Evening star., 1946-05-24
Letters to The Star
DR.. Akin Doubts DANGER of War
In the Near East


Constantine Brown, in his column in
The Sunday Star of May 10, has per-
formed veritable public service by
bringing out in the open whisperings
which have been going around WASH
ington for a long time. The whis-
perers maintain that the entry of 100 900
Jews, or Of any larger number of Jews,
into Palestine would unleash a full
fledged war between Great Britain and
all the Arab states; that Russia openly
or discreetly would support the Arabs :.
that Sizable American military con-
tingents would be needed to support the
British, and that, in the end, even these
contingents would not suffice, and
America would find itself involved in a
jor war for the sake of the Jews
AS long as these fears never were stated
openly, one could not refute them.
Every State Department official to
whom the matter was mentioned always
professed to think nothing of it. Never
theless, anonymous persons went on
spreading the rumor, which was impos-
sible to combat, as whispering cam
paigns usually are.
Without taking personal position on
this rumor. Mr.. Brown at last has put
it down in writing, and an open discus
sion of the points involved seems now
in order.
In the form related in Mr.. Browns
column, it is conceded that local Arab
disorders in Palestine present no mill
tary problem, since British troops to-
gether with Jewish self-defense forces
available on the spot are sufficient to
COPE with the situation. But even this
concession represents a gross eXagger-
alton. Arab disorders in Palestine dur
ing l936-l938, supported as they were
by the German and the italian govern
ments, never had more than 5000 par
Elephants, equipped with small arms
Since British troops in Palestine num-
Der around 100000 and the Jewish for
nations are said to be near the 10000
mark, both incomparably better armed
this statement is like saying that tank
brigade would be sufficient to cope"
with rifle company
threat that the "entire Middle East
would become ablaze" Here again, it
is conceded that "a division of British
troops equipped with tanks and planes
could control several hundred thousand
natives who were provided with only
rifles and few machine guns" But
even this statement tends to exaggerate
the Arab military potential. Egypt, the
most populated and developed Arab
speaking country, has an army of % 900
ill-armed and ill-trained conscripts,
without armor, without an air force and
without warships. A full-f1edged pro-
Axis war waged by Iraq against Brit
ain was suppressed easily by two British
battalions in a couple of weeks. Saudi
Arabian rif1e-armed horsemen are very
picturesque, but cannot be taken Sc
riously in these days of mechanical
warfare. A Syrian army is beginning
to be formed, under British instructors.
The Trans-Jordan army is commanded
by British officers. No wonder that.
when questioned on this point bv the
Anglo-Amerlcan Committee of Inquiry
two months ago, the British command
ing general in Palestine stated that,
even if the British troops were to with
draw, the Jewish self-defense forma-
tions could hold the country against
any combination of Arab forces for sew
eral years without any outside support.
Another bogey recorded by Mr. Brown
concerns the danger that Arabs would
obtain munitions from the Soviet Union,
thereby augmenting their military po-
tentlal. Since the only routes over
which such munitions could reach the
Arabs lie through pro-Western Turkey,
through British-garrisoned Iraq, or, on
sea, through British-controlled ports.
such as Alexandria, Port Said, Haifa,
Beyrouth and Tripoli, it is difficult to
see how this could be done unless the
British wished it to happen.
In this analysis the political and eco
nomic factors also are of primary i'm
portance. The likelihood of war
against Britain and America on the
part of the Arab states can be measured
by the following facts: Trans-Jordan
ana lraq are under effective British
control, with British forces stationed
there. The rulers of Iraq and Egypt
derive tremendous benefits from British
Oil royalties, and the major part of Ibn
Saud's income comes from British sub
sides and American oil royalties. Most
OF those countries are dependent on the
import of great many necessities, in
cluding food, which can reach them only
from British and American controlled
sources and in British or American
controlled ships. In addition, the ruling
groups in all those countries are NOR
tally afraid of any increase of Russian
influence in that part of the world and
look upon Britain and America as their
only safeguards against this danger
The reader now can form his own
conclusions as to the likelihood of the
Arab states beginning a war" against
one or both of the great western powers
or of their calling on the Soviets to
help them. BENJAMIN AKIN.
Columnists Evaluated
Tc the Editor OF The Star:
Why do you put this old Ickes beside