https://declassified.library.utoronto.ca/files/original/5932d2e7f81816787c2461a7b90c2365.pdf abf5f30c9967ac37a0e4a750b8b79939 PDF Text Text BEST OHiCi ^L AY<«iLABlE fSHHEUR ORIGINAL Document disclosed under the Access to Information Act Document divulgue en vertu de la Loi sur I'acces a I'information ,. _ i r > D . L . ( l ) / P . D o b e l l / M a w • EXTERNAL AFFAIRS » AFFAIRES EXTERiEURES MBMORAFDUM «.-i»rw DATE C a n a d i a n E y e e Only/ October 21, 1965. 70M NUMBER Nomero cFfRcNCE •>Mr«ne. FILE onea McNamara Committee DOSSIER OTTAWA , ^ V'|CF MISSION 'a/ *>;- v - M/ * ENCLOSURES DISTRIBUTION NATO, Paris Bmb,Wash Mr. Ore ai Rome While at the APAG mooting, I had an opportunity to talk to a number of representatives regarding McNamara's proposal for a Committee of Defence Ministers. Most of the following information which is primarily of historical interest, comes from George Vest of the American Delegation. 2. Vest told mo that McHamara's proposal had come as a complete surprise to the State Department. However, he thought that two reports prepared earlier in the State Department might have had some influence on McNamara's thinking. Spiers had written a paper analysing the nuclear problems facing tha Alliance, pointing out that there were two quite separate problems: (1) possible new weapons systems for Europe and (2) questions relating to control. Spiers concluded that while no progress was possible at the time of writing on possible weapons systems, it was possible to have useful discussion on questions relating to control. The second paper had been prepared by Vest following the spring 1965 meeting of APAG. Vest had reported that he haa sensed a considerable desire among members of the Alliance to discuss queations of control of nuclear weapons. 3. Vest was quite.candid in admitting that he personally had concluded for some time that there was no question of the Select Committee being formed along the lines originally proposed by McNamara. He dated this conclusion from a conversation Basil Robinson had with a member of the United States Embassy. Vest said that ha had himself prepared the letter for Secretary McNamara to Mr. Hellyer in order to demonstrate to McNamara that everything possible was being done to advance hla proposal. However, Vest had not expected us to withdraw, although he realized that the letter would complicate our problem. 4. Incidentally I learned in conversation with the Turkish NATO Desk Officer that Turkey had never agreed not to serve on the Committee. Turkey was only willing to withdraw if*one of the smaller NATO powers were to bo included. I discussed this point with Vest who said he assumed that the USA Ambassador in Ankara had misundersto 000114 Ext. 407A/BH. ,/ / • **2 �Document disclosed under the Access to Information Act Document divulgue en vertu de la Loi sur I'acces a I'information BtST ORIONN. K ^ f U (2) since their report that Turkey oould not press its claim bad been based on a conversaii on with this same officer. 5. Vest said that McNamara seemed to want a committee composed primarily of the larger NATO countries. McNamara felt that he had acquired experience and understanding of nuclear weapons, and that it was important that he should pass on this experience to the Defence Ministers of the larger NATO countries whose decisions could be. oritical In a crisis. He was thinking primarily of the Defence Ministers with whom he is in most frequent contact such as von Hassel and Healey. As for the smaller members of the Alliance, Secretary McNamara apparently felt that they wp uld not faci the kind of nuclear problems he wished to discuss. 6. Vest said that vhe visit of the Secretary-General Brosio had been exploited by the State Department to persuade Secretary McNamara that if he wanted a Committee he would hav to agree to an enlarged membership. The State Department was itself interested in a group which could meet somewhat informally to dlsouss nuclear questions. 7. Vest thought that the future of the Committee was quite uncertain. If discussions were to prove useful, he said that it was clear that the State Department would wish it to continue in existence. 8. The Dutch NATO Officer told me that his Foreign Ministe* was opposed to the Committee whereas it was his Minister of Defence who was keen on Netherlands membership. 000115 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CDNW18188 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived "Defence - Conventional and Nuclear Armaments - Nuclear Weapons Policy,” RG25-A-3-c, File number: 27-11-1, File part: 2, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource LAC ATIP A-2017-00249 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Crown Copyright Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Canada Declassified Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource ENG