432. Telegram Supnu 310 From Geneva1
Supnu 310. Eyes only for Herter from Wadsworth.
It is important to our position that we be able to present a draft treaty article on duration. We should do this well before a possible recess. This means that if there is any possibility of an early recess, we should table a draft article this coming week.
There have been various drafts on such an article considered from time to time, and I am well aware of the difficulties you face with other agencies in getting agreement on an article which will help rather than [Typeset Page 1584] hurt our public position. I also thoroughly understand the necessity of not proposing a draft which we could not live with if eventually there is a treaty, but I do think that it is possible to have a draft which is simple and which at the same time fully protects all our interests.
I strongly recommend that we propose a one-sentence article along the following lines:
Begin verbatim text.
This treaty shall remain in force indefinitely, provided the provisions of the treaty and its annexes are being fulfilled and observed.
End verbatim text.
[Facsimile Page 2]I know there are some who argue that there should be explicit mention of the inherent right to withdraw from a treaty if another party does not observe it. I personally am not persuaded of the merit of these arguments. But if it is necessary to make explicit mention of the right of withdrawal, the language I have suggested could be modified to read as follows:
Begin verbatim text.
This treaty shall remain in force indefinitely subject to the inherent right of a party to be relieved of obligations hereunder if the provisions of the treaty and its annexes (including the timely installation and expective operation of the control system) are not being fulfilled and observed.
End verbatim text.
At first sight I know that my suggested language seems to be a radical departure from the complex versions that we have been thinking about up until now. But I do hope it will be given close study because I sincerely believe that it not only would help our public position but that it would also provide us adequate protection if we were to reach agreement. The phrase about the provisions of the treaty and annexes being “fulfilled and observed” provides a basis for unilateral withdrawal in the contingencies of: violation of the treaty by a weapons test; obstruction of the installation or operation of the Control Organization by a party to the treaty; and also failure of any country such as Communist China to adhere to the treaty by the time such adherence has been specified in any agreed phasing provisions of the treaty.
I realize the text I suggest does not cover the problems of suspending the obligations of the treaty in the event there is failure to achieve revisions of the treaty which may be required in the future if the agreed control system does not operate satisfactorily. The text also does not provide for [Facsimile Page 3] suspension of obligations or other measures to be taken in the event there is nuclear explosion in the territory of a country which is not a party to the treaty. But neither of these contingencies really needs to be covered in a draft duration article. The appropriate time to [Typeset Page 1585] put forward treaty language to take care of these contingencies has not yet arrived and omission of such provisions now does not in any way preclude us from introducing them at a subsequent state if the negotiations either continue or are renewed after a recess. Provisions of this type could be put forward at a later time, possibly in a separate article dealing with how the Control Commission might make reviews of the effectiveness of the control system. Largely because of the unresolved question of just how we are going to handle the problem of threshold, we will not at any time while we are here state that we have tabled all the articles that we propose. We will always say that there may be further articles which we may recommend in the light of further discussions. Accordingly, we will not be precluded from tabling additional articles or additions to our present draft articles later on if necessary.
I hope very much you will agree with my suggestion that we slim down a duration article and put forward as a simple one-sentence text. And I hope that you will be able to secure agreement to such a text from the other agencies concerned. I am sure we would have no difficulties at all in getting the British to go along with such an article.
I believe that Khrushchev’s recent speech has made our position here look better than ever. It should also assist us greatly in securing agreement from the British to recess the present negotiations. The one thing we really need to round out our position is a duration article. We need one quickly. I think the kind of article I have suggested would help us immensely.
- Source: Desirability of tabling article on duration. Secret; Priority. 3 pp. NARA, RG 59, Central Files, 700.5611/3–159.↩