Evening star., 1947-03-15
A Matter of Security

several prominent americans, III
cluding Senator Taft and former
Vice President Wallace, are opposed
to the political and military fea-
lures of President Truman's plan to
aid Greece and Turkey. Mr.. Wallace
is particularly bitter. He holds that
our help should be solely and simply
economic. He warns against making
it more than that. He warns that
war and communism will be pro-
NOTED abroad, rather than checked,
if we Use our money in an effort to
contain" Russia and keep Soviet
totalitarianism from spreading.
Stated another way, Mr.. Wallace
and others of like mind would give
only nonpolitical and nonmilitary
help to Greece and Turkey. But in
a situation of this kind economics
cannot be divorced from politics or
from the power factors involved. 1t
is true that the Greek and Turkish
governments, though they lean to
our system, are sorry examples of
democracy-a point applying. with
special force to the regime at
Athens. Yet they are free in the
sense that they are independent
Direct and indirect Communist
aggression has not yet succeeded in
making them satellites of the Soviet
Union. While they remain inde-
pendent, they are likely to- be our
friends; to let them succumb by de-
fault to Moscow's pressures would
be to invite Russia to dominate the
Eastern Mediterranean and the
whole Middle East, thus transform
ing the world balance of power in a
way that could eventually menace
our own freedom and security.
1t is with this picture in mind
that the President has made his far
reaching proposals. The proposals
are based on the warranted assump-
ton that the Greek government will
collapse and be succeeded by
Soviet puppet regime unless the
Truman plan is put into effect.
There is the further assumption that
if Greece thus were allowed to pass
into the Russian orbit, Turkey
would soon pass the same way. At
present, though not democratic, the
two countries are independent, and
the overwhelming majority of their
citizens want them to remain that
way. Despite Moscow's charge that
we are encroaching upon their SOW
ereignty, that is why they are so
anxious for our help. And in the
case of Greece, especially, that help
must be of sort to enable govern
ment forces to put down Commu-
nist-led guerrillas and restore order.
The Truman plan frankly contem-
plates such aid. 1t does so because
in the present context of world
events America, for its own security,
has reason to try to stop Russian
totalitarianism from winning control
of the highly strategic Near and
Middle East. To do this involves
risks, but not to do it involves even
greater risks.
In such circumstances, to speak
of purely economic aid is to ignore
the hard realities. A mere relief
or rehabilitation loan to Greece, for
example, will not be enough to hold
off the Communist minority. The
President has therefore offered help
of a political and partly military
nature as well. Presumably this help
will include conditions calling upon
the present Athens government to
reorganize along more democratic
lines. In any case, however, in
Greece, Turkey or wherever else it
may be extended, it's chief purpose
will be to guard American security
in a world not yet liberated from
power politics.