June 1, 1950
To the Congress of the United States:
I recommend that the United States continue to provide military aid to other free nations during the fiscal year 1951, as part of the common effort to increase the strength of the free world in the interest of world peace. New authorizations are necessary to extend the program begun last year and advanced so successfully since that time.
This program is a further strengthening of the principles of peace on which this country bases its foreign policy. Through the charter of the United Nations, the member nations have pledged themselves to the settlement of disputes by peaceful means, and to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territory or independence of any nation. In spite of those solemn pledges, there is clear evidence that certain adherents to the Charter will not hesitate to use force and to threaten the integrity of other countries if it suits their purposes. It has proved necessary to take further steps to defend the principles of the Charter, and the freedom of the member nations against this threat.
The United States and other free nations must be strong if they are to remain free. Communist imperialism has shown itself ready to exploit weakness and to seize nations which do not have the strength to resist. That imperialism seeks to gain its ends by intimidation, by fomenting disorder, and by attempts to force internal collapse.
But experience has shown that the designs of communist imperialism can be thwarted if the intended victims of that imperialism are strong. Communist aggression can be successfully countered by people who value their independence and are determined to take the actions necessary to remain free.
The strength that is necessary to meet the communist thrusts must take many forms-moral, political, economic, and military--because the communist challenge takes all those forms. Furthermore, the strength to meet communism must be the combined strength of the free nations. No one nation alone can be successful.
Recognizing these facts, we have entered wholeheartedly into cooperative action with other free nations. We are contributing to the greater strength of the free world, and our own strength is being enhanced by the contributions of the other free nations joined with us.
The cooperative economic programs in which we are engaged--principally the European recovery program--are excellent examples of the way joint action can add to the strength of all of us. By such joint economic action the free nations are building the foundation of their own security. Economic strength is now, and will continue to be, a prerequisite to the attainment of lasting political and military strength, and world peace.
To enhance this strength, we are engaged in cooperative action to build a stronger defense against aggression. In the Western Hemisphere and the North Atlantic area, we have entered into collective security arrangements within the framework of the United Nations Charter. In other parts of the world, we have helped to strengthen individual countries whose security is important to peace, and to our own security.
Our major effort has been devoted to Western Europe, because two great wars in this century have shown us beyond any doubt that our prosperity, our security, and indeed our survival, are bound up with the fate of the nations of Western Europe. In the face of the communist threat to the common peace and security, we entered last year into a compact with eleven other countries in the North Atlantic area. Together, we announced the principle that an attack on one would be regarded as an attack on all.
This was a historic step that has great meaning both here and abroad. It was evident that our people, and the people in the other countries which signed the North Atlantic Treaty, reject the dangerous futility of isolationism and understand the necessity of cooperation with other countries if peace and freedom are to be preserved.
Following the ratification of the Treaty, the nations set about the practical task of providing for their common defense. The prompt enactment by the Congress of the Mutual Defense Assistance Act was one step toward that goal. To assist Western Europe and other nations whose freedom was threatened, the Congress authorized three types of aid: first, the direct supply of certain essential items of military equipment; second, the assistance of specialists in military production and training; and third, the transfer of machine tools and materials to enable increased production of military equipment. For these purposes, the Congress last year made available $1,314,010,000 in funds and contract authority. A detailed description of the specific accomplishments of the mutual defense assistance program will be found in the report of activities under the program which I am submitting separately to the Congress.
$1,000,000,000 of the sum made available last year was to promote the integrated defense of the North Atlantic area. We have made great strides toward this objective in the short period since the Act became effective. We have created an organization, and established procedures, which will assure the prompt carrying out of the program. Equipment has begun to flow abroad.
The North Atlantic Treaty countries have agreed on the general role which each is to play in the common defense. We are succeeding for the first time in history in overcoming considerations of national prestige and tradition, under which each nation felt bound to equip itself completely with men and resources in every branch of military activity. Our common defense planning, instead, will be based on a considerable degree of specialization. This will bring a much larger total strength from the resources devoted to defense purposes.
