S/PV.138 Security Council

The :first item is theadoption of the agenda. I submit it for your COmIllents if you.,desire to make any. Mr. GROMYKO (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) (tmnslated from Russian): I am not cl~aras to the meaning of item 3 (a), which reads: "Lettel dated 30 April 1947 from the deputy 'representative of the United States on the Security Council to the Secretary-General."1 The 1100 sub-item deals with a question arising -out of Article 43 of the Charter, namely the 'M;titary Staff ,Committee's report. The United Staces representative's letter is concen::led precisely with ArtiCle 43. Thus' we have a sub-item (a)on the ne-:essity for considering Article 43 and. a sub-item (b) also on the question of considering Article 43'. I am not dear as to what sub-item (a) is intended to cover. ,Seeing that there is a sub-item (b), I think that the need for suh-item (a) no longer arises. In any caSe, I am not clear on this point. The PRESIDENT. (translated/rom French.): So far as' I am concerned, I see no contradiction between points (a). and (b) of item 3 of the agenda. It seems' to me that both points relate to, the same type of question and that they might be discussed simultaneously. .' 'However, in view' of the question raised by our 'Colleague ,of the Soviet Union, I should like to ask the representative of the United States . if he ." has ,any comment· to make on what has, just ~een said. . Mt. }C>HNSON (Unitdd States of America): ~Y f,rovernment, ID instructing. t~nit 1 'The. text of the.lette~~H~ . , .Excellency~ • ' . .... i On-instructions from my .Government I reqtiestthat ....--t1ie.item, Special Agreements unde!' Article 43, of the Chartex'and the organization of th,epnited Nations armed forces, which now appears on .the list of matters of .which the Security Council is seized, be placed on the provisional agenda c;>f the next meeting of theSecllrity Council. '. .. (Signed) .Herschel V. JOIU'SON .' Deputy lfnitea-,statesrepresentative , on tkeSecurity Council 1Le texte de cette lettre.est le strlvant: Excellence, . . ' D'ordre de mon Gotivernement, j'ai I'honneur de demander que le point concernant les accords speciaux prevus par l'Article 43 de la Oharteainsi que I'organisation des forces· 'armees des Nations Unies,qui figure actuellement suria liste des. questions dont le Conseil de , securite se trouve saisi, soit inclus al'ordre .d!! joUr provisoire de la prochaine seance du Conseil de securite. , , .. (Signe) Hersche1 V. JoH,N'so:, Representant sutJp16ant des Etats-U~tS , auConseil de securztej -~ 161. Adoptic.m de I'ordre du iour , Le PRESIDENT: Le premier point figurant a notre ordre du jour est son approbation. Je le soumets a vos observations, si vous desirez er;, presenter. M. GROMYKO (Uni~n des Republiques sodalistes sovietiques) (traduit d~L russe): Je ne comprends pas tres bien aquoi sertle point3a. Nous y lisons en efIet: "Lettre adressee au Secretaire general par le :representant suppleant des E'i:ats· Unis au Conseil desecurite, en date du 30 avril 19471." La question qui figure au point suivant (rap- ' p,ortdu Comite d'etat-major) re1eve de rArticle 43 de la Charte. Or, c'est precisement a cetArticle qu'a trait la lettre du representant des . Etats-Unis. Les points a) et b) prevoient done tous les deux l'examen d'un seul et meme Article -1'Article 43. Je ne comprends pas queUe peut etre l'utilite du point a). Etant donne que le point b) a eteportea 1'9rdre du jour, le point' ,a) ne me semble pas, necessaire. En tout cas, cela n'est pas clair pour moL Le PRESIDENT: En, ce qui me conceme, je ne vois pas,de contradiction entre'les points a) et b) de la partie 3 de l'ordre du jour. n me semble qu'il s'agit de d~ux points se lapportant au,-meme ordre de questions et dont 1'examen • A . •• - . '. - , pOUITatt etre POurSUlVl concurremment. Cependant,' etant donne la question soulevee par notre collegue de 1'Union .sovietique, je voudl'ais dein.ander au represent.ant· d~-------' Unis s'il a une observation ge!wrrque a pre- . senter ~usujet de-c· ent d'etre dit. -; OHNSON (Etats-Unis d~Amerique)' (trad'uit de l'anglais): ~n d0nn~t instruction a la

Le PRESIDENT: La declaration que vient de The statement Mr. Johnson has just made confaire M. Johnson confirmece que j'avais ern firms what I said myself. In reality points (a) devoir moi-meme expiimer.En realite, les and (b)of item 3 of our agenda form a single points a) et b) de la partie 3 de notre ordre du subject, and I think we can adopt the agenda, jour forment un ensemble, et je crois que nous on the understanding that the two questions are pouvons adopter l'ordre du jour, etant entendu Enked. que Ies deux questions sont liees. Is there any objection to the adoption of the Y a-t-il opposition a l'adoption de l'ordre agenda? ' du jour? The agenda was adopted. L'ordr:e du jour est adoptee ~62. Application of Articles 11 and 12 of the Statute of the Internation~1 Court of Justice 162. ApplicCition des Articles 11 et 12 du Sh:ltut de la Cour internationcde de Justice f , Le PRESIDENT: Le premier point de J'qrdre du jour que nous ayons a examiner se rapporte 'a l'applk.ation des Articles 11 et 12 du Sta:tut de la Cour intema'tionale de Justice. Il consisteen ' une lettre du Secretaire general par interim all President du Conseil de securite, en date du '28 janvier 1947 (document 8/260) que vous avez sous Ies yeux_ La question se pose anous de.savoir comnient nous allons examiner le point qui !lOUS estactuellement soumis.,

