360. Memorandum From Gordon Chase of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy)1
Washington, July 26, 1965.
SUBJECT
- Article 19
I was talking to Bill Buffum in State who gave me the following scenario for Article 19 activities over the next couple months:
- 1.
- Between now and about August 5, State will be consulting with key Congressional leaders about our proposed course of action.
- 2.
- Assuming the consultations with Congress turn out positive, State will probably consult with selected UN members and the Secretary-General. Particularly, State will want to touch base with those members who have supported us in the past; we owe them the explanation. These consultations will probably end by about August 12.
- 3.
- The Committee of 33 will meet about August 16. At that time, we will make a statement which will indicate our willingness to avoid an Article 19 hassle.
- 4.
- As a result of our statement, we can expect a certain amount of
pressure to build up on the Soviets to be more forthcoming on the
matter of paying up certain of their regular budget assessments and
on the matter of making a voluntary contribution over and above the
assessments.
- (a)
- On the matter of a voluntary contribution, Buffum guesses that the Soviets will kick in about $5 million, which will probably be just enough to make the gesture amenable to the Afro/Asians and not enough to be anywhere near meeting their obligations. (It would take $20 million to save us from a back-down on Article 19.)
- (b)
- On the matter of certain regular assessments, which the Russians have not paid, the latest indications are that the Russians will probably balk on some of them—e.g., the bond issue, since some of the proceeds were used to pay for UNEF and the Congo.
- 5.
- At the present time, there is no inclination in State to have the U.S. come up with a voluntary contribution.
GC
- Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, United Nations, Vol. 1. Confidential.↩