The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1948-09-02
THROUGH
Hazel.
EYES
BY Hazel Bronnon


be the question Of greatest concern
10 more people now than anything
else.
Of course l do not know the
answer.
Only God knows.
But / do know this: If the United
States does become involved in
war with Russia for any reason we
and We alone are going to have to
fight it. We are going to be forced
to furnish the men to do the fight
ing, the machinery and the weapons
to do the killing We will have to
feed and clothe and arm the millions
of men it will take to defeat Russia's
military might and probably on her
own home territory.
We can expect little If any. help
from western Europe, the countries
presumably we would be fighting
to save. They would be on our side
in spirit for the most part. The
majority Of them would WANT us
to win. But what they would or
could do to help us fight would be
very little.
Throughout western Europe none
OF the people want war. They are
bitterly opposed to it throughout
France, Italy. Holland, Belgium and
even in England. All of these peo-
pie have suffered terrible physical,
mental and spiritual torture and
pain. They are utterly weary and
sick of war and its accompanying
anguish and distress. ALI they want
is to be left alone in peace :.
to resume their daily lives without
bombs flying overhead and to have
their stomachs full all the time.
Yet, not wanting war; these peo-
pie will shake their heads and tell
you that they think there will be
q war within five years, or before
fifteen years. They do not believe
the lull we are having now will be
as long as the period between World
Wars I and II. Yet they speak Of
the coming war as a thing entirely
apart from them--as though it is
a problem to be settled by America
and Russia alone.
Too, throughout western Europe
and in England, particularly, you
find the almost universal opinion
that America is too belligerent, that
we talk too much.
II is natural perhaps that the old
world countries. stepped in diploma
tic procedure and political intrigues
TOR two hundred years and accus-
toned to determining the course
and destiny Of Europe should view
with some alarm the emergence of
America as the debating voice in
Europe, and European affairs. We
are still regarded as upstairs by
many of the old world order.
Most Europeans feel, too, that
Americans are too impulsive and
little queer if not crazy They think
we don't know our own minds and
consequently our foreign policy is
one thing one day and another the
next This criticism may be more
fact than fiction. A lot of us don't
know what our foreign policy Is
from one day to the next The wide
spread use of scare headlines in
some Of our largest daily news
papers doesn't help the situation
any.
Those headlines and war talk en-
gineered by them, the disciples of
the we've got to whip Russia soon
err or later" school. sound pretty
silly when you take into account
what two World Wars have already
cost the people of Europe. Their
families have been broken and their
homes and property destroyed. Their
standard of living has been lowered
to a point of having insufficient
food, clothing and shelter They see
no immediate relief for themselves
and their families. In addition their
personal and political freedom is by
no means secure. The shadow of
Moscow hangs heavily over all Eu-
rope even in the United Kingdom.
The menace of Communism to per-
sonal life and freedom is very real
to most Europeans and they
are vocal in admitting their inabili-
ty to cope with it. Instead they are
all looking toward America as the
protector and custodian Of their
liberty should IL be threatened by
Moscow in war.
For America to assume the titan
tic task of underwriting the security
Of Europe is a magnificent under
taking. The unparalleled generosity
Of the Marshall Plan first astounded
and then made them suspicious.
They are still gaping and looking
for Americas "angle."
With tension mounting daily in
Berlin where any day an incident
could take place that could plunge us
into a shooting war II Is not amiss
for our citizens to acknowledge the
dangerous path we are treading and
examine carefully what such war
would cost us in loss of American
men and boys, the depletion to ex-
haustion of our national resources