Evening star., 1949-04-26

nclldUCS Oh Only one uOOS Vi
attacks 70-group air force-andl
the surprising elimination Of
offense and defense by air from
large naval carriers capable of
carrying the atomic bomb means
that the President and his Sec
'retary Of Defense are willing to
risk the loss Of American cities and
are unwilling to use any and every
means OF striking at enemy bases
from which long-range bombers
can take OF. ~
.30-Day War Notion Hit.
The simple truth is that in the
next war 1t will be Of little avail
to use strategic bombing just to
destroy the enemy's factories. 1t
will be more important to destroy
the enemy's stockpile. No country.
however. is going to arrange its
precious bombs in q neat little
pile for any strategic air force to
demolish but will disperse the
bombs and the bases as well as
the factories.
Any notion, therefore. that by
striking at enemy factories q war
can be won In 80 or so days is
untenable.
A sensational book entitled
Must We Hide?" which outlines
the military aspects Of the atomic
bomb. has just been published
addison Wesley Press. Cambridge,
Mass). It was written by DR.. r. E.
Lapp. a nuclear physicist who has
worked on the atomic bomb project
from its earliest days. In the
preface to his book, he says he is
not divulging any secret informa-
ton but is merely telling some
simple truths which any one can
derive for himself from what has
been already revealed.
DR., Lapp says 1t would be a
mistake to rely only on one air
force. He decries the trend in Con-
gress to rely solely on strategic
bombing, which is the primary
mission Of the air forces. He
writes:
"A powerful strategic air force
armed with atomic bombs may de-
liver serious blow TO enemy pro-
ductio1 facilities aiad manpower
resources, but 1t is less capable of
striking at the force in being Of
enemy bombers and A-bombs
which have been accumulated.
prior to the Outbreak of hostilities.
1T will be of small consolation
to the atom-bombed people of
Philadelphia to learn that our
strategic air force has obliterated
Moscow. Or imagine how frus-
trated air power could be if Russia
pushed through Germany. overran
the Low Countries and took
France. Would atomic bombs stop
such a push? This would be tan
tamount to asking If the A-bomb
could be used as an effective tao
tical weapon against land armies.
Not ALI That We Need.
"It will be well for Americans
to stop thinking that atomic
bombs and high-speed bombers
are all that we need. How, for
example, would these prevent al
westward push from the Baltic
to the English Channel? Would
even a very large number of A.
bombs prove an effective deterrent
to such push? The authors per-
sonal belief is that it would not"
DR.. Lapp insists that the exact
number of A-bombs America pos
sesses should always remain top
secret but Ito orient the thinking
OF the average person with regard
to the numbers of A-bombs which
may be available at some time In
the future, we note from DR.. OPP
penheimer's testimony before al
United States Senate committee
that 1t would be possible to accu.
mulate 1000 bombs within two
years provided an all-out effort
were made"
DR.. Lapp feels that money
should be spent for proper in
telligence and for every available
means of striking at military in
stallations. The enemy could
quickly, take over Berlin or Paris
or other big cities. confident that
America would not waste bombs
merely to destroy civilians. includ-
ing her own nationals and those
Of allied countries.
Are we going to depend" he
asks, upon the A-bombs alone
and. If so. will they be used in
discriminatory? There is no doubt
that the A-bomb is an effective
weapoli. but it is not a decisive
weapon. It will be tragic for
Americans to discover this truth
too late"
The Navy. which has led the
world In airplane attack from
fat-tops, has sought chance to
develop a supercarrier. It takes
i've years to build such a carrier
and to work out plans for anti
submarine attack and plans for
protection Of troops that are to |
land to secure bases.
Mr.. Truman and Mr.. johnson
refuse to comply with the wishes |
of Congress. which has twice ap-
proved the carrier program and
its experiments. 1t is incredible
that chronological advance in |
new weapons of warfare should
be stopped in the face Of over
whelming technical evidence of its
potentiality.
The issue is one of national
safety.
q Reproduetion Rishts Reseryed.)