Evening star., 1950-01-08
The Pact and Arms

Beginning within the next few weeks, our
Military Assistance Program-which this
year will involve a billion dollars in arms
shipments to our friends in Europe-will
start rolling in earnest. In effect what it will
: do will be to give teeth to the Atlantic Pact
and serve notice on Russia that the free
Western world is really getting down to
brass tacks in strengthening itself against
the continuing threat of direct and indi-
rect Red aggression.
The way has been cleared for this action
by the North Atlantic Councils approval
of the plans agreed upon last month by
the pact's Defense Committee. Those plans
provide. for the launching of concrete meas
ures for the mutual protection of the
twelve treaty countries, including the
United States; for the coordination of
regional programs within the alliance; for
the production and supply of ornaments,
and for overall strategy to insure the inte-
grated defense OF Western Europe as a
whole.
Now that the Council has affirmed all
this, the only other legal technicalities to
be met are that the President must declare
measures and that the recipient countries
must sign bilateral agreements covering
the conditions fixed by Congress in con-
nection with the Military Assistance Pro-
gram. AS soon as these steps have been
taken-which will be within the next week
or so-our arms shipments will begin to
move in volume across the Atlantic.
Far from being offensive in purpose, the
shipments will have only one objective
the simple and imperative one of improv-
ing the defensive position of the Western
world in relation to the aggressive Soviet
Union. To that end, they will place con-
crete strength behind the. words of the
Atlantic Pact and the integrated strategy
that has been worked out by the military
experts of the signatory nations. That
strategy, of course, is in top-secret classi-
f1cation, but there is good reason to assume
that it delegates to France the prime re-
sponsibility for land defense, while the
main air and sea burdens are assigned to
Britain and the United States.
Thus, with strategical matters agreed
upon and with our ornaments aid about
to start flowing in quantity, Article of
the Atlantic Pact is being translated from
an idea into reality. This means that the
twelve signatories, in keeping with their
pledge to cooperate closely on program
of continuous and effective self-help and
mutual aid" are entering upon the actual
operating phase of their alliance to main
tain and develop their Individual and COL
lective capacity to resist armed attack"
In short, they are now putting their joint
resolve to work in specific and tangible
way, with our arms shipments serving as
visible evidence Of that fact.
1t is fact, certainly, that should sober
the men Of the Kremlin. For they should
see 1t as something rejecting firm deter
mination on the part of the West to 20 to
war against them If they undertake armed
aggression against any member of the
Atlantic Pact. 1t may be that they are
willing to take such risk, but the chances
seem much better than even that they will
stay where they are if we and our Euro
pean allies continue to build up our COM
mon strength with the greatest possible
speed and vigor.