Documents / FOIA release
This Top Secret study by the Interdepartmental Coordinating Group on Germany and Berlin, dated July 12, 1961, and released by the Central Intelligence Agency, answers NSC Directive No. 58 of June 30, 1961. It sets out courses of action for the Berlin crisis but does not judge their merits. It covers imminent presidential decisions, a three-phase timetable running to January 1, military preparations and mobilization, covert action, economic sanctions, public information, negotiating positions and checkpoint procedures for East German personnel.
“Headquarters”2 pages
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## SECRET 17. Under the circumstances indicated in paragraph 13, the Western Powers might find it desirable to consider some solution involving a change of status for the city of Berlin which would provide some protection for the liberty of the West Berliners beyond that involved in the Soviet free city proposal but at the same time be negotiable with the Soviets under the unfavorable assumption of a failed Western deterrent. Here such proposals as those for a "guaranteed city" or some sort of UN agreement, which under other circumstances might be unacceptable to the French or Germans and would cause grave problems within the Western Alliance if advocated at the present time by the US, might be tolerable as the lesser of evils. 18. The proposal for a "guaranteed city" represents perhaps the most acceptable arrangement on Berlin which can be devised involving a change of juridical basis for the Western presence in the city. In essence, it would involve agreement by the Four Powers to guarantee the security of Western military and civil access to West Berlin, with the Western Powers agreeing simultaneously to suspend the exercise of their occupation rights so long as the agreement was otherwise being observed. The West Berlin authorities would be empowered to request that foreign troops up to a stated ceiling be stationed in West Berlin and so Western Power would agree to supply and maintain any forces requested. Full and unrestricted access for these troops would be guaranteed. The agreement would be registered with the UN and a representative of the UN Secretary General might observe its fulfillment. 19. It is highly doubtful whether, under the unfavorable circumstances stipulated, such a proposal would actually be negotiable with the Soviets. It might well be that the only kind of arrangement acceptable to them would be one which combined a change in the juridical status of the city with departure of Western forces, leaving a UN force which might include Western contingents. a. Acquisition of all of Berlin by the UN as a World City, capital of the UN; 20. Under the latter formula, perhaps the West could also gest one of the possible types of UN presences which have been vanced as possibilities. These might range through: b. Transfer
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FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. The text was read from the page images by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word. 163 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.