Conference files, lot 60 D 627, CP 386
Telegraphic Report by the Deputy Secretary of Defense (Anderson)1
Defto 242. Nine power meeting which Hensel and I attended with Secretary Dulles yesterday was successful and NATO meeting to be held this afternoon should proceed smoothly. State Department has reported details in full.2
During discussion of protocol establishing arms agency Mendes-France approached U.S. delegation with proposal that U.S. agree to distribution of military aid by Brussels Treaty agency, along lines [Page 1420] employed in Marshall Plan. Secretary Dulles ably presented U.S. position, indicating that U.S. Government had to retain full authority over distribution and utilization of end items provided by U.S. taxpayers. In addition he could see no reason for establishment of additional elaborate machinery to be superimposed on existing MAAG structure and NATO relationships. Mendes-France attempted to obtain U.S. acquiescence to future acceptance of French proposal, and Secretary Dulles skillfully rebutted by indicating only that U.S. was, as always, prepared to adapt its processes and procedures for the administration of end item aid, when and if an effective agency was developed and after we saw what its role would be and how it would relate to the existing NATO procedures.
Final text adopted indicates only that the Brussels Council shall transmit to its arms agency “information received from the governments of the U.S. and Canada respecting military aid to be furnished to the forces on the mainland of Europe of members of the Western European Union”. Ambassador Dillon indicated that he felt this statement, which will be made available in the record, represented a sufficient additional expression of U.S. position for Mendes-France’s purposes.
Protocol establishing maximum force levels for Brussels nations was recast to refer to force levels stipulated in EDC protocol. After uneasy discussion between French and Germans as to nature of proposed protocol. Germans desired inclusion of maximum manpower figures whereas French wanted to include figures of maximum numbers of divisions which would show an eighteen dash twelve ratio between France and Germany. Believe end product most satisfactory from all points of view, especially since it obviates security problem which would have been raised by the publication of actual maximum force figures.
On General Collins’ suggestion Secretary Dulles proposed and the Nine Powers agreed to include in the protocol modifying the Brussels treaty a phrase as follows: “Recognizing the undesirability of duplicating the military staff of NATO, the Council and its agency will rely on the appropriate military authorities of NATO for information and advice on military matters”.
The French dragged out their arms pool proposal once again and after tough discussion, with Dutch taking the lead, it was agreed that a Working Group would be convened on January 17 to consider the French proposals made in London on this matter. French had originally desired conference to be called on December 1 which, as the Dutch rightly pointed out, would have placed parliamentary action in ratifying the various protocols in the shadow of the action by said conference.
In consideration NATO resolution, which was eventually passed [Page 1421] without difficulty, French proposed establishment common schools and training under the Brussels Council. This proposition was defeated by Secretary Dulles referring to the point earlier agreed for inclusion in the protocol to the Brussels Treaty as reported above and to paragraph 13 of the resolution strengthening NATO, which paragraph had been inserted on the insistence of the French in the Working Group.
Mendes-France indicated that he will commence the ratification process with his parliament on three November with a prospect of completion before the end of the year. Martino, Italian Foreign Minister, stated that even with an ordre d’urgence he could not complete Italian parliamentary action before the end of February. Spaak stated he hoped to complete Belgian process in first half of January.
While NATO meeting remains to be completed, signature of various documents has been scheduled for Saturday afternoon and pending unforeseen and unfortunate circumstances entire package should be concluded by late tomorrow afternoon.
- Transmitted to the Department of Defense as telegram Defto 242, Oct. 22, with instructions that it be delivered to Secretary Wilson and Admiral Radford; copies were also sent to the Department of State and the Foreign Operations Administration.↩
- For two telegraphic summaries of this meeting by the U.S. Delegation, see supra and p. 1415.↩