Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, East Asia and the Pacific, Volume XII, Part 1

State-JCS Meetings, lot 61 D 417

Memorandum on the Substance of Discussions at a Department of State-Joint Chiefs of Staff Meeting¹

[Extract]

top secret

[Washington,] October 1, 1954—11:30 a.m.

ANZUS Meeting

Mr. MacArthur said that he had been approached by Mr. Foss Shanahan, Deputy Secretary of External Affairs of New Zealand, who is now in New York, regarding the possibility of having an ANZUS meeting somewhere around October 11 or October 14 in order to discuss the organization to be set up under the Manila Pact. It was Mr. Shanahan’s opinion, Mr. MacArthur added, that the Manila Pact organization would not supersede the ANZUS setup.

Mr. MacArthur stressed that the Secretary wanted the benefit of JCS views on these matters prior to the projected ANZUS meeting.

Admiral Radford indicated that Australian Foreign Minister Casey had talked to him on this general subject. Prime Minister Menzies, the Admiral added, indicated that the Australians thought that the Manila Pact involved indicating to the Australians that forces which she was expected to raise. The Admiral said that, of course, this was not the case. With respect to NATO, where a definite military organization had been set up, that was a global pact. The Manila Pact, however, was a regional one, and a complicated military organization in being was not envisaged.

As a matter of fact, the Admiral added, the whole question of military planning in the Pacific was a political one. There was little such planning that we could do, the Admiral emphasized, until the US and the UK, on a governmental level, coordinated overall policy in the Far East. This, the Admiral said, was the $64 question which had to be answered before any more specific military matters could be resolved.

The Admiral agreed to make a copy of his memorandum of conversation with Foreign Minister Casey available to the Department,² and stated further that the JCS would work up a position paper on the question raised by Mr. MacArthur as soon as possible.³

1. A note on the title page reads: “State Draft. Not cleared with any of the participants.”

   Of the Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Radford and Generals Twining and Ridgway attended. Murphy led the Department of State group. General Cabell and Amory represented the CIA, and Gleason attended for the NSC Staff. Altogether, 32 persons were present.

2. Not found in Department of State files.
3. See the position paper entitled, “Military Machinery Under the Manila Pact”, dated Oct. 8, p. 936.