The recent meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Council emphasized the need for balanced collective forces, and established a permanent group, one of the tasks of which will be to function continuously in giving direction to the joint efforts of the Treaty partners toward this objective.
The complex work of preparing detailed defense plans, based on the concept of balanced collective forces, is now going forward. We have not yet fully determined the size and the nature of the forces and equipment necessary to insure ourselves against future aggression directed toward the North Atlantic area. But one thing is already plain. The military establishments of Western Europe are below the minimum level consistent with security. Those countries must build up their forces as swiftly as their resources permit, assisted by such help as we can afford. To this end, I recommend that the Congress authorize additional funds in the amount of $1,000,000,000 for the next fiscal year. In conjunction with our own defense budget, and the defense budgets of the other Treaty countries, this will continue the work so well begun to bolster the defenses of the North Atlantic area.
The emphasis on the defense of Western Europe has not diverted our attention from the threats to the integrity of nations in other parts of the world whose security is closely linked to our own. The problem of security is world-wide. The threat of aggression casts its shadow upon every quarter of the globe.
The military assistance we have given Greece and Turkey since 1947 has brought impressive results. In Greece, it has brought guerilla warfare to an end, and has paved the way toward political stability and economic progress. It has given Turkey the ability to maintain its territorial and political integrity. Our military aid to Greece and Turkey must continue, but the amount required will be less than half that needed in the current fiscal year. For military assistance to Greece and Turkey for the next fiscal year, I recommend that the Congress authorize funds in the amount of $120,000,000.
That Iran remains an independent country in spite of continuous Soviet pressure is due in part to the strong support of the United States. The security of the Republic of Korea is under the constant menace of the communist-dominated regime in North Korea, whose purpose is to destroy the new republic established after free elections held under the auspices of the United Nations. The independence of the Philippine Republic, freely given it by the United States, has become a symbol to the Far East, and, indeed, to the whole world. Today, it is under attack by a subversive element among its own people, whose objective is to serve the ends of communist imperialism. For military assistance to Iran, Korea, and the Philippines, for the next fiscal year, I recommend that Congress authorize $27,500,000.
The problem of security against communist aggression extends to certain other countries of the Far East which have been emerging as new and independent states. Recent events make it evident that the forces of international communism do not want these countries to grow in freedom--instead the communists seek to dominate them. The $75,000,000 which the Congress authorized last year for assistance to countries in the general area of China has been available to help these nations ward off the threat to their security from subversive communist forces within their countries, and to help them prevent the further extension of communist imperialism in the Far East. The value of having these funds available has been amply demonstrated. Programs of assistance to countries in this area, such as Into-China, are now underway.
The rapidly changing conditions in and around China require the constant re-evaluation of the situation in that area, and constant readiness to act in the interests of peace when we can do so effectively. Accordingly, I recommend the authorization of an additional $75,000,000 for military assistance to countries in the general area of China during the next fiscal year.
The security of the United States and the free world may demand prompt emergency assistance on the part of the United States to other imperilled nations whose continued integrity is of vital importance. I therefore recommend to the Congress that limited provision be made for authority to cope with such emergencies. It will not be necessary to provide additional funds for this purpose Such emergencies will be sufficiently provided for if a small portion of the funds made available for military assistance may be shifted to meet such situations should they arise.
The present provisions of the statute under which the United States is authorized to provide military assistance to countries which can afford to pay for such assistance have proved unnecessarily restrictive. As enacted, the law limited the countries to which the United States could provide military equipment on this basis to those countries designated in the law and to those which have joined with the United States in a collective or regional security arrangement. There are, however, other countries the security of which is of importance to the United States and to which it would be in the national interest to provide military equipment at no expense to the United States. Moreover, limitations respecting the amount, time, and security of payment have tended to frustrate the purposes of the present provisions. I therefore recommend that Congress take action to modify the present provisions.
