The Daily Alaska empire., 1948-10-22
uuestion decide victory or defeat for either2

question decide victory or defeat for either?
 Let us consider first the Russian position s With Alaska as a base, every major American target from Los Angeles to New York is brought within range of her bombers and Russia has today the greatest air force in the world. The Siberian coasts on the Pacific and Arctic Oceans have been organized into veritable ring of air bases the rad of which converge accurately on the vitals of continental America
 During and since the recent war Russia moved IA million people into her East-Sberian region erect ing seven industrial cities along the Transsiberan Railway Huge factories and strong submarine nests have been built on the lttoral of the Boring Sea- a mere 100 miles from American territory.
 Her explorers and scientists have worked in defatigaby for decades to survey, chart and study operational conditions around the polar region. These facts are dark enough in themselves.
 They are portentousy black when we realize that Alaska to all practical purposes of defense is sitting duck; infinitely weaker in every than was Pearl Harbor December ?, l941.
 Here are some astounding and painful details of the American position today
 The present garrison is 1000 men, watching an area of 5s6O0o square miles and thousands of miles of undefended coast line.
 Radar detection installations are so few and weak that according to an air force spokesman "ony few valleys are guarded We've got to be careful not to tell an enemy which valleys he could fly through with out detection
 Equipment is scant and noperable, if we had the men to it. Outside of Ladd Field, our largest air base line of tanks sits mmobilized be- cause Green troops didn't know what extreem cold would do to grease '
 few weeks ago. 40Oo American troops had to be withdrawn from Alaska because there no housing to quarter even this pitiful handful
 Of the $l 403 ATT 4l3 granted by Congress for re- armament during the last session, the allocaton to Alaska was 50 million dollars less than half of one per cent of the total.
 At Point Barrow recently, high-rankng Army officer thus summed up American preparations there Launch well-prepared attack against any Alaska base and you'll take it if you not military idiot"
 i Before that Gen. Omar Bradley American Chief of Staff told the House Alaskan Appropriations Com mittee that an enemy in possession of Alaska could easily devastate the Northern industrial of the United States and probably be able to occupy the West Coast
 There in brief and ugly figures. is the equation.
 Thanks however, to merciful providence, we have yet the time, and certainly have the means Of avoiding the criminal folly of another Pearl Harbor We can make Alaska if we have the intelligence and the will an involable bastion of freedom and guarantee of world peace. The money must be voted and put to work Bases must be equipped and manned, communications ex- tended and perfected.
 If this is done, Russia may never strike If it is not done we will be inviting Russia to strike
 Let Congress digest these simple facts and do it's patriotic utmost to the safety and existence of everything we have and everything we are