that situation may now have occurred, and since information is lacking concerning the withdrawals which are likely to take place during the next six months, it would be desirable to obtain from the War, Navy and Treasury Departments the latest information which they can furnish describing the numbers, locations and types of armed force personnel stationed on the territories of other Member States, the types of activities in which such personnel are engaged, any covering agreements which have been made on the military level, and the withdrawals contemplated during the next six months.

conclusions

11. It is concluded that:

a. In each case where all of the uniformed members of the armed forces (other than members of Military, Naval, or Air Attachés’ offices) are not covered by published agreements, arrangements should be made for the negotiation of an exchange of notes between the United States and the other government concerned, or where this may be impracticable, the conclusion of a joint communiqué (see Appendices “A” and “B”⁹). If neither of these methods appears feasible, other methods of satisfying the requirements of the General Assembly Resolution on armaments should be canvassed by the Department of State in conjunction with the other departments concerned. Registration with United Nations Secretariat should be effected upon the conclusion of each exchange of notes.

b. Negotiations with the British Government for the negotiation of an exchange of notes or a joint communiqué should precede negotiations with other governments in order that the former may be acquainted with the general procedure which the United States intends to follow.

c. The War, Navy, and Treasury Departments at an early date should supply the State Department with the latest information which can be provided describing the numbers, locations, and types of U.S. armed force personnel stationed on foreign territory, the types of activities in which such personnel are engaged, any covering agreements which have been made on the military level, and the withdrawals contemplated during the next six months.

d. August 1¹⁰ should be fixed as the target date by which all agreements shall have been concluded and registered.

12. It is recommended that:

a. SWNCC approve the above conclusions.

b. After approval by SWNCC, copies of this paper be forwarded to the State, War, and Navy Departments for information and appropriate implementation and to the Joint Chiefs of Staff for information. The responsibility for obtaining from the Treasury Department information concerning any Coast Guard personnel on the territory of other Member States should be assigned to the State Department.

1. Approved by informal action of the Committee on May 27.
2. Foreign Relations, 1946, Vol. i, p. 1099.
3. For text, see United Nations, Official Records of the General Assembly, First Session, Second Part, First Committee, p. 160.
4. For text, see telegram 527 from New York, August 29, 1946, Foreign Relations, 1946, Vol. i, p. 892.
5. For text, see telegram 831 from New York, November 21, 1946, Ibid., p. 1030.
6. For text, see telegram 962 from New York, December 13, 1946, Foreign Relations, 1946, Vol. i, p. 1099.
7. For the text of President Truman’s address to the opening meeting of the Second Part of the First Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, October 23, 1946, see the Department of State Bulletin, November 3, 1946, pp. 808–812.
8. GA (II), Resolutions, pp. 189–194.
9. Neither printed.
10. At the time it approved this paper, the Committee amended this paragraph to specify August 1 in lieu of June 1.