95. Editorial Note
On March 25, 1965, Under Secretary of State Ball sent a memorandum to McGeorge Bundy and Secretary of State Rusk and Secretary of Defense McNamara stating that he had for some time felt the need for a fresh look at U.S. policy toward Western Europe. To this end he asked Ambassador John H. Ferguson to organize a study of the problem. On July 9, Ferguson, who had been assisted by officials from the Departments of State and Defense and the White House, transmitted his 87-page report, “Europe and United States Policy,” to Bundy, McNamara, and Rusk. (Department of State, Central Files, POL EUR W–US)
The report recommended the following courses of action with respect to collective defense:
- “A. Since France was likely to require that all integrated commands and combat forces not under French command be removed from France, [Page 231] the United States should consult at once with its other allies to make the necessary transfers in an orderly fashion.
- “B. The United States should proceed without delay in changes in NATO’s structure beginning with military planning beginning with steps that were not subject to French veto.
- “C. Discussions of NATO strategy had taken up an inordinate amount of time at all levels of the alliance without narrowing the difference between Europe and the United States. Because of this the United States should inform the rest of the alliance that it would be prepared to use tactical nuclear weapons to prevent the loss of NATO territory beyond a limited area along its borders.
- “D. The problem of an alliance nuclear force was up in the air until the German elections had been held, but even following the elections neither the Federal Republic nor the United Kingdom was likely to take the initiative on this question. Therefore, in the fall the United States should hold private conversations with London and Bonn to reach agreement on the terms of some arrangement based on the principle of giving Germany an equal place to that of other European nations in whatever arrangement was decided.”
On the matter of an integrated Europe, the United States should support steps that led to further coordination in political and defense fields, as well as those in monetary and production fields that would further integration. Finally Ferguson addressed the problem of Germany. In this part of the report the Ambassador stressed that finding an equal and adequate place for Germany in the Western structure was crucial. This included support for West German proposals for reunification.