The first item on the agen.da we have to consider concerns the application of Articles 11 and 12 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice. It consists of a letter from the' Acting Secretary-G~neral to the President of the Security Council dated 28 Jatluary 1947 (document S/260), which youhave before you. The question arises how are we going to discuss the item now before us? Mr. JOHNSON (United States of America): Members of the Comcil will recall that the General Assembly. unanimously passed a resolution on 19 Nov:ember 1946 which adopted provisionally, and subject to the cOIlcurrence of the Securi:ty Council; rules of procedure with respect to the election of.members of the Court.l , .M. jom~'soN (Etats-Unis d'Amerique)' (tr:(lduit de l'anglais) ~ Les membres' du Conseilse souviendront que, le 19 novembre 1946,1'&- sembIee generale a vote a l'unanimiteune resohition aux termes de laquelle elle adopt~pro.o; visoirement, et sous reserve de l'av.· onrOIme du Conseil de securite, un e relatif' a l'election' des membres ourl • -,-,c:..--et,·'L'ats:-Unis ontpris l'initiative de cette resolution. Je voudrais maintenant prese:pterau CGllseil de securite un projet de resolutjon dont l'adoption par le Conseil perm.ettrait. de' regler rapidement la question. La question ne nous .The United States tOOA the initiative in the matter at that time. I should now like to I before the'Council a draft resolu . ch, if acceptable to the Council,-IDig~uickly dispose of ~ question.-l'~estionappears to us to ben~ersial and the. language ad9pted sem~le pas sujettea controverse et Ies termes employes dans mon projetde resolutjori sont entierement confornies au texte, adopte par l'AssembIee gerierale. " Je vais donc, si vous m~ le permettez, lire le texte de, mon projet, de resolution, dcn,lt un exemplarre va etre diStribue a chacun des membres du Conseil: ' "The Security Council, teLe Conseil de securiM, -------mthe~ p;~p~s~d resolution is entirely in confoIlllity with that of the General Assembly. If I may do so, Mr. President, I shall read ~eproposed resolution, and copies'will be distnbuted to each member 'of' the Council: . C<Having considered the r~lollltion of the Gen- "Ayant examine la resollltionpar laquelle 'eral'Assembly of 19 Novemlber 1946, adopting I'Assemblee generale a, le 19, novembre 1946, pr~visionallyand subject to the concurrence of adopte provisoirement, et sous reserve de l'avis the Security Council the following rule of proconforme du Conseil de sectirite, l'article suicedure:' ' , vant: ---'- 1~ee 'Resolutions adopted bY. the (;e,neral Assembly 1Voir !es Resolutions ad()ptees par l'Assembltfe genl- 2. To adopt the following rule of procedure: RELATIONS WITH OTHER UNITED NATIONS ,-~' ORGANS, "RULE .61. Any mee~g of the Security Council held in pursuanc(' of the Statute of the International Court' of Justice for the purpose of the election of members of the Court shall . continue until as many-candidates as. are required for &l the seats to be filled have obtained in .one er more ballots an absolute majority qf votes." . , , / CCTrans.mits this resolution to the General Assembly for its inf~rmation." 'The PRESIDENT. (tra:'!tSlated from' Fren~k) : If I understand ,Mr. Johnson's statero~t cor- .' rectly, it. contemplates on the one hand subtDitting •to us a draft. resolution and, on. the other hand, asking for an immediate discussion . ,ofitby the Security Council. Th?it is.a procequre' which we Can~adopt ifwe consider'that we have sufficiei:Jf inform~tiOJl on thesubject~ ·Another. method of procedure wowdbe to, refer .•the..question,'for' a •;rapid study,. to the Committee of Experts which isatta,ched. to us for thestildy of legal questions. In my opinion, the ·second. method would be more in conforIJrl.tY' With our cUStomS;! shQuldlikc, Jiow- . ever, to have your opinion on this question of' procedllre. . ;' '.;" J . ." Mr. ]OHNSON (United States of America): The United States delegatidn would nQt wish to .pressthe Council. to take¥nJnediate -action: I venture, however"to.suggest that from our'pomt of view there catainly does not seem to be a,ny con4"Oversial element .in 1this.question; it is. a 1I1atter which the General.'Assembly adopted unanitnously. . '. .' If the' members of.the CouIicil' 'Yc:re disposed to do so, it would appear to us that they might .disposeoi'this .item very ~uickly this aftemoo~. , " :However, we have no feeling whatever that.this should be done.•Whatever··the Security Council decides would he entire~y agreeable to 'the United States'delegation. Mr.GI{OMYKO (Union of .Soviet Socialist . 'Reptlbli~) .(translated from Russian): . The United Stat~aelegati9n'sresolution.confirms, ,or,to •.. b€: more correct,repea(s the General .Assetnply,resolutio~. .The t~'of .~e United States<,lraft differs.from' the General A.ssembly rC8()lution in two 'Y0rds only: the words uSecur- 2. D'adopter l'article smvant: RELATIONS AVEC LES AUTRES ORGANES DES NATIONS UNmS "MTICI,E 61.· Toute seance du Conseilde securite· tenue conform~ent au Statut de la Cour intemationale tie Justice pour proceder .. a l'eIection de roembtes de, la Cour se pour~ . suivra jusq~i'a ce que la majorite absolue de'! voix soit allee, en un ou .plusieurs toms de scrutin, a autant de candidats qu'ilseia necessaire J.."Ourque tous Ies sieges ~acants roie.i1t pourvus." . ' . "Transmet cette resolution al'Asst?mbIee'gene~ . rale pour information." . Le PRESIDENT: Si je comprends exaetement la declaration de M. JohnsoD:? clle tend, d'unepart, anous saisir d'un p'rojet de r€solutionet, d'autre . part, a en demander l'examen inimediat par le CoIiseil de securit6. C'~t une procCdure que nous pouvons adoptu si fiotisestUnons Stre 5Offi.'laInment'eclaires sur le p~bleme. ' Une autre maIiiercde proceder 'Consisterait a rcnvoyer la,question, .pour une etude rapide, au Conrlte d'~erts qui no1,1s est .adjoint poUf l'examen' des questions·juridiques. A mon ayjsj . cetteseconde manie:re de procederscrait la plu$ . conform:e. 2. nos habitudes; je 'desire cependllilt avoir votre. avis'sUr cette· question de proc~Urt. M. JOHNSON (Etats-Unis d'Amerique) (I,aduitde l'anglais): La. d6legation des Etilt&-Uniil n'insisterapas pour que le' Conseil prc:nneune deci&ionimmediate. Mais. je II!e pennets Q~dire .qu'a.Il~tre 'avis la qllestlOJ1 nep~t cerWnep1entpreter~"aueune controverse. L'Amemblet generale a'adopte eet article al:unanimite. n me semble que lesmembres' du Comeil, peuvent, g'ilsJe veulent; ~egler eette qu~on tresVite, eet apres-niidi' meme. Mais nonS n'y 'tenons 'pas essentiellemertt. Quelle que soit la decil!iort .du Conseil· de securite, nous y souscrirombien volontiers. M. GR9~Y~O (Union des ,R~publiqu~ socialistes sovietiques) (traduii du rus$e):. U'I:f!olution des,'Etats-Unis· confirme la r6Kllutionde l'Al3Semblee generale ou, plqs aactemet?