Evening star., 1946-06-17
Veto and Atom

HAo OSAAAoAo " AVA dol uCk1 1CPCdOCdly
emphasized in presenting it to the
United Nations, the revolutionary
American plan for world control of
the atom will be effective, if adopted,
only to the extent that it guarantees
immediate, swift and sure punish
ment Of those who violate" it. Pious
thoughts, good intentions, mere
formal pledge to outlaw the A-bomb
and related weapons will not be
enough. The problem, in Mr.
Baruch's words, calls for a program
with enforceable sanctions-an in
ternational law with teeth in it,"
1t is for this reason that the
American plan proposes that the Big
Five veto power be removed from
the field of atomic energy. At pres
ent the United Nations Charter pro-
vides that substantive or punitive
action in any given situation can be
taken only when the permanent
members of the Security Council
China, France, Britain, Russia and
the United States - unanimously
agree that it should be taken.
Otherwise no enforcement measures
can be put into effect. a single dis
senting vote being enough to tie the
hands of the U. N.
Though not calling for it's COM
plete elimination in all fields, Mr..
Baruch has offered the world a con-
vincing argument to show that this
power can hardly be reconciled with
the idea of effective control of the
atom. In his judgment, violations
of the proposed new law probably
would fall into five broad classifica-
tions: (D illegal possession or use of
an A-bomb; ca illegal possession or
separation of fashionable material;
Cd seizure of any plant belonging
to or licensed by the international
Atomic Development Authority; a.
deliberate interference with the
ADA's operations, and (5) the crea-
tlon OF dangerous projects without
authorization from the ADA or in
defiance of the ADA's regulations.
Under the United Nations Charter
as now constituted, If America or
Russia or any other member of the
Big Five were guilty of one or more
OF these crimes it would merely have
to exercise it's veto right and the
rest of the U. N. could do nothing
legally.
In such a situation, Of course, le-
galistic niceties would amount to
little, but they could serve to stall
OF timely preventive action. On the
other hand Mr.. Baruch has made
clear that the American plan, rem
dering the veto inoperable and une-
quivocally pledging the different
nations to join in prompt and spe-
cific punitive measures, would stand
an excellent chance of nipping the
danger in the bud. For If any power
seized an ADA plant within its bor-
ders or committed some similar
atomic crime the legal right to
penallze, the solemn agreement to
act and the mechanism to enforce
the law could all be set in motion
without delay.
1t is true enough that this kind of
procedure might lead to large-scale
war But under the American plan
some months would be needed for
any country to manufacture atomic
weapons from the time that country
seized an ADA plant or otherwise
violated the law. Meanwhile, detec-
ton being relatively not too difficult,
the U. N, acting swiftly with its own
military force and possibly with
A-bombs kept in international stor-
age for just such an eventuality.
could conceivably put a quick end
to the threat. Unhampered by the
veto. world control of the atom
might thus be made so self-evidentlv
effective that none but a govern
ment of madmen would dare tn
challenge it.