Evening star., 1946-02-17
Armies Moy Leove
Germany in 1o48
Destruction of Foes Military
Potential Seen by Next Year.
By Samuel LubeH.

By Samuel Lubel.
BERLIN, Feb. 15.-The withdrawal
from Germany OF virtually all troops
OF the four occupying powers, leaving
the policing Of Germany to control
commission and a token armed force,
may be possible some time in 1948, in
the opinion of 1t. Gen. Lucius Clay.
Gen. Clay, deputy military governor
here and generally regarded as the
keyman in the German occupation,
hinged his calculations on the successful
execution of a dozen major tasks he
outlined as remaining to be done If the
| Job of occupation is to be completed
so that Germany never again can make
war.
AS he licked of these yet-to- be done
tasks in a one-and- -half-hour inter-
view covering every phase Of the occu-
patton, Gen. Clay in effect revealed for
| the first time the detailed timetable and
blueprint for occupation which the
Americans have been battling to put
through. His outline refuted recent
newspaper and magazine reports that
the United States has no German oc-
cupation policy or one so uncertain,
wavering and confused as to leave every
one wondering what we are doing in
| Germany.
Gen. Clay left no doubt that he knows
| exactly where he is going and has
very definite ideas on how to get there
| There was no uncertainty or hesitation
| in his manner as he described how
each phase Of the many y-sided occupa-
ton fitted into one comprehensive plan
| and as he set forth his target dates.
Eu C1a,, lo
| tion OF Germany's military potential
| through the three Ds Of denazification
| demilitariZation and deindustrializa-
tion-will be so complete and sure, dem
| ocratic processes sufficiently restored
and the barriers dividing the four zones
| reduced enough to warrant the creation
| of provisional central German gov
| ernment. within a year after the es-
tablishment of this central government"
| Gen. Clay went on, II think we can sign
an interim or final peace treaty with
Germany ending the military phase Of
| the occupation"
Long-term controls over Germany
should be retained, Gen. Clay thought,
for 5, 10, Is or more years, depending
| on the record Of the German people
| and when the United Nations want to
l ASoNAiAe oSAhso lAito eAAC VA
| nations" r<
Whether his target dates can be met
or bettered, Gen. Clay made clear, de-
pends on the four powers reaching
agreement on balanced program for
| destroying Germanys war potential
| while leaving enough economic and
| political life for that nations survival
| The four powers "are we'll on the way
to accomplishing Potsdam's detectives"
he said, but 'if the United States were
| not here, the whole business would fall
apart"
Gen. Clay also disclosed that his staff
Is working on plans for:
Permanently Quarantining the Ger
man general staff, now jailed:
| Punishment and quarantining for q
| fixed number of years all convicted active
Nazis;
| Export import pooling to level zonal
| trade barriers;
Giving trade unions in the American
zone the right to strike by early next
year. when local government is ex-
| pected to be restored in full in Germany:
Federalizing any central German gov
ernment and lodging budget powers
regionally SO that no central government
| can control purse-strings to prepare for
4 another war;
Devising system of strategic controls
to prevent any revival Of Germany's
war-making power.
Heading Gen, Clay's timetable are
completion of the Allied agree
ment on reparations and industrial dis
armament and settlement of French
demands for cession to them of the Saar
and Observation-Disclosures Of the Ruhr.
The French issues are out Of his hands
and being handled automatically, Gen.
Clay said, while the reparations prob
lem is about 80 per cent agreed on.
| With these two hurdles cleared, Gen
Clay foresaw:
Final denazification and demilitari-
zation by the end Of this year.
Industrial disarmament and steady
rebuilding of permitted industries to
allowable production levels which will
probably not be reached for four years.
| Creation Of centralized administra-
tive units to handle Germany as a
single economic unit, the simultaneous
breaking down of zonal trade barriers
and four-power action to wipe out Ger
many'S imitation hangover and reor-
ganize her financial system.
Further development of local and
state government in the American zone
as a step toward placing q government
over the Germans by the end of next
| year.
Development at the same time of all
democratic institutions in the Amer
lean zone including trade unions, farm
and labor co-operatives, free press
and the rights Of assembly.
| Four-power agreements on the Gre
alton of provisional central govern
| ment and constitution to be voted
upon later by the German people.
Four-power agreement on long-term
economic and political controls over
| Germany
A probation period for the new GEN.
tral German government
And, finally, when satisfied with the
probationary government, four-power
agreement for removing Allied military
forces OF occupation while retaining
what controls and policing are agreed
on as necessary.
OF these tasks ahead, Gen. Clay con-
feSsed that the two which gave him
greatest concern were removal of zonal
barriers and how central German
government was to be established-as
a strongly centralized unit or on a
decentralized, federal basis.
Under the unanimity rule by which
the Control Council operates, major
dinerences among the powers on either
point, Gen. Clay admitted, would throw
his time schedule of completely. Illus
trative of the possible stalemate Gen.
Clay fears, the central administrative