-t"e1le en reproduit IfS termes. La diff6renc~,qu'ilyaentre le projet deS Etaw-Unis et la resolution ~e l'¥ sembIee. ne .porte que sur .' deux mots: le pro~ A If any members of the CoUncil find it difficult tc) discuss this ~atter at the present meeting, or if even'one member of the Security Council h~ any doubts 'whatsoever on the matter, I would personally not object to referring this question and the relevant documents to a Committee.of Experts,ps suggested by the President. This would be in conformity with our usual procedure, since resolutions are not usually adopted at the same meeting, "at which they are introduced:' On the substance of the. question, as I have. already said, I have no objection to accepting the General .Assembly resolu~bn and including in the rules of pmcedure the same rule, the same paragraph which has been inserted in the General AssemblY rules of procedure q:>ncerning the .election of members of the ,International Court of'Justice. ' The PRESIDE~T ·(translated from French):, The comments which have jU$t be~n made are in ,favour of an immediate examination of &e text. I share the opinion expressed by the representative of the Soviet Union, namely that if one member of the Council asks that the text ~hould b~ referred t() the. Committee of Experts, '. It should be done. But if no one afilongst-you· tt:lakes this r~quest, we shall proceed to an inl" mediate. examination. of the' substance of the text." . I ~ould like, however)'to have the Secre.. ~at's opinion as to ,whether there is any objec., .tion to this immediate examination. . Mr. Xrygve Lie, Secretary-General, made a fl,egativc sign..' . . The PRESIDENT (translated from -French): Smce the Secretariat sees no objection to the immediate examination of the -draft resolution, \1 .sho~dlike to know if .any member·of the Security Council is.opposeq to it. ,I note that the Council members are imanimous in wishing to examine thiS text at once., Je .prends acte de ce que les. membres du Consen sont.unanimes pour desirer examiner ce texte tout de suite. I invite th~ Council members 'to make their Tinvite lesmembresdu Consen apresente-r Comments on the, substance of the draftresoleurs. observations sur le fond du projet de Iution. resolution.' .' . , Colonel HODGSON' (Aust~alia): ,We are all Le colonel HOPGSON (AustraIie) (traduitde· conversant with this subject. and with the diffi- 'l'anglais): Nous so:mm.'est()US parfaitement !;ill cultywhich gavel'rise to it. Those of us who were courant de cette question et des difficultes qui at the first General Assembly meeting in London ont ete a I'origine de ce texte,· Ceux d'entre know the hopeless confusion which arose between nous qui ont assiste a la' premiere session de the. SeCl,uity Council and the. General Assembly, l'AssembIee generale, a' Londr~, se rappelleront 0wmg to the lack of a rule such as· the one l'inextricabl~ confusion qui, en l'absence d'mie . before us. Indee~, as the Secretary-General will . telle regIe etait venue a regner.entre leConsen b.ear me out, the President of the Security Counde securite et l'Assemblee generale. En effet, cilgaveonerulin:g' and the President of thecomme le Secretaire g&..eralpourraen temoi- General i\ssembly gave another.' . gner, le. President du Conseil,de securite a pm ~.. . une decision et lee President de l'Ass€mbIeege- __1.1· 9.7F-------·.Jn~eir~alleill·einWliaIliPansiii· llunitl~ieiilaiMWrlWlilei: liIII.7 _.5i11l!l!1. Le ,PRESIDENT: Les observatioll8 qui viennent d'etre presentees sont favorables .a.un examen immediat du texte. Je partagel'avis ~primepar le representant, de l'Union sovietique, a savoir que, sf rim desm€:InbreS du Coriseil dem~da.jt que le texte fut. envoye au Comite d'experts, it conviendrait de le faire.. Mais si aucun d'entre vous n~J~_d~mande, nous" procederons. immt. diatement a·l'examen--atrtexte--f¥l.~nd. . . . ----:'--.~ , . Je.voudrais .cependant prendre I'avis du Secretariat afin de savoir ~'il -a une objection a l'examen immediat du texte. M. Trygve Lie, Secreto$re gen~rol, fait un signe de denegation• Le PRESIDENT: Puisque le Secreta,tiat ne voit aUi:une objection .a un e~amen illl-mediat du projet de resolution, .je deinanderai si un.mema bre du Conseil de s.ecurite y serait oppose. Th~.PRESIDENT (transla.ted from French).: Since there are no comments, I shall put the resolution proposed by the United States· delegation to the vote. A vote was taken by s40w of hands, and the resolution submitted by' the United States ot America was adopted unanimouslY7 163. S~ecial agr~ements under Article 43 of the Charter and the (trganization of the United Nations armed forces The'·PREsIDENT (translated ·from French): Th'e second point on opr agenda deals with .a particularly important question. The report of ·the Military Staff Committee· brings. us to a ~singu1ady grave' and particularly constructive aspect of th~. work with which we have been entrusted in the interest of the maintenance and .organization ofworld peace. . I should ,like to express my thanks and, I 'have no doubt those of the Security Council, to the MjIitary Stafi'Committee for this extreIIlely thorough· report, .. the compilation of ..which we know has ·been;difficult. The question is pow we .ar~ going to examine this report-.avoluminous one--which demands all our·. attention. I should like to have your opinion.as to whether we should first' proceed to a general diScussion on the wholetex.t submitted to us, arid then examine the procedure for discuSsing the report. ] think, however, that those. ~ votre opinion sur le point de savoir si now; procederons d'abord a une discussion generale sur l'ensemble du te.xtequi vientde .. .)US eue souinis, a la suite de quoinous pourriGns examiner la procedure suivant laquelle no~ discuterons le rapp lit. Je pense cependant que ceux d'entre vous qui prendront la parole pendant la' discussion generale pourraient utilement cx" primer, en meme temps, leur maniere de voir sur la procedure de travail. Si vous etes d'accord, r~uvrirai la discussion generalesur l'ensemble du rapport. La parole est 'au representant des Etats-Unis ----oti., •• . ' .. oouuwW.hhoo .ssppeeakak in the-general discussion comd •. 