Evening star., 1948-05-09
The Atomic Dead End

The Atomic Dead End
Bleak and foreboding though it is, the
Anglo French American move to suspend
all further negotiations for international
atomic control is dictated by the grim
realities of the hour. The Soviet Union,
standing alone with its obedient satellites,
simply refuses to have anything to do with
the plan advocated by the overwhelming
majority. Every compromise possibility
has been exhausted after almost two years
of earnest study and discussion. There
are no avenues left open. The Kremlin
remains a nay-saying rock. This is dead
end, and the world can accomplish nothing
by continuing to beat its head futilely
against it.
What is it that the soviets have rejected?
It is a plan designed to harness the
atom for peace and set up ironclad guar
antees against its use for war. It would
create, in step-by-step process, an inter-
national authority to own, operate or
otherwise control all dangerous nuclear-
fission projects throughout the globe. 1t
would establish, in addition, vetoless
inspection system and a vetoless security
arrangement capable of guarding against,
and swiftly Furnishing, any criminal viola
tions or evasions. Given such a plan in
operation, the United States would then
surrender its present exclusive advantages
in the field of A-weapons and place itself
on an equal atomic footing with the rest
of the world.
With unyielding persistence in the
United Nations Atomic Energy Commits
sion. however, the Russians have put
thumbs down on all this, ostensibly be-
cause it would interfere with their sover-
eign rights. As far as sovereignty goes,
that is true. The plan is undeniably
unprecedented and revolutionary, but no
more so than the awesome power OF the
atom itself. Under 1t every country-our
own as much as others-would be Obliged
to Weld some of its independence to the
international authority. But in doing so
It would be serving not merely the collec-
tive security of the world but its own indl-
yidual security as well-security against
war of a kind that conceivably could wipe
out the entire human race and leave our
planet about as dead as the moon.
It is because of that towering fact be-
cause individual and collective security
can be achieved in no other way IN the
atomic age, that all nations except Russia
and it's servile puppets have voted un-
eouiyocally for the vetoless control plan.
That is why, too, they have condemned tne
Soviet counterproposal as complete frauo.
Actually, it is worse than fraud; 1t is an
insult to the intelligence of the world. For
what does it amount to? 1t amounts to
nothing more than demand for a treaty
that would require the United States TO
put an immediate end to its manufacture
of A-weapons and to destroy every one
that it has stockpiled to date In effect,
it is a demand calling for our unilateral
disarmament And it is the more Tdlcu-
lous and insulting because in making 1t the
Kremlin has fatty refused to commit it
self to an international policing system.
In other words it wants us to disarn1
first. That done, it might then conde-
scend to consider the idea of control but
there would be no guarantee whatever
against it's going all-out, behind the iron
curtain, to produce nuclear armaments OF
its own.
This position is so self-evidently fraudu-
lent and unreasonable that the Russians
themselves must recognize it as such. The
only conclusion to be drawn is that they
have deliberately brought things to dead
end because-for some dark motives OF
their own-the dead end will be advanta-
geous to them. This leaves the whole sub
ject of atomic control in such hopeless
snarl that it is pointless to try any longer
for agreement. There can be no agree
ment whatever until the Kremlin decides
to cooperate in the overall effort to
establish decent peace. When that day
will come, if ever, is an open question.
Meanwhile, we can be sure merely of this:
Until it does come, the deadliest ornaments
race in history will continue at an eyer
accelerating pace toward an end that may
be the undoing of the whole of mankind.
There is nothing to be gained from making
the outlook seem any less dismal than it is.