Evening star., 1950-10-17
Bv BInir Moody

That was the categorical state
ment of Maj. Gen. Maxwell D
Taylor, American commander ir
Berlin, who gave the North Ameri-
can Newspaper Alliance an eX-
elusive appraisal of the much-dis'
cussed Soviet-German "polict
force" which may be the centra
factor in the next Korea"
Gen. Taylor does not underrate
the extent to which Communisr
: indoctrination may have made
fanatics of the younger police
troops" who were IS or 16 wher
the Red Army came, and can re-
member nothing except Hitler anc
Red occupation. He thinks many
might fight fiercely for Commun-
ism.
But the ominous shadow Of
the Nazi SIS which followed the
German Soviet Blue Shirts Gree
German YOUTH as they clompec
down Unter Den Linden May 2e
did not faze the American COM
mand in Berlin.
At that time, the police could
not have attacked without di-
rectly involving Russia and Stain
has not yet indicated he is willing
to be involved. Now that forma-
ton of a new independent" Ger
man satellite state is expected
to follow Sundays elections, the
danger of an attack is greater
But Gen. Taylor is utterly con-
fident he can knock it back, if it
IcomeS.
May % "Attack" Fizzled.
He points out that the New
SIS" had been slated to attack
West Berlin May 28, but didn't
They had been warned they would
run into American bullets.
The general discounts the SEN
sational and widely broadcast
descriptions of the reports which
portray the Bereitschaften in the
light of new invincibles He
says they simply are not accurate
There is no question:" Gen
Taylor says, that those troops
parading in the Communist cele-
bration with the so-called Free
German Youth looked pretty good
It is also true that the present
$4,000 men would be tripled in
strength within six months by
breaking the force into cadres.
"They are being trained by Rus
sian officers with some Soviet
tanks and other equipment.
"But we have a bit of insight
on what's going on in that East
German Army. Deserters are
drifting across the line all the
time. More than 800 have come
so far to Berlin alone.
Most Are Down at Heel.
"While some Of the police
troops are good, most OF them
are down at the heel, both in
state of training and equipment
They are using old equipment and
some Russian equipment. Few
have artillery or tanks. Thel1
Russian trainers are so confident
of their loyalty that they take
some of the equipment away from
them at night"
Gen. Taylor called the Ameri'
can 1st Division, now stationed II
West Germany, "the best division
in the world today" He sale
lit has enough manpower ane
armored f1repower to equal three
ordinary divisions. The constabul
ary now policing the occupied
territory also is trained and ready
and has easily the strength o
another division.
The general admits this woule
be slim defense against an attacl
in force by the Red Army, but HI
points out that when Stain at
tacks he is exposing his countr!
to atomic bombardment. ANY
thing in sight but the Red Army,
Gen. Taylor adds, I'VE can take
care Of"
eve are ready with all weapons
economic, political and ideoloai
cal. OF course, we must have tn
military strength to make tht
others stick. Armed force is tn
ultimate, indispensable guarantee
But to win the cold war, we mus
have the others, too"
Bluff Has Been Called.
Firmness has worked in deal
ing with Communist bullying. Th'
500,0 900 Communists who marched
on East Berlin May % did no
march on West Berlin, as ha'
been threatened, because the.
were told machine gun bullet
would greet them if they cam
in that spirit. When riots wer
threatened this month in tn
Ruhr, the British and Germal
police clamped thousands of ke,
Communists in jail in "preventiv
arrests" Ninety = six THOUSAND
West German police were alertec
Thousands of Communists seek
ing to filter in to join the ful
were turned back at the borders
Much of Germany's commercial
traffic goes by barges, on canal
and down the river. The Soviet
held up barges going through
their zone, claiming papers wer
not right, the crew lists had t.
be checked, and so on.
But all Soviet-zone traffic, t.
get to the sea, must pass through
three locks in the British zone
So the Allies applied a retaliator,
squeeze. They held up so Com