'at"~e usefully ,express your vie\\(S on themethodo{wOix:-=~._.._ , ...; If· you agree, I shall open the general dis.. CUssiOIl on the report as a whole. I call upon the representative' of the United States of Ame~ca. . Mr. ]OHNSON (United States of America): The Security Council retul'IlS today toa most important piece of unfinished bllSiness. Five .of the principal organs of the United Nations were .brought .• into existence eighteen mOllths ago. Since then, great progress has been made in completing the orgallizational structure of the ··United Nations. The laSt of'the principal organs, .the.Trusteeship Council, was eStablished by the General Assembly last December a:nd has since lfeld its 1irstmeeting.1 In the economic , . ~i=~;.;~i~:~:.~de:;~.!ir:~:.~ / premiere session en mars-avril 1947. .. 1 See. Resolu.tions adopted by. the .. GenerqJ Assembly' during the second part of its first session, pages 56, 122 and 123. The Trusteeship Council. held its first session in March and April 1947. Le PRESIDENT: Puisqu'il n'y a pas d'observation, je vais mettre aux voix la resolution proposee par la deiegation des Etat.s-Unis. 163. Accords speciauxprevusa l'Article 43 de ~aCharie et organisation d~ forces armees des Nations Unies , Le PRESIDENT: Le secoIid point qui figure a notre ordre du jour a trait a une question par- ·ticulierement importante. A,vec le rapport· du Comite d'etat-major, nous abordons Un element singulierement grave, particulierement. cons- .. tructif, du travail dont nous avoils ete charges dans l'interet du maintien et de l'organisation de la paix dans le monde. Je tiens a exprimer mes remerciements et, je pense, ce~ du Conseil de securite, an Comite d'etat-major pour ce rapport extremement s~ rieux, et dont nous savons qu'il a ete difficile a mettre sur pied.' .. La question, se pose ~ nous de savoir com- ment nous nllons procedei' a· l'examen de ce rapport - Un rapport volumineux - qui de- ma,nde tout~ notre attention. Je desire, avoir d~Amerique. . M. JOHNSON (Etats-UniS d'Amerique) (Ira- duit de ranglais): Le Conseil de securite re- prend aujourd'hui ·l'examen d'unequestiontres importante dont·iln'avait pas acheve l'etude. Cinq des organes principaux des Nations Unies ont ete creesil y a clix-huit mois.~ Depuis lors, l'elaboran.on de. la structure interne' de l'OrganiSation. des' Nations Unies a fait . de grands progres. 1.. 'dernier. en date. de c~or­ ganes principaux, le Co~eil .de tutelle, .. aete constitue par l'AssembIee generale en decembre .1946 et a deja. tenu sa premiere session 1 • Dans . :, It was about fourteen months ago that the Security Council, at the end of its iirstmeetings in London, requested the representatives of the five permanent members who compose the Mili- tary Staff Committee to study Article 43 from the military.point of view and to make recom- mendations to the Security Council. -. The Military Staff Committee made little progress until the meeting of the C'eneral Assem~ bly last fall. The General Assembly in its resolu- tion on the' principles' governing the general regulation and reduction of armaments recom- .mended that the Security Council should -"accelerate as mqch as possible the placing at its disposal of the armed fOl'Ces mentioned in Article 43 of the Charter" lThe Security Cooo" eil, acting on thi'S recommendation, directed the Military Staff Committee to report by 30 April 1947 on itsprogress.2 . travau.~. I Leg reconu::n.andations que nous avons'soU,S les yeux ("Principes generaux regissant l'organisa- tion des forces armees mises·a la disposition. du Conseil de securite par les Etats Membres des Nations Unies"8) son1; le resultat de ces de- mandes unanimes faites' p~ I'AssembIee generate et le Conseil de ~ecurite, , . . Les Etats-Unis ont ete de~uspar la lenteur de Ce,s travaux. .Cependant, ' lesrecommandatioIlB que voici representent un certainprogres. Nons croyons que le Comeil de securite devrait main- tenant. employer to-qs ses efforts aachever la tache, que l'Article 43 de la Charte impose au Conseil en .general eta chaque Membre des 'Nations Unies en particlilier. . The recommendations which are before us-- "The general. principles governing the organiza- tjon.of the armed forces ma:de available to the Security Couricil by Member nations of the United Nations 9 ' 8-'. are the result of those unanimous requests of the General Assembly and the Security Council. , The United States has been disappointed by the slow.pace at which the work has progressed. Those recClznmendations do however repr-esent a measure of progress. We believe that the Security (Jouncil should now exert every effort to complete the task that is imposed by Article 43 of the Charter upon the Council· collectively and upon the Members of the United Nations individwilly. , As the next step in thatdir~ction,the United' ". States believes that tile Security Council should proceed ,today and in.succeeding meetings to a full and pubHG examination and debate. on the recommendations cuntained in this report and on related problems concerning irr,tplementation - d 1 ~ee ResDlutions adopted by the General .Assembly unng the second part of its first session,. page 66. La delegation des Etats-lJniS' e.nme que la pren.1icre chose a faire a. cet egard est de nons mettre a. examiner.et a discuter minutieusement et pubIiquement, au·cours de la.presente seance et des prochai."1es seances, les recommandatioIlB contenues dans le rapport et les·problemes. con- 1 Voir les Resolutions adoptees par Z'.AssembUe gene- rale pendant h~ seconde partie de sa premiere session, page 66.. J 2Voir les Proces-verbaux officielr flu Conseil de si- curiM, Deu."tieme