THE SENATE AND US TROOPS IN EUROPE

Transcription

1 THE SENATE AND US TROOPS IN EUROPE

2 Also hy Phil Williams CRISIS MANAGEMENT CONTEMPORARY STRATEGY (coauthor) THE CARTER YEARS (coeditor)

3 THE SENATE AND US TROOPS IN EUROPE Phil Williams M MACMILLAN

4 Phil Williams 1985 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permission First published 1985 by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD London and Basingstoke Companies and representatives throughout the world Filmsetting by Vantage PhotosettingCo. Ltd Eastleigh and London Bridah Library Ca1aloguing in Publication Data Williams, Phil The Senate and US troops in Europe. 1. United States-Military policy 2. United States-Armed Forces-Foreign countries I. Title 355.2'0973 UA23 ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI /

5 To the memory of my dad

6 Contents Acknowledgements 1 INTRODUCTION 1 Purpose and Scope 2 Problems of Analysis 3 A Preliminary Overview lx 1 2 THE NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY, MILITARY ASSISTANCE, AND THE TROOPS TO EUROPE DECISION 11 1 Introduction 2 The North Atlantic Treaty 3 The Military Assistance Programme 4 Troops to Europe 3 THE COMMITMENT CHALLENGED: THE 'GREAT DEBATE' OF Context 2 The Senate Floor Debate: 5 January-23 January 3 The Administration Offensive: Eisenhower's Testimony and the Open Hearings 4 The Joint Committee and the Connally-Russell Resolution 5 The Final Floor Debates and the Voting 4 THE INTERIM PERIOD, 1952 TO The Aftermath of the 'Great Debate' 2 The Changing Senate 3 The Balance of Payments Problem 4 Senator Mansfield and Troops in Europe 5 Murmurs of Discontent, vii

7 viii Contents 5 THE PERIOD OF GENTLE PRESSURE: THE MANSFIELD RESOLUTIONS, From Individual Protest to Collective Action 2 The Mansfield Resolution 3 The Pressure Maintained: Senate Resolution 49 and the Combined Subcommittee 4 Troop Withdrawals and the Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia 5 The Mansfield Resolution and the Nixon Administration, THE MANSFIELD AMENDMENT OF Introduction 2 Administration Lobbying 3 The Amendment Defeated 4 Postscript to May 1971: The November Debate 7 THE PRESSURE PEAKS: THE 1973 DEBATE Introduction 2 The Democratic Challenge 3 The Arguments 4 The Senate Battle 5 The Pattern of Voting 8 THE DECLINE OF PRESSURE, The Context 2 Domestic Opposition to the Amendment 3 The Debate and the Votes 4 The 1975 Debate 9 CONCLUSIONS 1 The Senate and Western Europe 2 Democrats, Republicans and Troops in Europe 3 The President, The Senate and Troops in Europe 4 TheFuture Notes and References Index

8 Acknowledgements During the course of writing this book I have incurred great debts to a large number of friends and colleagues. Special thanks have to go to David Greenwood of the Centre for Defence Studies, the University of Aberdeen, who not only initially prompted me to work on the Mansfield Amendment and to apply for a NATO research fellowship in 1974 but has been a source of encouragement throughout. Special thanks too to Professor Lawrence Freedman of King's College London who was a great source of help and inspiration. I must also express my gratitude to Dr Fernand Welter of the NATO Information Service who administered the NATO fellowship sympathetically and efficiently and who has been extremely patient in waiting for the final version of the study. During the course of researching and writing on the book I have been fortunate to work in two university departments, both of which provided a congenial atmosphere and considerable stimulation. Professor Frank Bealey of the Department of Politics in Aberdeen and Professors Peter Richards, Raymond Plant and Peter Calvert of the Southampton Politics Department all provided strong support, while colleagues Clive Archer and David Capitanchik at Aberdeen and Karen Dawisha, Dilys Hill, John Simpson and Ronnie Beiner in Southampton were a source of sustenance during the periods when I began to doubt whether the work would ever be finished. My research in the United States was greatly assisted in the early stages by encouragement from Robert Osgood, Annette Baker Fox, Bruce Russett, Frank Rourke, Edward Kolodziej, Gregory Treverton and John Yochelson. I also benefited from the help of Timothy Ireland, Scott Sagan and Roger George as well as from the hospitality of Steve and Debbie Miller. During a visit to the University of Montana, Missoula in 1980 I not lx

9 X Acknowledgements only received considerable assistance but made several good friends. Dale Johnson, the archivist was an unfailing source of help and advice about the Mansfield Papers while Professor Charles Hood of the School of Journalism was extremely generous with his time and his massive knowledge about Senator Mansfield. I am extremely grateful for their hospitality as well as that of Claire and Leo Rhein- together they made the visit not only extremely profitable in terms of research but also immensely enjoyable. Apart from the Mansfield Collection, the library at Senate House in London, the American Erpbassy Library and the press libraries at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and at Chatham House all proved invaluable at different stages of the research. While I owe a debt to many people in all these libraries, special mention must be made of Susan Boyd, Mary Bone, Sarah Stuffins and Mary Davis and all the other press librarians at Chatham House whose unfailing knowledge, professionalism and efficiency is only matched by their patience and good humour. In addition I would like to thank the United States Information Service and the University of Southampton for the financial assistance which made possible the visit to Montana. Thanks are also due to Jean Pell, Joanne Fluck and Liz Jones who typed successive versions of the manuscript. Too numerous to name are those students who did my courses in Western European Security and Foreign Policy Analysis at Southampton and provided a stimulating atmosphere which made it possible to try out and to refine some of the interpretations contained in the book. Thank you all! Senator Mike Mansfield, whose troop withdrawal proposals precipitated this study, gave generously of his time both in Washington and Tokyo, and answered all my questions fully and frankly. He was a considerable source of inspiration and his courtesy and consideration have left me in his debt. I have also been extremely fortunate in having an understanding editor in Anne-Lucie Norton and an efficient copy editor in Anne Beech. Last, but most important of all, are my wife Avis and my daughter Rhian without whose love, patience and endurance of many hours of neglect this work would never have been completed.

10 Acknowledgements XI Whatever merit this study may have owes a great deal to all those mentioned; its shortcomings are solely my own responsibility.