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Francis Gary Powers — Part 1
Page 59
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sande eraneemme meme ee
_--* For text, see-Butiermn. of Apr. 4, 1960, P. 611.--
speeches, and in his satellites’ echoes, United Na-
tions endorsement of the Soviet plan. But when
this resolution is cited by the Communists, it is
usually rewritten, and the vital provision “under
effective international control” conveniently dis-
appears. Even when the Soviets do make refer-
ence to controls, they tend to give only lip service’
to @ concept and do not make a serious effort to
develop an effective system of verification.
The Soviets seam interested only in what label
is put on the disarmament package. In the light
of our previous experience with them in the use
_ Of slogans, we are interested primarily in the con-
tents. Until agreement is reached on the contents,
how can the label mean anything?
What we seek is a secure, free, and peaceful
world in which there would be general disarma-
ment under effective international safeguards and
agreed procedures for the settlement of disputes
in accordance with the principles of the United
Nations Charter.
To this end we have submitted concrete pro-
posals * on the basis of which the 10-nation group
could begin immediately to hammer out specific
measures of real disarmament. The Communist
side has not been willing to negotiate on specific
disarmament measures but has contented itself
with urging agreement in principle on abolition of
all armies, armaments, and war ministries within
4 years.
The Need for Verification -
At Geneva the Soviets have thus far sought to
avoid any serious negotiation about the question
of control and inspection, although they acknow]-
edge that this is an essential element in any gen-
eral disarmament agreement. In this approach
they are reflecting the historic reluctance of Com-
munist disarmament negotiators to talk about,
much less to agree upon, concrete arrangements to
assure that disarmament measures are actually
observed.
I find it wholly understandable that the Soviet
Union, with its phobia for secrecy and with its
broad access to information about developments
in the free world, should find disarmament con-
trol arrangements highly undesirable on the one
hand and perhaps even unnecessary on the other.
Yet precisely these same factors make it impera-
822
tive for the free world to insist upon an adequate ;
system of inspection for verifying compliance
with disarmament agreements. In this area,
which is clearly vita] to our own security, we can-
not rely on promises alone. Control and inspec-
tion procedures must be part and parcel of any
agreed disarmament measures.
The Communist group frequently alleges that
proposals for a verification system are designed -
for purposes of espionage. They characterize
these proposals as a wish on our part to look into
everybody's bedroom and into everybody's garden.
Now obviously effective international control ma-
chinery will certainly result in the gathering and
exchange of information. But this should not go
beyond what is necessary to establish and sustain
confidence. Equal assurance to both sides that
commitments under a disarmament agreement are
being carried out is essential. This is the essence
of international control.
In my dictionary, “espionage” is defined as the
practice of spying on others or the employment of
spies and the systematic secret observation of the
words and conduct of others. This is by no means
the definition of the operations of an interna-
tionally agreed organization whose task is to
gather and receive information which will assure
both sides that the disarmament agreement is
being carried out.
In spite of this essentially negative and grudg-
ing approach to the central problem of control
and inspection, the Soviets must come to realize
that we will insist upon adequate control arrange-
ments in any disarmament agreement. ;
T would like to be quite clear on one point. In
this imperfect world we do not expect to see a 100
percent perfect system of controls. Nor are we
seeking controls for the sake of controls. Our
prime purpose has been, and remains, to work out
disarmament agreements that will reduce the pros-
pects of war and the burden of armaments. We
attach the utmost importance to our efforts to
achieve this goal. As a part of such alrange-
ments, we seek only that degree of control and
verification which will permit the world to know
that the agreements are being kept by all parties.
We ask the Soviets to accept nothing that we will
-not ourselves accept. If the Soviet Union will
approach this question in the same reasonable way,
I am confident that significant progress can be
- Department of State Bulletin
se Syren aes epee centy nemmapaegens remmamomammntmme yy tne
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