308. Message From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to the Ambassador to Germany (Rush)1

1.
You are doing a superb job and you will continue to have the full backing of the President and myself.
2.
The objections raised in State’s cable 1529552 are almost totally frivolous and I am confident can be easily managed once the issues are crystalized back here.
3.
In my judgment, the negotiating recess should in no circumstances be more than two weeks. Therefore, you should leave the length of the recess vague. Once the President has reviewed the situation, I am sure he will order a rapid resumption and conclusion of the negotiations.
4.
I am sending a back channel to Bahr asking him to get Brandt to write the President a letter with congratulations on an excellent agreement.3
5.
Again, our gratitude for your magnificent performance and our assurances that your labors will bear final fruit in the coming weeks.4 Warm regards.
  1. Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Kissinger Office Files, Box 59, Country Files, Europe, Ambassador Rush, Berlin, Vol. 2. Top Secret; Sensitive; Exclusively Eyes Only. No time of transmission or receipt appears on the message, which was sent through the special Navy channel in Frankfurt.
  2. Document 306.
  3. The text of the special channel message to Bahr, also sent on August 20, reads: “Congratulations. We are running into bureaucratic problems here produced by departmental self-will. We shall stand behind Rush. It would be very helpful if you would generate a very strong letter from the Chancellor to the President praising Rush, expressing enthusiastic support for the agreed text and urging us to go along with it. I am assuming, of course, this reflects his views. You might help with Falin in explaining bureaucratic problems. I would appreciate having the Brandt letter as soon as possible. Warm regards.” (National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Kissinger Office Files, Box 60, Country Files, Europe, Egon Bahr, Berlin File [1 of 3])
  4. Rush replied by special channel on August 21: “I am deeply grateful for your cable and for the full backing of the President and you. I will return to Washington for one day—Wednesday [August 25]—to consult with Sec Rogers and his associates, whose behavior, as reflected in their cables, borders on panic. Their objections, as you stated are almost totally frivolous, and we cannot, in my opinion, change the text of our agreement in any way. I am very pleased that you are expediting the date of the signing. If we postpone it, beyond Sept. 2 or 3 it will be embarrassing, and difficult to explain, particularly to the Germans.” (Ibid., Box 59, Ambassador Rush, Berlin, Vol. 2)