Evening star., 1941-07-27
A Clearing Picture

a Nie0rInq PICture
All but the most intransigeant
opposition to the proposal to extend
the service of men now in the Army
of the United States seems to be
melting away under the relentless
pressure of events. No longer is it
possible for any one to contend that
the Army can be demobilized with
safety. And for those who are will
ing to look at the facts as they are,
it is abundantly clear that to do so
would be disastrous blunder.
A few days ago the isolationists
and some members of Congress who
had supported the administrators
foreign policy were openly hostile to
the recommendation by General
George c. Marshall, Chief of Staff,
that the selectees, Guardsmen and
Reserve officers be kept in service
beyond the scheduled one-year pc
riod. The war in Europe had turned
eastward, with the Nazi legionS
marching into the trackleSs wastes
of Soviet Russia. This gave Britain
a breathing spell and for the moment
seemed to improve our own position
in the battle of the Atlantic.
But this Elusive interlude of secur-
ity has been rudely shattered. In
two Latin American states the
authorities have had to take drastic
action to suppress what seemed to be
Nazi-inspired revolutionary move
mentS. And in the Far East there
has developed an explosive situation
which at any moment may convert
the Pacific into battle-ground.
This is not a condition which has
come into being overnight. In all OF
its essential elements, it was in full
existence when the critics of General
MarshallS proposal were insisting
the danger to this country had de-
creased and that it would be safe
to let the boys 60 home" at the end
of their year. Events of the past
few days have shown beyond posi-
bility of dispute that they were
wrong, as they have been consistently
wrong from the beginning of the
dispute over our foreign policy. This,
no doubt should be made clear, but
it is far more important to grasp the
full significance of what has hap
pened in recent days
What has occurred has been in the
nature of a filling in of a picture
which, for many Americans, did not
exist, or which existed only in
vaguest outline. Suddenly it has
become evident to the people of this
country that the United States Is in
danger of encirclement. To the war
which has menaced us from the At
lantic there has been added grave
threat from the Pacific and the pos
sibility of Nazi-inspired uprisings in
some of our Latin American neigh
bors. In combination, if not singly,
these developments bear out the
warnings from the Chief of Staff and
the President that the United States
is in a position of great peril, And
they have served to convince most
members of Congress, and probably
the great majority of their constit-
uentS, that it would be an act of in
credible folly to wreck our Army at
such time.
Consequently, it is to be expected
that the proposal to enact con-
greSSional declaration of state of
national emergency for the purpose
of keeping the Army in service will
be passed with slight opposition. At
the moment, however there is moth
ing to indicate that Congress intends
to grant the second phase OF General
Marshall's original request-that
legislative restrictions on sending
troops outside this hemisphere be
lifted
This is a restriction which affords
potential enemies of the United
States an opportunity to seize with
out opposition strategic bases outside,
but within striking distance Of, the
Western Hemisphere. In event of
war, this would greatly handicap
General Marshall and his associates,
but it seems evident that they will
have to continue their defense ef-
forts with their hands tied in this
respect, at least until the pressure
of events again operates to demon
strate the short-sightedness of any
effort to substitute guessWork or po-
litical considerations for the judg-
ment of our military experts at a
time when the security of the Nation
is being threatened on a worldwide
front.