Annee, No 13. . a/bid., .Supplement special No 1. The peoples of the world look to this Council to fulfil this responsibility and they should be fully informed of the manner in which we dis- charge our obligation to establish the peace forces called for in the ChCh'1:er. The report before us represents wide areas of unanimous agreement. Unfortunately, however, some of the most important principles did not secure unanimity in the Military Staff Com- mittee. As the report itself makes clear, the United States supports the majority position in every case in which unanimity was not secured. I do not desire in this opening statement to enter into a detailed discussion of the articles of the report of the Military Staff Committee. I do, however, wish to make clear the funda- · men~al understanding of my Government con- cerning the obligations imposed upon the Secur- ity Coundl and upon the United States as a Member nation in· the establishment of the armed ~orces of the United Nations. The United Nations is ~ot a world govern- ment. It is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members. Therefore, it could not have a pennanent standing armed force of .its 0'WIl in the same sense that individual nations possess such forces. Oh the· other hand, the founders of the · United Nations decided at San Francisco that the United Nations should not repeat the ex- perience of the League of Nations, which relied solely upon the individual action of Member States to carry out the sanctions provided in the League Covenant. It was therefore decided that · each nation should agree in advance to provide forces and facilities upon which the Security Council could call to prevent or suppress any act of aggression or breach of the peace. Those nationalcoIltingents are to be under the strategic direction of the Military Staff Committee when- ever they are called into action by the Security Council. The decision at San Francisco w~ a long step·forward in the direction of enforceable world law' against war. Nothing like it has ever been attempted ,before. That forward nz'ogress would, however, be largely lost if we tailed to draw up agreements of such a nature that the world will be certain that the Security Council can b:ong s~curite internationales, et reconnaissent qu'en s'acquittant des devoirs que lui impose cette responsabilite, !{: Conseil de securite agit en leur nom". Les peuples du monde attendent du Conseil qu'il s'acquitte de cette responsabilite; ils doivent etre exactement informes de la maniae dont nous remplisso~ l'obligation que l~ Charte nous impose de cOIl..stituer une force armee au service de la paix. Le rapport qui se trouve devant nous montre que l'accoI'd unanime s'est fait sur de nom- breuses questions. Malheureusement, l'unanimite n'a pas pu se faire, au sein du Comite d'etat- major, sur plusieurs: des principes les plus im- portants. Comme ilressort du rapport lui-meme, dans tous Ies cas ou il n'y a pas eu unanimite, Ies Etats-Unis approuvent la position prise par la majorite. Au cours de ce premier expose, je ne veux pas entreprendre une discussion, detaillee des articles du rapport du Comite d'etat-major. Je tiens cependant a indiquer cIairement la fa~on dont mon Gouvemement comprend essentielle- ment les obligations qui incombent au Conseil de securite, ainsi qu'aux Etats-Unis en tant que Memhre des Nations Unies, en ce qui conceme la creation d'une force armee au service des Nations Unies. L'Organisation des. Nations Unies n'est pas un gouvernement universe!. Elle repose sur le principe de l'egalite souveraine de tous ses Mem- bres. Elle ne saurait done avorr sa force armee permanente de la mSme fa~on que chaque na- tion pdssMe la sienne. D'autre part, les fondateurs de l'Organisa- tion ont decide, a San-Francisco, que 1'on ne repeterait pas l'experience de la Societe des Nations, qui comptaIt uniquement sur l'action individuelle des Etats Membres POUl' prendre les sahctions prevues par le Pacte de la Societe. nfut done decide que chaque nation dcvait accepter a l'avance de mettre a la disposition du Conseil de securite les forces annees et les autres facilites dont il pourrait avoir besoin pour empecher ou reprimer tout acte d'agression ou toute rupture de la. paix. des contingents nationaux seront sous la direction strategique du CoIhite d'etat- major chaque fois que le Conseil de securite fera appel a eux. La decision de San-Francisco a grandement contribue a instituer, clans le monde entier, une . legislation ·coercitive contre la guerre. Rien de pareil n'avait ete tente auparavant. Mais ce progres serait reduit a peu pres a neant si nouS' n'arrivions pas a preparer des accords qui don- . nent au monde la certitude qu'en cas de rupture,,:.., Our concept of the nature and strength of the United Nations armed forces is based to a very considerable extent on the experience of the last war. We fOUll-d that it was not only possible but practical to combine the armed forces of two or more nations. We found that such com- binations immeasurably increased the strength and effectiveness of our efforts. As a result, we have faith that natic.nal contingents of the Members of the United Nations can be moulded into effective armed forces serving the United Nations under the control of the Security Council. We learned other strategic lessons which should guide us in the organization of the United Nations armed forces. We learned that an at- tempt to stop an aggressor after'he has suc- ceeded in a fait accompli is infinitely more diffi- cult thau to stop him. at an earlier stage. We are seeking, therefore, to provide arrangements under which the Council could bring its forces to bear in the shortest possible time. That o1:ijec- tive will be aided by the fact that the contingents ' of the Member nations ,V:J1 normally be main- tained, as they are at the present time,in various parts of the world. This na~ural advaIltage ac- cruing to the United Nations should be seized on and promoted and not limited by artificial re.mictions on the location