In addition to direct military supplies, assistance is now being provided to certain other countries in the limited form of materials and machine tools. We are helping our partner nations to increase their ability to help themselves by .producing the equipment they need. The limitations in the law which prevent the furnishing of production equipment other than machine tools has interfered with programs of additional military production in a way which I am confident was not intended by the Congress. Accordingly, I recommend that the Congress authorize the provision of production equipment without limiting it to machine tools.
The recommendations I have made will, I believe, contribute to greater common strength among the free nations. They are designed, just as our own defense program is designed, to build the necessary level of military strength to discourage aggression, without undermining the economic strength which is fundamental to long-run security. In this field, as in others, we must preserve the momentum we have gained by our actions to build a stable peace.
The great concerted program of the free nations is a positive and dynamic program of constructive action, to use our combined resources to expand freedom and increase the well-being of all free people. The elements of our program--moral, political, economic, and military--are all inter-related. Each is an indispensable part of the whole effort to increase the strength of the free world against communist aggression--each is vital to the effort for peace and human advancement.
Our program for peace is consistent with the legitimate aspirations of all nations--it is a program which can be joined, fully and honorably, by any nation which sincerely desires to work for peace with freedom and justice. The United States is not interested in building up power blocs which compete for resources and seek to dominate others. We are striving for conditions of peace under which all nations and all peoples can advance together toward greater freedom and happiness.
That is why we are continuing to give unfaltering support to the United Nations, and to all efforts to make it a more effective agency for world order.
That is why we are continuing to work toward world economic recovery, and a structure of international economic relationships which will permit each country, through the free flow of trade and investment, to achieve sound economic growth.
That is why we must continue to strengthen the common defense of free nations to the point where communist imperialism comes to realize the impossibility of taking them over. When this is done, the leaders of this imperialism will recognize that their own interests will be served by cooperating with the free nations. Then--and only then-will a lasting peace be achieved.
HARRY S. TRUMAN
NOTE: On July 26, 1950, the President approved a bill "to amend the Mutual Defense Assistance Act of 1949" (64 Stat. 373). See Item 201.
To the Congress of the United States:
I recommend that the United States continue to provide military aid to other free nations during the fiscal year 1951, as part of the common effort to increase the strength of the free world in the interest of world peace. New authorizations are necessary to extend the program begun last year and advanced so successfully since that time.
This program is a further strengthening of the principles of peace on which this country bases its foreign policy. Through the charter of the United Nations, the member nations have pledged themselves to the settlement of disputes by peaceful means, and to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territory or independence of any nation. In spite of those solemn pledges, there is clear evidence that certain adherents to the Charter will not hesitate to use force and to threaten the integrity of other countries if it suits their purposes. It has proved necessary to take further steps to defend the principles of the Charter, and the freedom of the member nations against this threat.
The United States and other free nations must be strong if they are to remain free. Communist imperialism has shown itself ready to exploit weakness and to seize nations which do not have the strength to resist. That imperialism seeks to gain its ends by intimidation, by fomenting disorder, and by attempts to force internal collapse.
But experience has shown that the designs of communist imperialism can be thwarted if the intended victims of that imperialism are strong. Communist aggression can be successfully countered by people who value their independence and are determined to take the actions necessary to remain free.
The strength that is necessary to meet the communist thrusts must take many forms-moral, political, economic, and military--because the communist challenge takes all those forms. Furthermore, the strength to meet communism must be the combined strength of the free nations. No one nation alone can be successful.
Recognizing these facts, we have entered wholeheartedly into cooperative action with other free nations. We are contributing to the greater strength of the free world, and our own strength is being enhanced by the contributions of the other free nations joined with us.
The cooperative economic programs in which we are engaged--principally the European recovery program--are excellent examples of the way joint action can add to the strength of all of us. By such joint economic action the free nations are building the foundation of their own security. Economic strength is now, and will continue to be, a prerequisite to the attainment of lasting political and military strength, and world peace.
