The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1939-1949, 1945-02-15
News 81
BEHIND
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By PAUL MALLoN y
ByHUL MALLON

Postwar Talks Show
Cooperation Trends
Mr.. Roosevelt has been edged
up to his promised meeting with
Stain and Churchill by a series of
foreign affairs speeches which
seemed to set a new American
background for the discussions.
Pressure from underneath the
situation, generated by unsatis-
factory political developments in
Europe, lifted the lid on the SUBJ
ject officially-only to a limited
extent and apparently only for
a time. Yet rising courageously
with new ideas have come Sem
ators Vangenburg, Wheeler and
Connally, and George Foster Dull
les, the Dewey advisor.
These may have appeared
somewhat confusing 10 the pub
lie. but together they constitute
ed formal affording Mr..
Roosevelt knowledge Of what Is
wanted in various quarters and
therefore how far he can 60.
For instance, the Vandenburg
opus was confusedly interpreted
as a conversion of an isolationist
to the internationalist viewpoint.
The gleeful internationalists
hailed the speech from that stand
point, and so did the somewhat
disappointed nationalists w h o
seemed to fear its import.
Actually it was only a Vanden-
berg plan which did not join
either side. His program, which
is even at this late date being
confusingly reported in mag
azines, seemed to me to be simply
this. " s@' go %
Spheres Of Influence. s.1.
Russia and Britain are dividing
Europe into spheres of influence,
while our ideal and our policy
languishes. We want freedom
for all peoples, apparently real
democratic freedom, not just de-
liverance of Europe from the
bonds of Sfascism into the chains
of communism. 49,
Vandenberg therefore proposed
to pledge free future use by the
President of our. armed forces
in the postwar worN to prevent
remilitarization by Germany and
Japan only. He did not pledge
their free use or any other kind
of use, to perpetuate forever the
conquests Russia is making in
Poland, or the Balkans or a Brit
ish sphere of influence in Greece.
Indeed, he mentioned the pos
sibilty that there might be an UNI
just peace, and he obviously did
not want our armies backing that
kind of a proposition. That was
the essence behind the Vanden-
berg idea.
Now Wheeler, also, think, was
not clearly understood. He said
he favored the Connally plaE
for an interim council of nations,
and this was hailed as his con-
version. But Wheeler did not
want free use of our troops in
any future war for any purpose.
His main point was that the
next war threat is not likely to
arise from Germany or Japan but
from Russia, France, China, Brit
ain or us-the big five with the
arms, whereas Germany and Jap
an are to be completely crushed.
Want to Cooperate
It is clear therefore that both
Vandenberg and Wheeler nave
said only that they wish to CO.
operate in just peace-a pledge
which is somewhat modified by
the obvious policies of both Russia
and Britain in Europe, and Wheel
er's additional reservations.
Vandenberg did say he would
not expect full freedom for Eu-
rope at once and seemed willing
to accept temporarily certain
limitedly unsatisfactory European
condition.
Similarity the speech of the
Dewey internationalist adviser,
Mr.. Dulles, was reported as an
attack upon American aloofness
in foreign policy and was mis-
understood as an assault upon
isolationsts. What Mr.. Dulles said
was that current conditions in
Europe are due to Russian and
British policies.
Russia, as he put it, has been
assigned responsibility in Europe
Gin large part" and Britain Sin
small part" For this he held the
administration responsible.
Wheeler is the only one who
came right out and plainly i'm
piled he did not expect Russia
and the others to agree to any,
thing that would be acceptable to
HIM, but the same thought was
not absent from the carefully
framed Vandenberg plan or from
the Dulles speech.
Mr.. Roosevelt is thus being sent
forth with what appears to be a
popular mandate to break power
politics in Europe-nothing more.
To whatever extent he fails in
that, the plan he brings home
will be in public jeopardy Gudg-
ing from the popular reaction to
these talks).
The accounts of the Republican
meeting at Indianapolis made it
sound like a routine affair, a good
story for the national Republican
weekly perhaps, but for no one
else. Ete-E' ~ @EF