251. Summary Notes of the 569th Meeting of the National Security Council1
Problems ahead in Europe
Secretary Rusk: The hearing on the Mansfield resolution calling for U. S. troop re-deployment from Europe went well.2 The Committee will not now press for adoption of the resolution.
The President, arriving at 12:50 P.M., said the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the problems we face down the road in our relations with Europe. Other meetings will discuss three issues of key importance which are not to be taken up today, i.e., the Kennedy Round, the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and the European financial discussions.
Under Secretary Katzenbach: The State Department paper (copy attached)3 is candid in discussing problems and possibilities. Many of our difficulties are financial or economic. We need a detailed study of whether mutual troop withdrawals from Europe are in the U.S. interest.
General Wheeler: The Joint Chiefs are reviewing their earlier study of mutual troop withdrawals.
Under Secretary Katzenbach: It is necessary for us to convince Europeans that they must increase their economic assistance to the Third World. The current NATO study is turning out to be interesting. A further study must be made of the problems of British admission to the Common Market. We are “living with” the problems which arise out of the desire of European states to play a larger role.
The President: Chancellor Kiesinger made a point about a greater consultation with the United States. He said the quantity of information exchanged is adequate, but the quality is not. We should study closely the choices available to us which are pointed up by the current NATO review.
Secretary McNamara: The quality of our consultation on nuclear matters with our allies has been poor for the last ten years, but we are improving it.
[Page 572]Secretary Fowler: The State Department paper is discouraging. In addition, it overlooks our major problem, i.e., can we live with actions which our European allies are taking in the field of financial affairs? Is it possible for us to reach a rational financial accommodation with the Common Market? Can we halt a process which during the last eight years has led to our reserves going down and theirs going way up? We are carrying on constant consultation with our NATO allies but this isn’t producing a solution.
France is trying either to expel us completely from Europe or at least to diminish our power there. The French may even use the Common Market to achieve this objective. We must face up to the problem of how to make a coordinated effort in which all U.S. departments and agencies participate to induce Germany and Italy to separate themselves from the French effort to use the Common Market against the United States. Treas-ury views on this problem will be presented in a paper for circulation to the Council.
The President: On our recent European trip4 we spent a great deal of time on this problem and we will continue to do so. However, it is doubtful that acceptable solutions can be found.
Secretary Fowler: The French have been trying to use the Common Market structure for the past five years in an effort to diminish our economic, political, and military influence. This French effort in Europe affects our ability to be effective in other parts of the world.
The President: The Vice President has been working on this problem. Perhaps he has views on how we go about finding a solution. It is doubtful that the Europeans will agree to arrangements offsetting the cost of U.S. divisions now deployed in Europe.
The Vice President: Europeans have rejected the world after the loss of their colonies. They resent U.S. power. detente is what they want. Their young people are causing many problems. The Soviets are still actively seeking the dissolution of NATO.
We should review carefully our exchange of persons program. Its emphasis should be on the young. No one over 40 should be brought to the United States under the program.
We should get the Europeans involved in conferences on subjects other than foreign policy; for example, Interior Secretary Udall’s participation in the conference on air pollution. The conference on mass transportation is another example. We should organize conferences which approach problems on a functional basis; for example, low income housing, education, urban affairs.
[Page 573]The Europeans are selfish. We should challenge them to participate in the world outside their borders. We must keep pounding at them on this problem.
The President: We are doing this. Only the press is saying that we are overemphasizing Asia and are oriented toward Asia. Special missions have been sent and should continue to be sent to Europe.
Under Secretary Katzenbach: We must involve the people of Europe and get the public to put pressure on their governments.
Secretary Fowler: It is not enough for us to limit our activity to discussions by U.S. Ambassadors at the top level of foreign governments.
The President: We should not be so defensive in our approach. We should tell the Europeans of our problems and of their responsibilities.
The Vice President: All legislative delegations going to Europe should be carefully and fully briefed to ensure that what they say fits in with our policy objectives.
The President: The study we are making of mutual troop withdrawals should clearly spell out the choices we have. How can we persuade Europe to contribute more to the defense effort and how can we persuade our Congress to support our current participation in NATO? Should we call a conference on how to distribute fairly the cost of maintaining NATO forces with a view to getting firm commitments from our European allies? A showdown in this country is coming soon. What do we do if the Kennedy Round negotiations fail, if our trilateral financial discussions do not produce a satisfactory solution, and if NATO study does not produce a satisfactory solution for the future of NATO?
USIA Director Leonard Marks: USIA has a serious problem communicating with Europe. The European press is hostile, especially the Agence France press. How do we counteract this hostility? We now have 50 percent fewer people stationed in Europe and are spending only $7 million in the European area. One way would be to create events which would attract attention. We could send personalities to Europe who would command the news. The Vice President and others should be sent on trips to Europe.
Ambassador Goldberg: The Europeans are causing problems for us in the United Nations. We no longer have a solid bloc of western allies behind us. The British are OK but the Italians are tottering in their support of us. Canadian support is poor.
The view of the European delegations to the United Nations is that the U.S. is neglecting Europe for Asia. They complain of only being informed rather than consulted. We need to caucus with them often and to arrange ways of getting them more involved.
[Page 574]Mr. Rostow: Europe is neglecting the world. It is in an isolationist cycle. We should get one of our Senators to make this point in a major speech.
The President: While agreeing with the sentiment expressed, what we need is a solution. A substantial part of my time is spent dealing with Europeans. We have sent our leaders to Europe—the Vice President, Secretary Rusk, and others. There has been a very large exchange of information. Even with all of this, all the Europeans say they are neglected. What we need to do is to find a solution. We must find a way of getting them to make a larger contribution to the cost of NATO defense.
Secretary Rusk: The recipients of our aid must be more active. The point of diminishing returns has set in on our begging for others in Europe.
Secretary Fowler: The action of Europeans in the International Development Bank is an example of their attitude. Henceforth, they should participate in decisions in the Bank on the basis of their financial participation.
The President then turned the discussion to Senator Mansfield’s concern that the United Nations is unable to do anything about the war in Vietnam. Secretary Rusk summarized the pros and cons of United Nations action, taking the same position he has in the past. Ambassador Goldberg reviewed the past history of the proposal to involve the U.N. and the difficulties which have arisen.
- Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, NSC Meetings File, Box 2. Top Secret; Sensitive; For the President Only. Prepared by Bromley Smith.↩
- For a transcript of these hearings, April 26 and May 3, see Hearings Before the Combined Subcommittee of Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees on the Subject of United States Troops in Europe, United States Senate, Ninetieth Congress, First Session. ↩
- Dated April 17, this 10-page paper examined the general state of U.S.-European relations and the specific questions of: 1) British entry into the EEC, 2) the British financial problem, 3) the political side of NATO, 4) U.S.-Western Europe and the Third World, and 5) the USSR and Eastern Europe. (Department of State, S/S-NSC Files: Lot 72 D 318)↩
- President Johnson visited Germany April 23–26 for the funeral of former Chancellor Adenauer.↩