CDIW00129. 28 March 1957. “Meeting at C.I.A. on March 28 to Discuss the Exchange of Intelligence Relating to Alerts in the NATO Area”

This document contains the minutes to the tripartite meeting at the CIA on March 28. Supported by G.G. Crean, Patrick Dean began by outlining the reasons for considering further arrangements on alerts. It was agreed that the new procedures should supplement existing bilateral arrangements between the CIA and the Canadian JIC and the British JIC and the CIA. The next part of the discussion focused on the question of communications, particularly between Britain and the United States. Dulles then invited Mr. Armstrong of the State Department to give his views. Armstrong said the State Department wished to consider the agreement from a “political point of view.” He suggested that it would be helpful for the agreement’s documents to be informal in nature. Both Dean and Crean replied it would be sufficient for the agreement to be recorded in an exchange of letters between ambassadors.