The Wilmington morning star., 1947-03-24
TODAY
and

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this affair becomes a precedent,
we shall have cut a hole in the
charter which it will be very diff
cult to repair. The President has
told us, quite rightly, that "tae
seeds Of t%otalitarian regimes are
nurtured by misery and want.
They spread and grow in the evil
soil Of poverty and strife" Sup
pose we cannot all around the
world relieve quickly enough the
misery and the want. Suppose
that in Greece later, or in some
other wracked and hungry land,
there comes into power by cleo
tons like those in Greece a gov
eminent OF the extreme Left,
dominated by the Communists.
That could happen. It could hap
pen elsewhere in Europe. in Asia,
or even in an American republic.
What happens then if that gov
eminent calls upon the Soviet
Union for aid, asks it to equip and
train its army, to supervise its
budget, to plan and direct its
economy? What under the "Tru =
man doctrine" do we do II the
Soviet government says there. is
an emergency, that it has been IL
vited to intervene, that the u. N.
is not in position to- extend tie
kind Of help required?
Until March IL We would have
been able to do what we did in
Iran last year. We would have
been able to raise the issue in the
Security Council and the General
Assembly, and to demand an ac-
counting, and to bring to bear
upon the situation the collective
opinion of the United Nations.
The U. N. was not. any better
equipped to act in. Iran than it
is in Greece. But it was equipped
to bring great pressure to bear
on the Soviet Unions desire 10
judge for itself. whether there
was an emergency which de-,
manded unilateral action.
That is what the Truman doc
trine," as it is being presented to
the world, will destroy if we
,presist in setting this precedent.
And it is so unnecessary. Time
is O. the essence" said Mr.. Ache
sou. But no time will be lost in
extending to Greece and Turkey
the assistance which almost all
Of us agree should be given, if
we choose to recognize the in
terest Of the. U. N.
1t would not take as long to
conform to the principles of the
charter Of the United Nations as
it will take to conform to the con-
stitutionai processes Of the United
States. If there is time for Mr..
Acheson to inform Congress, there
is time for Mr.. Austin to inform
United Nations.
But it is not only for the sake
Of the U. N. that we should avoid
%shattering precedent. 1t is al.
50 for the sake Of our own action
in Greece.
The official picture OF what we
are getting into in Greece has
been soeetened and simplified. The
emphasis has been put on the
need Of the Greeks. the dire re-
suits Of not helping them, and the
benevolent and innocuous cnarac-
.er of u assistance. This picture
needs to be supplemented by a full
realization that We r i%nterven-
in a civil war, that we shall
De responsible for the Greek
not only its training and
equipment but its strategy and
that since our financial
assistance is measured to balance
the Greek budget, we shall be
come responsible for the whole
operation OF the Greek govern
nent.
Now the government Of Greece
aas been a European problem
sver since the country was liber-
ated from Turkey in 1929 by the |
Intervention OF Britain
France, and Russia. Never for
eng has Greece not been an. in
sernational problem, and while we
be able to succeed where so