752.5/12–852
No. 875
The Secretary of Defense (Lovett) to the
Secretary of State
Dear Mr. Secretary: The Joint Chiefs of Staff have informed me as follows:
“The Joint Chiefs of Staff have reviewed a Special Report on Spanish Negotiations submitted by the Chief, Joint United States Military Group (JUSMG) (Spain) dated 20 August 1952,1 which includes for consideration a military assistance program for Spain of the magnitude of $440,763,000. The report recommends the Joint Chiefs of Staff assign certain tasks and obligations for Spain in Western defense ‘and as a result thereof, that a plan be evolved, to provide over a period of four or five years the reasonable amount of equipment’, listed in the special report. The Chief, JUSMG (Spain) stated in the report that he had received the impression that a satisfactory base rights agreement can probably be concluded if the Spanish are assured such a program is planned.
“The Joint Chiefs of Staff consider that steps should be taken to modify the U.S. negotiating position so as to bring about an early resolution of this problem. If any interdepartmental re-examination of the U.S. negotiating position becomes necessary, it is recommended that the following points be incorporated into the Department of Defense position:
- “a. It would be premature at this time to assign specific military tasks and missions for Spain in Western defense.
- “b. Until the role Spain will play in Western defense is crystallized, any military assistance granted should be with the objective of developing forces which will increase Spain’s capability of defending the Iberian Peninsula, including defense of U.S. occupied Spanish bases, and of fulfilling possible future North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) requirements.
- “c. Under limitations indicated in subparagraphs a and b above, the program submitted by the Chief, JUSMG (Spain) is [Page 1903] in consonance with the national objectives of the U.S. as expressed in NSC 72/6.2
- “d. There is no objection, from a military point of view, to permitting the negotiating team to divulge to the Spanish the general nature and magnitude of the contemplated program and the United States intent to implement it. However, in discussions with the Spanish the negotiating team should make clear that any commitments within the magnitude of their recommended program are subject to the limitations of future Congressional actions, existing NATO priorities, the exigencies of the Korean situation, the status of supply, and the international situation.
- “e. The division of the $100 million, as recommended
in the memorandum by the Joint Chiefs of Staff for you
dated 15 February 19523 (subject:
‘Use of $100,000,000 Now Available for Economic,
Technical and Military Assistance to Spain under Public
Law 249, 82d Congress’) should be reviewed in the light
of conditions now developing to determine the most
desirable division from the U.S. point of view and to
provide:
- “(1) A sizable counterpart fund of pesetas to be used to meet, in part, the initial construction costs of the U.S. bases,
- “(2) Essential rehabilitation of Spanish railroads, and
- “(3) A program of military end-items for Spain.”
I have approved the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s recommended Department of Defense position as set forth in the subparagraphs a. through d. above, and request that steps be taken by the Department of State to modify the United States negotiating position to bring about an early resolution of this problem.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff’s recommendation in subparagraph e. above for review and resolution of the $100 million is under study in the Department of Defense. You will be informed if the Department of Defense considers a review and resolution of the $100 million necessary.
Sincerely yours,
- See Document 868 for a summary of this report.↩
- For the text of NSC 72/6, June 27, 1951, see Foreign Relations, 1951, vol. iv, Part 1, p. 820.↩
- Not found in Department of State files.↩