of the contingents made available by Members. , We also learned that the tremendous forces WID.ch my country mobilized for one war could not be moved into a position to strike at the enetny without bases near to the enemy, and that intermediate staging and supply bases were of vital. impQrtance to all three elements of our a."Il1ed forces.. In the Pacific, when we were ?Oable to obtain adequate land bases, we found It necessary to develop floating bases for our fleet operations. We therefore recognize that if the United Nations armed forces are to be effec- tive at all, the Member· nations' must make aVaila~le to. the Security Council a system of bases m vanous parts of the world from which they could operate. be~ !hat Japan was brought to het knees 'by the n'oublions pas que le Japon a ete reduita. merc~ str~g power of 'long range air forces, am- par la puissance offensive des operations aerien;. phiblOUS' operations, and powerful catrier and nes a' longue portee, des operations amphibies, ~ther.naval task forces. In the European war,' des porte-avians. et autres forces navales.De likeWISe, the enormous striking power of thosememe, au .cours des combats qui se .sont Jivres The problem facing the United Nations is not to defend any Maginot Line. Its problem is to enforce peace in all parts of the world. There can be no question that the United Nations needs, :first of all, a mobile force able to strike quickly at long range and to bring to bear, upon any given point in the world where trouble may occur, the maximum armed force in the mini- mum time. H, in order that the United NatioIlS should have such a force available to it, it is necessary that those permanent members of the Security Council which possess such forces at the present time should provide the greater portion of a particular mobile component, we think that should be done. The interests of the United Nations as a whole must take precedence over the desires or ambitions of any single nation. We consider that the contributions of the per- manent members of the Security Council can be properly balanced and rendered roughly comparable without prejudice to the interests of individual nations by arranging that those nations wmch make available a lesser proportion of the new mobile components could put up a larger portion of other components or other forms of assistance and facilities. The mere existence of such forces will be a powerful deterrent to' any nation contemplating an act of aggression. Prompt establishment of . such forces will be a demonstration to the peo- ples of the world d the intention of the Member nati.pns to carry out their obligations to uphold the law of the Charter. The United States welcomes ~t this stage in the work of establishing these forces the full participation of the non-permanent.members of the Security Council. The obligations of the Charter apply equally to every· Member of the United Nations large and small. Each of us is obligated to refrain "from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political . independence of· any State, .or in any other manner :inconsist~twith the purposes of the United Nations." Each of us is bound by the purpose "to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of ag- gression or other breaches of the peace . . ." Mr. VAN LANGENHOVE (Belgium) (translated from French); At the time when the San Francisco Conference approved the United Na- tions Charter, the provisions regarding enforce- ment measures which might be decided upon by the Security Council in case of threats to peace, a breach of the peace or an act of ag- gressio_1, were·considered as the keystone of the edifice which wao:; in the course of construction. Mr. Paul-Boncour characterized 'them as fol- lows in the report of the committee which was entrusted with their examination. "A collective force," he said, "whose size, composition, time-limits and location will be :fixed in advance, should be placed at.the Coun- cil's disposal to enforce its· decision. . . . That," he concluded, "is a great historic act." The Security Council now 'has before it the report'of the Military Staff Committee on the general principles governing the organization of armed forces made available to the Security Council by States Members of the United Na- tions. It is thus called upon to' appraise the measures contemplated to translate into reality the hopes conceived at the moment when the United Nations was born. In conformity with provisions laid down at the outset, the ?fIlled. forces made available to the Security Council are contemplated in .the form of national contingents. In accordance with article 3 of the report, they will be com- posed of· units of national forces whicp. are nor- mally maintained as components of armed forces of States Members of the United Nations. They will remain under the exclusive command of the Member nations who provide them until they are called upon by the Security Council, in conformity with Articles 42 and 43. Only then ca.1J. they come under the Council's authority and can the Military Staff Committee become responsible. for their strategic direction. "Une force collective, dit-il, dont!'etendue, la composition, les deJ.ais et l'emplacement seront :fixes d'avance, devra etre mise a la disposition d.u Conseil pour faire appliquer ces decisions .