Evening star., 1948-05-26
British Help 10 Arabs
Seen as Giving Stain
Excuse in Own Coups
y. N. Looks On, but Fail.
Again to Make One
Of Big Powers Behove
By David Laurence

VI Dig roWerS behove
By Darid Laurence
There must be red faces in Lon
don Just as. there are red faces in
Washington. For the headlines tell
q strange tale that savors Of hypoc-
risy and makes the argument of the
European democracies seem hollow.
For here is a big nation helping
another conduct war. 1t is not a
war against communism or an ideol-
ogy this time. 1t is war against
an infant nation struggling for sur
vival. The United Nations, formed
to stop wars, looks on interestedly
out Is again unwilling to make one
Of the big powers behave.
When Yugoslavia and Bulgaria
and. later, Czechoslovakia were over
sun by the Russian totalitarians, the
democracies pointed to such action
as aggression-as infiltration into a
weaker state. But the answer of
Russia was that her vital interests"
we're at stake, that she wanted a
friendly" neighbor within her
sphere Of influence"
Dominated by British.
Today the Arab states each with
their totalitarian bosses-hardly diff
ferent from Dimitrov in Bulgaria
and Tito in Yugoslavia-are domin-
ated by British policy and British
subsidies. A British-trained army
subsidized by the British government
helps the totalitarian ruler of Trans
Jordan to fight against a neighbor-
ing state which is striving to set up
a democracy.
It was Britain which created
Trans-Jordan out Of the Syrian ter
ritory which was part of the Bri-
tish inundated area. 1t was Britain,
too. which told the other govern
ments always that this sphere of
influence" was natural means of
protecting the British Empires life
lines and her oil supply. This is the
kind of imperialism which gives
the Moscow Communists their argu-
ment for doing the same thing with
in their sphere of influence"
Inside the United Nations 1t is
Britain now which obstructs and
opposes where only a few weeks
ago 1t was Russia using her veto
to prevent settlement from being
imposed from the outside.
The British claim that the United
States should not be disturbed as
they are merely protecting Ameri-
can interests in the Near East. But
it Is worth recalling that Britain's
willingness to share her power with
America in the Arab areas is of
recent origin. American oil COM
panies got their concessions in the
Near East only through State De-
partment pressure for the open
door,"
1t might be recalled, too, that
the British broke the strike in the
oil fields of the Anglo -Iranian Oil
Co. in Southern Iran only by send
ing division of troops from India
to a point in Iraq near the Iranian
frontier-a method of pressure on
Teheran which differs little from
the Russian pressure with troops
on the border of Iran.
Test of Sincerity.
Two wrongs never make a right.
Two imperialistic policies do not
balance one another. But the
United States, which is giving so
generously of its funds to bolster
the democracies of Western Europe,
cannot with straight face make
an argument about the disinter-
estedness of the western democ-
racies as long as the British gov
ernment assists the Trans-Jordan
armies to make war on the infant
republic of Israel.
There are many Americans who
never shared the view that the
territory now known as Israei
should be set aside as the home of
a religion but merely as the terri
tory of Palestinians of the Jewish
faith. Today. however, the ques-
ton has ceased to be one as be-
tween factions of Jews. It has
become a test of the sincerity of
major power which in the face Of
legal recognition by the United
States Government allows one of
it's satellites to make war en- such
a legally recognized government
and then blandly asks that the
buck be passed to the United
Nations. Only when the U. N.
declares the military action of the
Arab states to be illegal, the British
say, will they refrain from giving
aid to Trans-Jordan. The moment
the United States recognized the
little republic of Israel, it became an
act of war under international law
for Great Britain 10 render aid to
the enemies of the state that was
being recognized.
1t will be difficult hereafter for
Foreign Secretary Bevin to accuse
Stain and the Russian Communists
of expansion when, IN reality, |
parallel tactics are being used by
Britain to protect her own material
interests, all in the guise of "em-
pire security
Reproduction Rights Reserved)