Evening star., 1948-01-04

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In the Second World War We
prospects. But since it was mere
fighting men and the quantities
establishments, nobody had any
And everybody was convinced thai
the victory would be followed by
long era Of peace.
With the destruction of the Axis
the American people were told ex-
pansionist imperialism would be fin
ished and relationships no longer
would obscure the prospects OF q
new and genuinely free world. The
United Nations was being devised to
guarantee war-weary nations an
indefinite number of years of pros
perity desperately needed after the
tragedy caused by Hitler and his
confederates.
Victories for Naught
The American people accepted the
U. N. Charter for what it was an
nounced that its purpose would be
and Endorsed it overwhelmingly, al
though it meant that the right to
dispose the American armed forces
was taken away from the United
States Congress and was being
placed in the hands of that super
world organization. The idea of
one world, of one for all and all for
one, gripped our peace-hungry Ma
ton. The doubts OF few far-seeing
observers in public life as to the
Russian attitude toward this hu-
manistic approach were brushed
aside as warmongering reactionary-
ism OF suspicion diseased minds.
Yet less than three years after
the end of the war we are confronted
with another more bitter and devas-
tating conflict. The blunt truth is
that while we won victories on bat
tlefields all over the world, victories
which cost us more than 100000
casualties and hundreds of billions
of dollars, we lost the Second World
War. We lost 1t because the civilians
responsible for the conduct of our
military and political efforts over
looked the fact that the war must
be won on the diplomatic table and
not on battlefields. War always has
been an implementation of a policy
the last recourse when all other
efforts failed. But victory can be
secured only by farsighted policy
which the fighting man cannot
guarantee. And the present gulf
which divides the east and the
west into two antagonistic groups
is perfect proof that we have
achieved nothing by our military
victories.
Moscow's Aim Z Unquestionable
Neither does it appear that there
is even the vaguest possibility oi
obtaining even in a small degree thu
cooperation OF the U. s. s. r. fol
esta blishment Of q lasting peace ir
the world unless the American peo.
pie decide that they are 80 tired
and worn out by their last war effort
that they are willing to surrender
not only to the Russian desire fol
more territory but also espouse the
Soviet political philosophy of a die.
tatorship backed by strong secret
police.
The Soviet operations in Greece
Western Europe particularly In
Germany, France and Italy, in Iran
in the Middle East and in China
are considered by many students OF
military strategy as "deceptions' to
strain our forces, to create chaos
and confusion everywhere and thus
facilitate the Kremlins' plans fol
world domination. But the ultimate
aim of Moscow unquestionably Is
the destruction of the influence ano
power of the United States. This
can be done either by assisting ir
creation of an economic catastrophe
in this last bastion Of free enterprise
or, If this is not possible because
our economic foundations are too
strong to be shaken by the skillful
methods Of the Kremlin, by an out.
right war when Russia has perfected
her technical preparations.
Those who wave aside the ides
that Russia is capable Of = wal
effort and say that the longer she
delays such a blow at us the worse
her position will be are repeating
the mistakes of the same wishfu
thinkers in the last war.
Between 1885 and 1889 the warn
ings that the Reich, Japan and Ital!
were preparing to attack theil
neighbors were discounted as pip
dreams and fictions of Imagination
of superheated brains.
Other Warnings Discounted
Those who could not see the wood
for the trees brought forth in sup
port Of their optimistic appraisal
statistical evidence. They wer
able to prove conclusively" that tn
Axis had neither the financial abilit
nor the raw material potential t.
wage a large-scale war. The Amer
ican people were told by specialist
with established regulations tina
Germany had less than $400, 900 90
in gold as q war chest and the cos
of a large-scale war would be sucl
that these reserves would be draine'
before victory could be won. w
were told by other equally qualities
men that Germany was lacking i'm
portant raw materials, particularly
oil, without which no modern wa
could be won and was not able +
stockpile q sufficient quantity t
last more than a year. We wer
| informed with yoluminous statistica
offerings that other raw material