Evening star., 1949-11-15
Russia Seen Seeking
To Outlaw Atom Bomb
Without Any Treaty
Moneuver, If Successful,
Could Affect the Kind of
Defense Available to U. S.
By David Laurence

agreement.
If this maneuver is successful.
It can affect materially the kind
of defense the United States has
available. 1t can mean that the
next war would be fought more
along the lines of World War II
with conventional weapons and
particularly with land armies
holding the balance Of power.
The Russian purpose is re-
vealed in the speeches being made
by her spokesmen. Not only is
there pressure now by Moscow
for q modified kind Of atomic
control but there also is a very
apparent effort to condemn the
atom bomb as an uncivilized
weapon. Thus, in his speech at
the United Nations, Jacob Malik
referred to Hiroshima as peace
full city" and gave the impression
that the United States has not
been particular about confining
bombs to military installations,
preferring to use them on civilian
populations.
How They Derived Point.
It may be that the Russians
derived this point from recent
discussions in the American press
concerning the differing views Of
the United States Air Force and
United States Naval Air Force on
the manner in which atom bombs
should be used. The naval aviators
contend that the atom bomb should
be used by all the armed services
for military targets only and its
use should not be confined to any
one branch of the service. The
naval view is that precision bomb
ing" Is necessary and that high al
titude or "area bombing" means
inaccurate bombing with a pos
sibility that military targets will
be missed completely. This is
really what's back of the argu-
ment as to what distance away
from the bomb explosion there is
lethal damage. The experts differ
but it seems agreed that a mile
and half away there is rela-
tive safety for individuals ex-
cept from flying debris and pos
sibly fire.
When planes fly at an altitude
Of nearly eight miles and at a
speed of 400 miles or more an
hour. a miss Of as much as mile
or two on a target below is a pos
sibility. It is to avoid this kind
Of error which might mean the
unnecessary destruction Of human
life in areas not regarded as mill
tary installations" that the drive
now is on for lower altitude flying
and more precision bombing from
new Jet planes. e.
The Russians. Of course, have
an advantage in large land armies.
Hence they have not looked COM
fortably at the idea advanced by
the military men Of America that
to Offset the Soviet land armies.
the atom bomb would promptly
be dropped on 10 Russian cities.
Indeed, 1t is argued in Washing
ton by those skeptics who don't
believe the Russians have per-
fected the atom bomb that they
announced their explosion pri-
marily for propaganda reasons.
The idea presumably was to in
stitute a demand for the outlaw
ing Of a weapon they know they
cannot make in large quantities
for a long time to come.
Threat of Retaliation.
The Soviet concept now appar-
entity is to threaten to use the
atom bomb on European cities as
q measure Of retaliation, precisely
as Americans have been predict
ting that the bomb would be used
against Russia II she moved her
land armies across Europe.
1t Is conceivable, therefore, that
the Russian purpose is to bring
shout situation in which world
opinion will, In effect, outlaw the
atom bomb even without any pact
on international control.
.oIn the last war Germany had
poison gas ready and so had the
Allies. It was stored in immense
quantities behind the Allied lines
ready for instant use. There was
no agreement between Hitler and
the Allies on the point but each
side recognized the disadvantages
and declined to be the first to use
It. Russia certainly has more of
an advantage In withholding the
atom bomb than In using It.
America has to guess, however,
how many bombs Russia has and
risk the destruction of cities In
the United States as well as in
Britain and France If by chance
the initiative is taken by Russia
4nd she actually has the bombs.
The best answer to this is what
the, scientists say-namely, that
any country with the resources of
fashionable material can make the
bomb. Certainly Russia is not
likely to become truly bellicose
until she has enough bombs to
checkmate Americas use of the
bomb. When that happens, if q
war breaks out it might be fought
very much as the last one was
fought-with airpower in both the
Army and Navy and with land
forces In Western Europe.
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