Dear Secretary Rusk:
As you and your colleagues from
every quarter of the globe enter upon the work of the Geneva Disarmament
Conference, it may seem unnecessary to state again that the hopes and indeed
the very prospects of mankind are involved in the undertaking in which
you are engaged. And yet the fact that the immediate and practical significance
of the task that has brought you together has come to be so fully realized
by the peoples of the world is one of the crucial developments of our time.
For men now know that amassing of destructive power does not beget security;
they know that polemics do not bring peace. Men's minds, men's hearts,
and men's spiritual aspirations alike demand no less than a reversal of
the course of recent history - a replacement of ever-growing stockpiles
of destruction by ever-growing opportunities for human achievement. It
is your task as representative of the United States to join with your colleagues
in a supreme effort toward that end.
This task, the foremost item
on the agenda of humanity, is not a quick or easy one. It must be approached
both boldly and responsibly. It is a task whose magnitude and urgency justifies
our bringing to bear upon it the highest resources of creative statesmanship
the international community has to offer, for it is the future of the community
of mankind that is involved. We must pledge ourselves at the outset to
an unceasing effort to continue until the job is done. We must not be discouraged
by initial disagreements nor weakened in our resolve by
the tensions that surround us and add difficulties to
our task. For verifiable disarmament arrangements are not a fair weather
phenomenon. A sea wall is not needed when the seas are calm. Sound disarmament
agreements, deeply rooted in mankind's mutual interest in survival must
serve as a bulwark against the tidal waves of war and its destructiveness.
Let no one, then, say that we cannot arrive at such agreements in troubled
times, for it is then their need is greatest.
My earnest hope is that no effort
will be spared to define areas of agreement on all of the three important
levels to which Prime Minister Macmillan and I referred in our joint letter
of February 7 to Premier Khrushchev.l
Building upon the principles already agreed, I hope that you will quickly
be able to report agreement on an outline defining the over-all shape of
a program for general and complete disarmament in a peaceful world. I have
submitted such an outline on behalf of the U.S. to the U.N. General Assembly
last September.2
But an outline is not enough. You should seek as well, as areas of agreement
emerge, a definition in specific terms of measures set forth in the outline.
The objective should be to define in treaty terms the widest area of agreement
that can be implemented at the earliest possible time while still continuing
your maximum efforts to achieve agreement on those other aspects which
present more difficulty. As a third specific objective you should seek
to isolate and identify initial measures of disarmament which could, if
put into effect without delay, materially improve international security
and the prospects for further disarmament progress. In this category you
should seek as a matter of highest priority agreement on a safeguarded
nuclear test ban. At this juncture in history no single measure in the
field of disarmament would be more productive of concrete benefit in the
alleviation of tensions and the enhancement of prospects for greater progress.
Please convey, on my behalf
and on behalf of the people of the United States to the representatives
of the nations assembled, our deep and abiding support of the deliberations
on which you are about to embark. I pledge anew my personal and continuing
interest in this work.
With warmest personal regards,
NOTE: The letter was read by Secretary Rusk as part of
his statement at the opening meeting of the conference on March 15.