Editorial Note
In a letter of June 10 to Secretary of State Acheson, Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson referred to problems encountered by the Department of the Army in attempting to provide military equipment to the American Republics, as requested, and stated that it was considered that the Department had provided military assistance “to the limit of its available means under present conditions.” After mentioning (a) efforts to allow these countries to participate in Army procurement programs from commercial sources and (b) related activities by the Departments of the Air Force and the Navy, Mr. Johnson stated that favorable action by the Congress on the proposed Foreign Military Assistance legislation would provide a more satisfactory legal basis for a new Latin American assistance program, although it was anticipated that “financial and priority considerations” would severely limit such aid. Mr. Johnson suggested that any further matters of this sort requiring inter-agency coordination be channeled through the Foreign Assistance Correlation Committee. (810.24/6–1049)
Tables listing sales and transfers of military equipment to foreign countries including those in the Western Hemisphere, from V–J Day until August 1949, are printed in the Department of State Bulletin, September 26, 1949, pages 480–481.
Other documentation relating to United States policy concerning military collaboration under the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, not available for inclusion in this volume, is scheduled for inclusion in a subsequent volume of Foreign Relations.