Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1949-07-25
Arms Aid Is Essential

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Although there is plenty of room for
debate over its details, scope and duration,
there is a clear need for something very
much like the arms-aid program which
the President is submitting to Congress
today for prompt and favorable action.
The project-oficially entitled the Mill
tary Assistance Program"-is technically
separate and distinct from the North
Atlantic Treaty. In fact, 1t covers num-
Der of nonsignatory countries-notably
Turkey and Greece-and its submission
would have been necessary, in one form or
another, even If the Senate had voted
against the treaty's ratification.
Nevertheless, although that ratification
does not legally or morally obligate Con-
sress to vote for aid exactly as advocated
by the President, the MAP obviously Is
related significantly to the Atlantic Pact.
It has an important relationship, too, to
the European Recovery Program. Indeed,
it Is an essential part of the whole pattern
of action-political, economic and military
which the free Western world has been
taking to cope with the threat of direct
and indirect Soviet aggression.
As far as the Atlantic community of
nations is concerned, the primary purpose
of the MAP is to improve the defensive
posture of our European friends. AS par
Elephants in the Marshall Plan, they can
not at this juncture greatly expand their
own rearmament production, or heavily
increase their expenditures on military
imports, without adversely affecting the
pace of their economic recovery. Yet, In
view of the threat of aggression, they need
to strengthen themselves militarily as
much as possible, without footdragging.
Accordingly, under the MAP, through
transfers of military equipment and other
means, the United States would extend
enough aid to these countries to enable
them to fortify, modernize and generally
improve the status of their existing forces.
In other words without materially enlarg-
ing upon them, it would put those forces
in a better position to defend the free
West against totalitarian subversion and
aggression, direct or indirect. In that
sense, it can do much to give real teeth
to the Atlantic Pact.
Senator Vandenberg, Senator Dulles and
other strong advocates of the pact are
inclined to doubt that the MAP is needed
on as large scale as urged by the State
Department and the President. Mr.. Van
denberg, for instance, though reserving
his final Judgment at the moment, feels
that 1t may be wiser to operate with
smaller outlay on an interim or stop-g
basis to cover the period between now
and the time when the pact's signatories
will have organized, under Article 8,
defense committee to determine the exact
nature and extent of the continuous self
help and mutual aid called for in Article 8.
These and similar matters require, and
undoubtedly will receive, a full and in
telltgent debate in Congress- If the ad-
ministration can show that it has not
exaggerated what is needed, men of Mr..
vandenberg's stature can be counted upon
not to resort to unwise or vitiating econ
omies. On the other hand, If the adj
m1nistration's estimates are found to be
excessive, reasonable notifications will be
In order
In any event, however, the fundamental
point to be kept in mind by all of us is
that some form of military aid is essential.
1t Is needed to make clear to the Russians
that the free Western world means busi-
ness. The initiative has been wrested
from them To keep it out of their hands
we must leave nothing undone from here
ION out.