Editorial Note
From November 5 through November 16 the Executive Bureau of the Temporary Council Committee scheduled individual reviews of each member country’s presentation concerning the military, economic, and political aspects of its defense program, with a full day devoted to each of the eight largest member countries. Each country appointed a delegation to present its report; most delegations were comprised of the Defense Minister and his staff of financial and economic advisers.
No formal minutes were taken of these meetings although Colonel George A. Lincoln of the Department of Defense made personal notes which he later used as the basis for telegrams which he sent to the Secretary of Defense. After hearing eight of the nine presentations of [Page 347] the European members of NATO, Colonel Lincoln concluded in telegram Har 138 from Paris, November 19, that “without exception these countries have indicated a willingness to undertake their defense programs as now planned. In every case there has been a clear indication, usually in the form of unqualified statements, that US economic aid is expected and is necessary if these programs are to become realities.” (Military cable files, lot 52–246, TCC, 1951)