To enhance this strength, we are engaged in cooperative action to build a stronger defense against aggression. In the Western Hemisphere and the North Atlantic area, we have entered into collective security arrangements within the framework of the United Nations Charter. In other parts of the world, we have helped to strengthen individual countries whose security is important to peace, and to our own security.
Our major effort has been devoted to Western Europe, because two great wars in this century have shown us beyond any doubt that our prosperity, our security, and indeed our survival, are bound up with the fate of the nations of Western Europe. In the face of the communist threat to the common peace and security, we entered last year into a compact with eleven other countries in the North Atlantic area. Together, we announced the principle that an attack on one would be regarded as an attack on all.
This was a historic step that has great meaning both here and abroad. It was evident that our people, and the people in the other countries which signed the North Atlantic Treaty, reject the dangerous futility of isolationism and understand the necessity of cooperation with other countries if peace and freedom are to be preserved.
Following the ratification of the Treaty, the nations set about the practical task of providing for their common defense. The prompt enactment by the Congress of the Mutual Defense Assistance Act was one step toward that goal. To assist Western Europe and other nations whose freedom was threatened, the Congress authorized three types of aid: first, the direct supply of certain essential items of military equipment; second, the assistance of specialists in military production and training; and third, the transfer of machine tools and materials to enable increased production of military equipment. For these purposes, the Congress last year made available $1,314,010,000 in funds and contract authority. A detailed description of the specific accomplishments of the mutual defense assistance program will be found in the report of activities under the program which I am submitting separately to the Congress.
$1,000,000,000 of the sum made available last year was to promote the integrated defense of the North Atlantic area. We have made great strides toward this objective in the short period since the Act became effective. We have created an organization, and established procedures, which will assure the prompt carrying out of the program. Equipment has begun to flow abroad.
The North Atlantic Treaty countries have agreed on the general role which each is to play in the common defense. We are succeeding for the first time in history in overcoming considerations of national prestige and tradition, under which each nation felt bound to equip itself completely with men and resources in every branch of military activity. Our common defense planning, instead, will be based on a considerable degree of specialization. This will bring a much larger total strength from the resources devoted to defense purposes.
The recent meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Council emphasized the need for balanced collective forces, and established a permanent group, one of the tasks of which will be to function continuously in giving direction to the joint efforts of the Treaty partners toward this objective.
The complex work of preparing detailed defense plans, based on the concept of balanced collective forces, is now going forward. We have not yet fully determined the size and the nature of the forces and equipment necessary to insure ourselves against future aggression directed toward the North Atlantic area. But one thing is already plain. The military establishments of Western Europe are below the minimum level consistent with security. Those countries must build up their forces as swiftly as their resources permit, assisted by such help as we can afford. To this end, I recommend that the Congress authorize additional funds in the amount of $1,000,000,000 for the next fiscal year. In conjunction with our own defense budget, and the defense budgets of the other Treaty countries, this will continue the work so well begun to bolster the defenses of the North Atlantic area.
The emphasis on the defense of Western Europe has not diverted our attention from the threats to the integrity of nations in other parts of the world whose security is closely linked to our own. The problem of security is world-wide. The threat of aggression casts its shadow upon every quarter of the globe.
The military assistance we have given Greece and Turkey since 1947 has brought impressive results. In Greece, it has brought guerilla warfare to an end, and has paved the way toward political stability and economic progress. It has given Turkey the ability to maintain its territorial and political integrity. Our military aid to Greece and Turkey must continue, but the amount required will be less than half that needed in the current fiscal year. For military assistance to Greece and Turkey for the next fiscal year, I recommend that the Congress authorize funds in the amount of $120,000,000.
That Iran remains an independent country in spite of continuous Soviet pressure is due in part to the strong support of the United States. The security of the Republic of Korea is under the constant menace of the communist-dominated regime in North Korea, whose purpose is to destroy the new republic established after free elections held under the auspices of the United Nations. The independence of the Philippine Republic, freely given it by the United States, has become a symbol to the Far East, and, indeed, to the whole world. Today, it is under attack by a subversive element among its own people, whose objective is to serve the ends of communist imperialism. For military assistance to Iran, Korea, and the Philippines, for the next fiscal year, I recommend that Congress authorize $27,500,000.
