Memorandum from General Omar Bradley to Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson

ZOP GEORE C O THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF NLT (PSF-SUBT). 251 P Washington 25, D.C. Y copy 2 OF2 6 September 1950 MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Subject: The Philippines. 1. In accordance with the request contained in your memorandum dated 7 July 1950, the Joint Chiefs of Staff have formulated the following views regarding the military situation in the Philippine Islands and the steps that should be taken to protect United States security interests therein. 2. By terms of the agreement of 14 March 1947 between the United States and the Republic of the Philippines, the United States guarantees the security and defense of that Republic. This commitment, together with other commitments implicit in the relationship of the two governments, invests the United States with special political and moral responsibilities toward the Philippines, extending further than merely military defense and security of the Islands. The basic mili- tary policy of the United States with respect to the Republic of the Philippines, therefore, is to develop and strengthen the security of the Philippines against organized external aggression or internal subversion (NSC 48/2). The following statement in the public announcement by the President on 27 June 1950 now controls the actions to be taken with respect to this problem: "I have also directed that United States forces in the Philippines be strengthened and that military assistance to the Philippine Government be accelerated.' 3. The Philippines are an essential part of the Asian offshore island chain of bases on which the strategic position of the United States in the Far East depends. The threat of further Communist encroachment in Formosa and in Southeast Asia renders it imperative that the security of the Philippines against internal subversion and external aggression be assured. The strategic importance of the United States position in the Philippines is such as to justify the commitment of United States forces for its protection should circumstances require such action. 4. From the viewpoint of the USSR, the Philippine Islands could be the key to Soviet control of the Far East inasmuch as Soviet domination of these islands would, in all probability, be followed by the rapid disintegration of the entire structure of anti-Communist defenses in Southeast Asia and the offshore island chain, including Japan. Therefore, the situation in the Philippines cannot be viewed as a local problem, since Soviet domination over these islands would endanger the United States military position in the Western Pacific and the Far East. DECLASSIFIED F.R. aff U.S. 1550 TOP OLORIT Accr 1485 BYNLT NARS, Date 12:3-79