•. C'est la, concluait-il, un grand fait histori'que." Le Conseil de securite est a present saisi du rapport du Comite d'etat-major sur les principes generaux regissant l'organisation des forces armees mises a· la disposition du Conseil de securite par les Membres des Nations Unies. n. est. mis ainsi ameme d'apprecier les mesures .envisagees en vue de -traduire dans la realite. les esperances con~ues au moment ou est nee . l'Organisation des Nations Unies. Conformemeht aux dispositionsprewes des l'origine, lesforces aimees mises a la disposition du .Conseil de securite sont envisageessous la • forme de contingents natiollaux. Elles sont, sui- vant les termes de l'article 3 du rapport, com- posces d'unites des forces nationales qui font nonnalement partie des forces armces des Mem- bresdes Nations Unies. Elles demeurent pla.cees sous le commandement exclusif des nations Membres .qui les ont fournies, aussi longtemps que le Conseil de securite n'a pas fait appel a eUes en application des Articles 42 et 43. C'est a ce moment seulement qu'elles·passent even.tuel- lement sous l'autorite du Conseil et que le Comite d'etat-major devient responsable de leur direction. strat~giqu<::. Mais, meme a ce moment, d'apres l'artiCle 39 du rapport, "le' commandeinent dC;S contin-. gents nationaux estexerce par des chefs nommes ' par les nations 1vfembres des Nations Unies res- pectives. Ces·· contingents c9nservent leur ca- ractere national et restent soumis en tout temps ala discipline et aux reglements en vigueur dans leurs propres forces armces nationales." Enfin, d'apres l'article 40:"Les commandants des con- tingents nationaux ont le drQit d'etreen rapport direct sur toutes les questions avec les autorites de leurs propres pays." According to article 39 of the report, how- ever, even at this moment: "The command of national··contingents will be exercised by com- manders appointed by the respective Member nations. These contingents will retain their na- tional character and will be subject at all times to the discipline and regulations in force in their own national armed forces." Finally, according . to article 40: "The commanders of national contingents will be .entitled to communicate directly with··the .authorities of their own coun- tries on all matters." Mw M. VAN LANGENHOVE (Belgique): Au mo- ment ou la Conference de San-Francisco ap- prouva la Charte des Nations Unies, les disposi- tions relatives aux mesures coercitives qui peu- vent etre decidees par le Conseil de securite en cas de menace contre la p~, de rupture de la paix et d'acte d'agression, furent considerees comme le point central de la construction que l'on etait en train d'edifier. C'est ainsi que les qualifia M, Paul-Boncour dans le rapport du Comite qui avait ete charge de leur examen. . The explanation of this article~ it seems, is to be found in Article 27, paragraph 3, of the . Charter. In order that the armed forces made available to the Council may be called upon, a decision to this efft:ct by the latter is required. Such a decision requires thl~ unailimous agreement of the five permanent members. There can,be no doubt that such unanimity will place great . moral authority and immense potential strength behind the decision. There will doubtless be very few States which will' have the audacity to · defy such.. an~uthority. It would seettl that the- Military Staff Co~- · mittee, by. the careful ~raftingof .article 5, wished to infer that it was not necessary, in the circumstances, for the Security Council to have large for~es at its disposal. . Some members of the Military Staff Commit- tee, however, hav~_ shown themselves more anxiotlS than others. to·ensure, even within these · limits the efficiency of the atmed forces placed at the Military Staff Cotninittee's disposal. . There were :two conflicting conceptions in regard to article 11, which 'Iays down principles determining the contribution of permanent , members. AccordiIlg to one of these conceptions' it would. be sufficient if the overall contributions of the permanent memb~rs 'Yere cpmparable and showed·no great disproportions. According to t4e other.conception, the. contribution of the peIlllanent membcrsshouId be goyeluedby the principle of equality, both as. t:egards overall strength and as .regards composition. In /this connexion the delegation of the Soviet Union sub,mits the folloWing comment:' '. . The Members of the United Nations have und~en to abstain' from recourse to the threat or use of force in their intemational rela- tions. The Charter has hot confined itself, to enunciating this principle; it has laid d()wn a series of measllres to be taken in the event of this principle not being obServed., That is the object of Chapter VII of the Charter, which lays down the action of the United Nations in the case of a threat, to peace, a breach of the peace or an act of aggression. These provisions, however~ are of general Mais ceS dispositionS ont une portCe generate; . scope; they do not contain'exceptions with re- ell~ ne compQrtent pas d'exc;:eption al'egard de gard to certain categories of wars. certainescategories de guerres.. The Military Staff Committee has, however, Le Comite d'etat-major a cependant ete excluded ,.from their application threats to amene, a omettre de leur application.la menace peace and acts of aggression when these are di- contre-Ia paix;Ja rupture de la paix et ('aCfle tectiyor indirectly committed by a great d'agression quand ils sont directement.oll mdi- ,Power. The conclusions of the Military Staff rectement le fait dtune grande Puissance. Les lJommittee amount toaffi.m:ling that the system conclusions du Comite d'etat-major' reviennent of security established by the Charter would not ainsi a constater que le systemede securitCprCvu, apply to the prevention' or repression of pre- par la Chartene jouerait pas dans leg cas' all n . cISe1y those wars which, in view- of their im- s'agirait de prevenir et de .reprin).er les guerres poI:tance, are the only ones likely to break the qui, par leur importance,sont precisement les peace'of th~ world. 'seules de nature a rompre la paix qu molide. " It would seem difficult to maintain that such U PM-ait dift'icile 'desautenir que ~blabk a.c~nception ,is in strict. conformity, with the conception soit rigoureusement conforme a spmt of Chapter VII of the Charter. This can l'esprit du Chapitre VII de la Charte Bne only be remedied to, the jextentthat a spirit of pourra ette rem6die a ce manque deconfonnite co.