Evening star., 1950-07-29
Monkey Wrench or Olive Branch?

the Soviet unions decision TO enc It's
months long boycott of the United Nations
Security Council opens up wide field of specula-
ton ranging from the pessimistic to the optimis-
tic. The world will not know the real meaning
of the development, however, until events them
selves clarity 1t or until Jacob A. Malik, the
Russian representative, puts his cards on the
table when he starts acting as the Councils
president for the month of August. At the
moment the only thing anybody can be sure OF
is that this move, wherever it may lead, has been
made because the men of the Kremlin feel that
they have some special advantage to gain from it.
On the pessimistic side, in a purely conjec
tural sense, a good case can be made for the
idea that the Russians are returning to the
Council for number of dark and menacing
reasons. Among other things they may be
planning to cut loose with propaganda
barrage against what the United States, in
concert with the overwhelming ma ajority of the
U. NJ, is doing in desperate effort to hold and
throw back the Communist aggressors in Korea.
In addition, with their veto, they may be pre-
pairing to cripple the Councils ability to resort
to further measures in coping with that crisis.
Above all--at least conceivably-they may be
taking this step because some new Red aggression
is scheduled for August and they want to be
on hand to throw monkey wrench into the
counterScting machinery of the United Nations
On the other hand, taking brighter view df
the word bright" can be used at all in connection
with this stuation), it is possible that the
Russians are ending their boycott of the Council
% because they have been disconnected by the
u. Ms reaction to the Korean invasion, 90
because that reaction has come as an upsetting
surprise not reckoned with in their original
calculations, and 80 because they are anxious
now to do something to prevent the crisis from
expanding in a way that might be harmful to
their own interests or poorly synchroniZed
with whatever timetable they may be following
to carry out their dominance-seekin ambitions.
If that happens to be the case, then it is conceiv
able that Mr.. Malik will come forward next week
with seme kind of proposal to end the war in
Korea-a proposal designed to present the Soviet
Union to the world particularly to the peoples Of
Asia, a real peace-maker when actually 1t is
the fountainhead of everything that alarms
mankind today
1t is not unthinkable, of course that such
proposal-if 1t is made-could pave the way for
an eventual Korean settlement. But whether
1t is made or not-and it may never be made-it
cannot end the international crisis. That crisis,
with all the terrible dangers it involves for our
own country and the entire free world, will
remain to plague U.S. and it will grow, as long
as Soviet policy continues to be what 1t is-a
furtive and deadly conspiracy carried out behind
the Iron Curtain for the purpose of ultimately
making the Kremlin the master of every inde-
pendent land, including particularly America
The Russians cannot alter that fact by an olive
branch maneuver limited to Korea; the only
thing that can alter it-a thing that seems
remote almost to the point of impossibility-is
q complete and basic change in their overall
program.
In the circumstances, whatever Mr. Malik
may do when he returns to the Security Council,
we have every reason to assume that this latest
twist in Soviet policy is aimed solely and simply
at helping the Kremlin attain its black detectives
Possibly-just poSsibly-the ending of the boycott
may lead to slight easing of international
tensions, but all of us would be well advised to
look upon it as something designed to do us
good whatever. The situation can be summed
up in few words: Unless and until the Russians
reverse themselves on every major issue, unless
and until they lift the Iron Curtain and prove
themselves to be trustworthy member of the
United Nations, our country, together with the
rest of the free world, must build up it's armed
strength as fast and as thoroughly as possible.
To follow any other course at this time would be
to fiirt with suicide.