The Wilmington morning star., 1947-04-26
Attitude Greece
By ANNE o'HARE MCCORMICK

By ANNE O'HARE MCCORMICK
The next question we face in Greece con-
Germs our attitude toward the regime. In what
manner and to what extent does the program
in support of Greek independence commit us
or entitle us to intervene in internal politics?
One thing we cannot do is to impose On the
Greeks a government of our choosing. This
would be to do what we accuse the Russians
of doing in their satellite states and what we
are acting to prevent them from doing in
Greece. Aside from that, however, aside from
satisfying the Greeks, any American mission
would find it extremely difficult to conjure
out of the hat an administration that would
satisfy the assorted views Of Americans.
There just isn't any political hat that fits
more thar a fraction of the citizens of Greece.
Every one who has tried it knows that even
in the comparatively tranquil days before the
war, before Metaxas, one of the trickiest re-
porting jobs in the world was to get and give
a balanced view of the political picture. Now
it is harder than ever; streams of fresh blood
have been poured on the old wounds, fear
and misery have produced a kind of delirium
inside the country, and outsiders going in with
eyes turned Right or Left fail to see the poor
people in the middle.
1t takes a lot Of background to understand
the situation we are now stepping into. Our
protested principle is to free the country from
the panic that demoralizes government and
people and give them a chance to choose the
kind of regime they desire. This should be the
guiding principle of our policy and we should
resist the easy temptation to depart from it.
The catch is that the Greeks will continue to
be politically divided. On the main issue, be-
tween monarchy and republic, the balance was
very close in peacetime. 1t may have swung
decisively during the war; nobody knows be-
cause in last years plebiscite republicans vot-
ed monarchist in fear of a communist dicta-
torship. This is the kind of false choice peo-
pie make in the trap of terror. 1t is one of
the reasons why new elections should be held
as soon as approximately normal conditions
are restored.
Creating a normal atmosphere will be in
itself a powerful political influence. So will
the controls the American government will
place on the use of the money allotted to
Greece in the aid program. Already mapped
out, these controls will govern military eX-
penGitu.es, agricultural production, recon-
struction, currency Sterilization. even govern
ment costs. While the proposed powers are
strictly advisory. they cannot help affecting
the economic and political administration Of
the country. The military advisers. for in :
stance, will be in position to demand that a
truly national army is organized to combat
irreguiars of the right as well as of the left.
The economic experts will be in position to
weed out the overloaded bureaucracy, de-
scribed by somebody as "a form of unem-
ployment relief" presumably for the friends
of those IN power. and put back on farms or
in factories young men who Join the guerrilla
bands because they have no other occupation.
Seasoned observers caution against the use
of direct political pressure. They hope that
the United States. in taking over the place
vacated by the British, will not repeat British
mistakes. 1t is noteworthy that the chief mis-
take, in the opinion of these critics, was too
much interference in politics. In fairness to
the British, it should be remembered that
they marched into a very hot spot when they
entered Athens in 1914. The Fam was deter
mined to seize power without waiting for an
election. It attempted to do so by force,
and this rising, with its reckless bloodshed
and the reckless measures taken to suppress
it, started the train of reprisals and vendettas
that turned Greece into a land of terror and
its civil war into an engagement in the cam
paign for control of the Balkans.
The situation is clearer now. Greece has
been adopted as a position the United States
feels bound in its own interest to strengthen
as a barrier against indefinite Soviet eXpan-
sion. The report of the American member Of
the United Nations investigating commission
lconfirms the charge that Yugoslavia and Bull
garia have interfered in Greek internal af-
fairs with the aim of annexing Greek Mace
donia and Thrace.
This IS the move that impelled President
Truman and Secretary Marshall to act. The
question of Greek democracy comes in only
because without our support the Greeks would
have no chance to develop into a democracy
and the area of free choice left in Europe
would be so much narrower.
The present regime has few defenders. 1t
apparently has no program but anti-commu-
nism and 10 capacity either to improve the
lot of the people or to unite them by a gen.
erous gesture OF reconciliation. The Greeks
deserve a lie leadership that heals dissension in
stead of aggravating it, but it must be said
that they have seldom had it. Today's govern
ment is about as good as the average be-
tween the wars. 1t was voted in by a large
majority in an election watched by several
hundred foreign observers. The responsibility
for the exclusion Of the Left parties lies on
those who abstained from voting. They are
not prevented from agitating: there is an ac-
tive Communist headquarters in Athens and
the Communist newspaper, Rizopastis, is free
to publish daily attacks on the Government
and to support the enemies of the country.
This is more like democracy than anything
in the neighborhood. New York Times.