“INFORMAL” BRITISH-AMERICAN MILITARY ALLIANCE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 90, Issue 56, 8 March 1946, Page 5

“INFORMAL” BRITISH-AMERICAN MILITARY ALLIANCE

Recd. 8.40 p.m New York, March 6. Meeting in an atmosphere of the greatest secrecy, enforced by armed guards who escort every visitor to the building, the British and American combined Chiefs of Staff continued to-day joint military planning, although the war finished more than six months ago. Responsible British and American Staff officers declined to discuss the nature of the secret work they are doing, or how long the Joint Board intends to continue. However, it is known that the British proposed that the Combined Staff should continue indefinitely '

Some persons in Washington feel that the Staff represents an informal and “unratified BritishAmerican military alliance accomplishing many of the objectives outlined in Mr. Churchill’s speech at Fulton, but Mr. Churchill believes that the effect of the joint group would be greater if its status were formalised, perhaps bv treaty.

The fact that the Staff is continuing daily meetings has probably come as a surprise to many in this country, even in Washington, and now that Mr. Churchill has brought into open the agitation for a formal British-American military alliance it is expected that Congress will pay more attention to the Staff’s activities.

Meanwhile it was learned that Mr. Churchill regarded his speech yesterday as the most important of his long career.

The Washington reaction is mixed, but influential Senators appeared more willing to accept Mr. Churchill’s diagnosis or the world’s ills than to take his proffered medicine. The proposal for a military alliance is criticised, primarily on the ground that it would tend to weaken the United Nations. The majority of members in the House of Representatives are opposed to the proposal. Some linked the address with efforts to win the approval of the credit to Britain.