-operation rising above conSiderations ofnar- que dans lamesure,oll'se developpera ~tre Jes ~ow national interests can be deve1opedamong membres du Conseil de secunte, principalemellt the!llembers' of the SecUljty Council and more ;ntre les membres permanents; •. un ,espritcle ,particularly among the,pennanent members. cooperation steIevant ~u-dessus des considera- ) tions dtinteret etroitement national. The .effectiveness of the: enfO!:cement meas- L'effic~cite des mesurescoercitive; decidees ures decided upon by the Security Council does· .f par ie Con"ell de securite ne depend p=.,seu!e- not deppnd orJy upon the strength of the armed ment de la: puissance des forces annk9.mises en forces brought into. action; it depends ~ to a mUVIe; elledepend aussi) dans une large mesure, l~ge extent on the prompmess oftheir interven- de· la promptitude de leur intelVention;iI y a ~on.'this~here'is therefore a major interest in enSur- done un interet majeur a l'assurer. mg . ' ThiS is the idea contained in article 19 of the . report. The Military Staff'Committee has, how- "Armed forces to be;; made available to the Security Council must, obviously, not deviate from this elementary strategic rule. We would be completely defenceless if Member nations did not conform to this rule and if they contem- plated the use, as they saw fit, of the forces they haQ. ear-marked to be made available, on call, to the Security Council, until the day when these forces had been placed ~t the disposal of the Security Council."1 . It is not necessary to'be versed in military sci- ence to recognize the pertinence of this comment by the French delegation. The Military Staff Committee's report,' however, contains no pro- visions for implementing this idea. ' In,. this connexion, the Charter contains, in Article 45, special provisions concerning air forces. In order to enable the United Nations to· take urgent military measures, it.is prescribed that contingents of immediately available na- tional air forces should. be held for combined international enforcement action. The Security Council, with the assistance of the Military Staff Committee, should' deterniine the size and de- gree of readiness of these contingents, as well as making plans for their combined action. It is regrettable that'the Military Staff Com- mittee .could not reach agreement on proposals- to implement this Article of the Charter. Moreover, in accord~ce with Article 47 of the Charter, regional 8ub~committees of theMil- itary Staff Committee may be es~ablishedby the latter, with the authorization of the Secllrity Council and ·after consiIltation with appropriate . agencies. The Mili~ary Staff Committee's report makes no mention of this. It would, however, have been useful to know its opinion' and pro- posals. The United Nations has w~te4formonths for the Military Staff Committee's proP08~1l:'on dleimplf'll1elltation of one of the essential parts of the Charter. _ . It is to be feared that the perusal of the pro- •po~als, now submitted. to the Security 90uncil 'haS created a feeling of disapp()intment. It.is 'important to react against such a state of.rnin~: because, if it should develop, doubts would . quickly arise as to the effective value of the ,measures provided for in Chapter VII of the , Les Nations Unies ont attendu pendant. de longs roois .les propositions du, Comite d'etat- , major au sujet de la mise enreuvre de l'une des parties essentielles de la Charte, ." n est a craindre que la lecture des proposi- tions a present soumises au Conseil de securite n'ait suscite un sentiment de deception, n im- porte de reagir' contre un tel etat d'esp:rit car, ,... .\,1 , -.'. 'I' 1 ....J..J " s'u aevau se -p.eveopper, ues uoutes ne tar- deraient pas a apparaitre au sujetde la valeur effective des. mesures prevues par le Chapitre 1 Voir les Proces-verbaux ofJiciels du Conseil de 16- curite, Deuxieme Annee, Supplement special No 1. Rap" j port dUiComite d'etat-major;eXpose de la position de la .. delegation fran!Oaise a.l'egard de l'article 17, Monsieur le President, au debut de cette dis- cussion, vous avez exprime le desir que les mem· bres du ConseiI d~ securite formulent leur opi- nion sur la procedure asuivre pOUf l'examen du rapport du Comire d'etat-major. La delegation belge,ce qui la conceme, ne fera pas d'objection au renvoi eventuel de cet examen a un comite du Conseil si tel est l'avis de la majorite. Mais, au cas ou semblable decision serait prise, j'in- sisterais cependant pour que tous les membres du Conseil de securite soient representes au sein de ce comite. Le PRESIDENT: Jeremercie le representant des Etats-Unis et le representant de la Belgique pour les cc:Jntributions importantes qu'ils ont fournies au travail que nous avons devant noUs. ,!1 conviendra, je pense, que nous consacrionS encore une' seance, peut-etre meme plusieurs seances acette discus~ion,generale car je sais deja '<.lue certaines delegations desirent presenter,·des observations, .mais pre~erent ne pas le faire ce soir meme. . J'exprime 'le souhait que les membres non perrnanents du Conseil de securite en particulier - a).1tres que la Belgique, dont le representant it bien voulu nous exprimer son avis cet apres-midi -'- fassent aussi connaltre. leur maniere de voir sur l'ensemble du rapport. 11 y aurait la, me . semble-t-:-il, 'une contribution particulierement utile a notre travail. I would express the hope that, in particular, the non-permanent :members' of the Security' Co~ncil-apart from Belgium, whose represen- tatIve has been good enough to express his, opinion this .afternoon~will state their views on the report as 'a whole. That, in my view, would bea particularly useful contribution to our work. Le Comite d;etat-major devrait, en particulier, etre prie de faire des propositions concretes en ce qui conceme: 1. Les mesures destinees aassurer que l'action des forees armees mises ala dispositio~du COnSeiI de securite's'exerce, conformement au principe enonce a l'article 19 du rapport, avec le maxi- mum de promptitude; 2. Les mesure destinees a donner plein effet al'Article 45 de la Charte concernant Res forces aeriennes immecliatement utilisables en vue de l'execution combinee d'une action coercitivein- .temationale; 3. 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