Statement on the United States Military Assistance Program by the Department of State1
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Coordinating Military Aid
We are already aiding Greece and Turkey. We now find it necessary to aid Western Europe and certain other free nations. Manifestly, in the interests of economy and to achieve coherent action, the military aid programs must be considered together and at one time. Accordingly, the executive branch has been developing a program somewhat after the manner of the Marshall Plan for economic aid. For the past several months the Department of State, at the direction of the President, has been coordinating the efforts of all the Government agencies concerned with foreign assistance in shaping a unified, cohesive military aid program. The proposed program provides for centralized administration of military aid and asks that broad authority be granted to the President so that he may make aid available in critical situations.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Relationship to the Atlantic Pact
The requests of the eight North Atlantic Pact countries are not a product of the Atlantic Pact. The military assistance program was conceived and developed separately and somewhat in advance of the formulation of the Pact. The military assistance program would be necessary even without an Atlantic Pact. It is clear, however, that the military assistance program will be more effective with the Atlantic Pact than without it, for the Atlantic Pact provides the defensive potential of all the members taken together as contrasted with the [Page 300] smaller potential of the individual member nations. It further provides the procedures for attaining coordinated military defense plans and the mechanisms for developing the self-help and mutual aid principles.
Although the military assistance program and the Pact were conceived of and developed separately, they are based upon the same principles and they are complementary. Article 3 of the Pact provides that by self-help and mutual aid the members will develop their capacity to resist aggression. The military assistance program is based on the same principle of self-help and mutual aid. Article 3 does not obligate the United States to provide any definite amount of military assistance or to make any specific contribution. It does, however, obligate the United States, as it obligates every other member of the North Atlantic Pact, to adhere to the principle of mutual aid and to exercise its own honest judgment in contributing what it most effectively can to implement the mutual-aid principle. It is the opinion of the executive branch of this Government that the United States can best contribute to the collective capacity for defense of the North Atlantic area by providing military assistance, and it is the recommendation of the executive branch that it should do so. It is also the opinion of the executive branch that the provision of assistance will become a powerful factor for assuring success on the aims of the Pact, for, as the countries of the Western Union develop their power to resist aggression, they will become better able to contribute not only to the peace and security of the North Atlantic area but to the peace and security of the world.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Administering the Program
The executive-branch proposal envisions that the President will delegate to the Secretary of State by Executive order the broad responsibility and authority to administer the military aid program. Thus military aid may be best integrated into the over-all foreign policy of the United States and made consistent with our goal of world peace.
Within the Department of State an administrator for foreign military assistance would be appointed to administer the program and supervise the allocation of funds for the Secretary. The National Military Establishment would be delegated a large share of the responsibility for the actual operation of the program. Both the National Military Establishment and the Economic Cooperation Administration would act in an advisory capacity to the Department of State.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
- Department of State Bulletin, May 22, 1949, p. 643.↩