Evening star., 1947-03-02
Our Great Decision


AS one reads the momentous news
that Britain is asking the United
States to shoulder her burdens in
Greece, the words of Kipling's Re-
cessional come to mind:
Fnr-cnlled, our nauies melt nwny
on dune and headland sinks the fire
Lo, all our ponap of yesterday
Is one NTH Nineueh and Tyrel
1t would be an inordinate exag-
geration, of course, to say that Brit
ain has gone or is about to go the
way OF Nineveh and Tyre. But it is
not an exaggeration to say that
Britain is in desperate economic
straits and that her once proud po-
sition as a world power is crumbling
as her economy deteriorates. Nor is
1t an exaggeration to say further
that we in the United States are
faced, in consequence OF Britain's
decline, with this great decision:
Shall we undertake to substitute
American power for vanished British
power in her former outposts around
the world, or is it better policy from
the standpoint of our own interests
to run the risk that these areas may
go by default to the only other power
which would be willing and even
remotely capable of filling the
vacuum-namely, Soviet Russia?
This momentous question cannot
be faced and answered by the dis
ingenious device of presenting the
issue to the American people merely
as though it were matter Of de-
Gliding whether or not to put up
few hundred million dollars to un-
derwrite the British in Greece. For
that is not the real question, and if
we make it appear that it is, we will
succeed in deceiving no one but our
selves.
The British have been trying to
prop up a discreditable regime in
Greece for one reason only. And
that Is to keep Greece, with. its
highly strategic location at the east
ern end of the Mediterranean, from
becoming another Communist
dominated puppet of the Soviet
Union. Admittedly, this is choice
between evils, but the British have
thought, and we have indorsed their
thinking, that the lesser evil has
been chosen. Nor can the problem
of Greece be appraised in isolation,
for it is merely part of a larger
picture, one episode in a clash of
policies and ideologies which is
world wide in scope and which can
be expected to intensity rather than
diminish. .-,...
So when we think. of Greece we
must also think of the larger ques-
ton, and that in brief lis this: WILL
our real national interests be served
by assuming an increasingly larger
share of the dangerous business of
attempting to contain" the Soviet
Union? Is this policy of checkmat-
ing Soviet pressure with American
pressure the most hopeful course or
the only course that can be pur-
sued? And, finally, are the Amer
lean people-thinking now in terms
OF economy and tax reduction-will-
ing to assume the expense, the re-
sponsibilities and the risks that are
so plainly involved?
To get answers to these questions
the basic problem must first be
stated in terms the American peo-
pie can understand. AS yet there
has not been a real attempt to do
this by any American official, al
though it is hardly secret that the
top men in this Government firmly
believe that the United States should
move in as the British pull out. It
is hard to think of any greater
blunder, however, than4for the Gov
ernment to attempt to lead the
people along this hazardous course
without telling them very plainly
where they are going and why.