The problem of security against communist aggression extends to certain other countries of the Far East which have been emerging as new and independent states. Recent events make it evident that the forces of international communism do not want these countries to grow in freedom--instead the communists seek to dominate them. The $75,000,000 which the Congress authorized last year for assistance to countries in the general area of China has been available to help these nations ward off the threat to their security from subversive communist forces within their countries, and to help them prevent the further extension of communist imperialism in the Far East. The value of having these funds available has been amply demonstrated. Programs of assistance to countries in this area, such as Into-China, are now underway.
The rapidly changing conditions in and around China require the constant re-evaluation of the situation in that area, and constant readiness to act in the interests of peace when we can do so effectively. Accordingly, I recommend the authorization of an additional $75,000,000 for military assistance to countries in the general area of China during the next fiscal year.
The security of the United States and the free world may demand prompt emergency assistance on the part of the United States to other imperilled nations whose continued integrity is of vital importance. I therefore recommend to the Congress that limited provision be made for authority to cope with such emergencies. It will not be necessary to provide additional funds for this purpose Such emergencies will be sufficiently provided for if a small portion of the funds made available for military assistance may be shifted to meet such situations should they arise.
The present provisions of the statute under which the United States is authorized to provide military assistance to countries which can afford to pay for such assistance have proved unnecessarily restrictive. As enacted, the law limited the countries to which the United States could provide military equipment on this basis to those countries designated in the law and to those which have joined with the United States in a collective or regional security arrangement. There are, however, other countries the security of which is of importance to the United States and to which it would be in the national interest to provide military equipment at no expense to the United States. Moreover, limitations respecting the amount, time, and security of payment have tended to frustrate the purposes of the present provisions. I therefore recommend that Congress take action to modify the present provisions.
In addition to direct military supplies, assistance is now being provided to certain other countries in the limited form of materials and machine tools. We are helping our partner nations to increase their ability to help themselves by .producing the equipment they need. The limitations in the law which prevent the furnishing of production equipment other than machine tools has interfered with programs of additional military production in a way which I am confident was not intended by the Congress. Accordingly, I recommend that the Congress authorize the provision of production equipment without limiting it to machine tools.
The recommendations I have made will, I believe, contribute to greater common strength among the free nations. They are designed, just as our own defense program is designed, to build the necessary level of military strength to discourage aggression, without undermining the economic strength which is fundamental to long-run security. In this field, as in others, we must preserve the momentum we have gained by our actions to build a stable peace.
The great concerted program of the free nations is a positive and dynamic program of constructive action, to use our combined resources to expand freedom and increase the well-being of all free people. The elements of our program--moral, political, economic, and military--are all inter-related. Each is an indispensable part of the whole effort to increase the strength of the free world against communist aggression--each is vital to the effort for peace and human advancement.
Our program for peace is consistent with the legitimate aspirations of all nations--it is a program which can be joined, fully and honorably, by any nation which sincerely desires to work for peace with freedom and justice. The United States is not interested in building up power blocs which compete for resources and seek to dominate others. We are striving for conditions of peace under which all nations and all peoples can advance together toward greater freedom and happiness.
That is why we are continuing to give unfaltering support to the United Nations, and to all efforts to make it a more effective agency for world order.
That is why we are continuing to work toward world economic recovery, and a structure of international economic relationships which will permit each country, through the free flow of trade and investment, to achieve sound economic growth.
That is why we must continue to strengthen the common defense of free nations to the point where communist imperialism comes to realize the impossibility of taking them over. When this is done, the leaders of this imperialism will recognize that their own interests will be served by cooperating with the free nations. Then--and only then-will a lasting peace be achieved.
HARRY S. TRUMAN
NOTE: On July 26, 1950, the President approved a bill "to amend the Mutual Defense Assistance Act of 1949" (64 Stat. 373). See Item 201.