Evening star., 1946-03-15
Challenge to Stutesmunship

TO explain RuSSla'S aims and calm
the troubled international waters,
Premier Stain, in his personal at
tack on Winston Churchill and the
latter's friends in England and the
United States" succeeded only in
deepening the Observation-Disclosures
and bad feelings that have come to
poison relations between his own
country on one hand and Britain
and America on the other.
The British and American people
are psychologically and militarily
demobilized. They are anxious to
cooperate with the Russians in
thoroughly friendly spirit. They are
sick of war and would like nothing
better than to do away with it for
ever. Yet they are profoundly dis
turbed at the same time by ever
increasing indications of a Soviet
policy OF political, economic and
territorial aggrandizement in many
parts OF the world, ranging all the
way from Manchuria to Yugoslavia
and particularly marked at the mo-
ment in Iran, where reinforced Red
Army troops are reliably reported to
be moving close toward the borders
Of Iraq and Turkey.
Taking Iran as the urgent case in
point, the British and American
people, and other peoples as well,
would like to know why Russia still
stays in that country despite treaty
obligations under which it was sup
posed to have withdrawn by March
2. They would like to know, too,
whether the Red Army is maneuver-
ing there to exert aggressive pres
sure on the Turks to yield to the
Soviets the Black Sea provinces of
Kars and Ardahan. These and
similar questions could have been
readily answered by Premier Stain
in his carefully staged interview with
Pravda, but he chose instead to
ignore them entirely and cut loose
with TRADE accusing Mr.. Churchill
and Mr.: Churchills British and
American friends Cd Of engaging in
a campaign of 'lies" against his
country and the democratic" gov
ernments Of Eastern Europe; (2) of
beating the war drums against the
Soviet Union. and (3) Of issuing, on
the basis OF q Hitler-like racial
theory, "a sort of ultimatum" de-
manding that every nation recognize
the right Of the English speaking
powers ITO decide the fate Of the
world"
This gross oversimplincation and
distortion Of current history and Of
the meaning of Mr.. Churchill's re-
cent speech at Fulton, Mo-, might
seem less discouraging If it were
accompanied anywhere by q con-
ciliatory note. In his Pravda attack,
however. Stain. welcoming the
spread of Communist influence
throughout Europe, scofiing .at For
eign Minister Bevin's proposal for
30-year extension OF the Anglo
Russian treaty, and belligerently
warning against any effort to or
ganize an anti-Soviet crusade, went
out Of his way to suggest that Mos
cow would not be DETECTED from its
present course.
Set against the background of
such events as those in Iran, and
coupled with what seems to be q
deliberate propaganda drive to whip
up Russian fears against an imag-
mary threat from the demobilized
west, Premier Stalin's polemic thus
has served merely to carry interna-
tional tension to 4 climactic stage.
His words could have been reassur-
ing, but they were anything but. that.
Not in a long time have the worlds
statesmen faced so grave challenge
as they must face now if diplo-
matte explosion is to be averted and
a decent peace made.