S/S–NSC files, lot 63 D 351, NSC 170 Series
Memorandum by the Director of the Policy Planning Staff (Bowie) to the Secretary of State
Subject:
- Courses of Action in Korea
1. After our briefing this morning, Defense notified us that it wished to add, at the end of paragraph 8 of this paper,1 the following sentence:
“Nothing in the above is intended to restrict in any way the authority of the U.S. Commander in Chief, F.E., to take whatever action is necessary to insure the safety of his forces.”
The Commander should, of course, be able to take necessary emergency action to insure the safety of his forces. As worded, the new JCS sentence could easily be read very broadly. When I raised this question, I was told that it was not intended to authorize the carrying out of the atomic offensive called for by paragraph 2-a. I would suggest that if this point is to be covered, the sentence might read as follows:
“In the event of any such Communist renewal of hostilities, the U.S. Commander in Chief, F.E., may, however, take necessary emergency action, not involving the use of atomic weapons, to insure the safety of his forces.”
[Here follows a report on the minutes of the Bermuda Conference and the agreed United States–United Kingdom policy regarding nuclear weapons.]