Evening star., 1950-10-16
Facing the Red Threut in Germany
New Form of Squeeze Seen
After Elections in Soviet Zone
he Red Threut in Germany

j. McCloy with instant retaliation.
Since the blockade ended, the
Allies and West Germans have
been carefully building machinery
to control the flow of goods be-
tween the Eastern and Western
zones.
Economic Impact Painful.
And even while the tremendous
project of the airlift was feeding
West Berliners and supplying them
coal and power, the economic i'm
pact on the East was reported to
be even more painful than on
Berlin. East German plants can't
get along without steel from the
Ruhr, for example.
This time any effort to interfere
with our access to Berlin will be
met with much tougher and
more effective countersqueeze. In
anticipation that current border
irritations might be stepped up
again into a major blockade, a
customs force and border patrol
have been established which Off
cials believe can virtually choke
off the flow of material between
the East and West zones. The re-
sulting disruption of production
and unemployment which would
follow, Gen. Taylor believes, would
seriously embarrass the new pup
pet state.
The most potent weapon in the
Allied kit. however, is simple de-
termination. The <American-and
Allied-decision has been made.
The whole pattern of United States
policy, exemplifled by Korea. is
to take no pushing around from
Soviet satellites, nor from Russia.
Informed insiders here say that
if the East Germans try to stop
our military train or our ship
ments at the zone border. the
chances are 100 to l that the
United States and its Allies will
shoot, if necessary. to enforce its
rights.
That could bring another Ko-
rea" between Allied forces and the
50.000-man Russian-trained East
German police force which the
Soviets are training with Soviet
equipment as the successor to Hit
ler's SIS. This Bereitsehaften. like
the North Koreans, could be
thrown into a fight with the West
without directly involving the
Russians.
Puppets Hesitate To Be Next.
Since Korea, which has had an
electric effect in Germany as in
the rest of Europe, the feeling is
that any puppet would hesitate
to be next in the ring with Uncle
Sam. If the Red Army came in.
of course, the story would be diff
ferent, but Gen. Taylor does not
think Stain is ready to risk gen.
eral war. And Secretary of State
Acheson, in a statement emphasiz-
ing the firm leadership our Gov
ernment is giving the anti-Krem-
lin forces. has warned categorical
ly that if West Berlin is attacked
the United States and her Allies
will step in and defend it.
Americans here in Berlin, like
the Berliners themselves, are liv-
ing right across the street from
the Communist menace. But they
are as calm and confident as
though they were in Chicago.
They feel that If Berlin is at
tacked it will mean world war.
They do not. think that at this
point Stain is ready to risk this
and while they are ominously close
to the Red Army, with military
strength far too little to check it,
they say that they would as soon
fight here as have an atomic bomb
dropped on them in Detroit or
New York or Washington.
Before Stain dares attack Ber-
lin, they think, he would have to
try to immobilize the United States
ability to strike back with atomic
bombs, so an American airport or
industrial city might be hit ahead
of this frontier outpost where, as
Gen. Taylor puts it, Every once
in a while we have to stop work
and drive away the Indians"
That boils it down to whether
Stain and the German Com
munist leader, Walter Ulbricht,
figure they could get away with
trying to grab Berlin with "the
new S." Here, there may be
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