Evening star., 1950-10-01

ID at Inchon. Their conspiracy to
vantage of these circumstances.
prisoners who had fallen
into the hands of Moscow'S
Korean puppets were coerced into
making radio speeches, telling the
world that they disapproved their
Governments actions.
The news spread rapidly that
our fighting men gave up easily
because they did not know what
they were fighting for. The Rus
slams, with their Asiatic mentality.
did not understand that even if
some American soldiers did not
know what was behind the de-
cision to fight for a country which
the State Department seemed to
have written off, they were going
to fight hard because Americans
in play or war never give up unless
they are actually overwhelmed.
The Kremlin seemed so sure of
its victory that it did not bother
to plan any further action in the
event of a setback to the North
Korean armies. This may explain
why, when Gen. Macarthur land
ed his 10th Corps at Inchon, the
% Chinese Communist divisions
massed on the Yalu River were
not prepared to move across the
Manchuria- Korea border and get
into action.
The consequences of this oper-
alton, which has reeled back the
North Koreans and threatens to
destroy that force altogether, will
be greater in the political than in
the military field.
Moscow has overplayed her
hand. She assumed prematurely
that we could not take the offen-
sive before the cold Korean winter
sets in. It assumed that our heavy
casualties would compel us, for
many months to come, to send
the forces we were mobilizing at
home to fill the gaps in the Pusan
beachhead.
Overplayed Hand
Moscow figured that discomfort
among the people, who are send
ing their sons to be killed and
wounded in Korea, and the heavy
tax increases necessitated by our
lavish way of fighting a war.
eventually would confront the
government with difficult domestic
troubles.
There are enough Communist
termites in the United States to
stir up such trouble in the name
Of patriotism. It looked to Russia
like some small stroke-such as
the Korean war-would do more
to accomplish its aims of world
domination than even the most
optimistic conspirator in the
Kremlin believed possible.
Because our supposed weakness
was so overadvertised by the
Kremlin's propaganda machine.
the present successes of our armed
forces have backfired on Moscow.
Within less than three weeks
the whole aspect of the world
situation has changed. Jacob
Malik, the Soviet representative in
the farcical meetings of the
United Nations Security Council
in New York last August, denied
that the U. S. S. r. had anything
to do with the North Korean ag-
gresSion.
Whatever weapons the Korean
Reds had, Mr.. Malik was kind
enough to explain, were the left
overs given to the North Koreans
for defense purposes in 1948. when
the Red armies withdrew" from
that country. The fact that we
showed them Russian arms manu-
factured in the U. S. S. R. as late
as June, 1850, did not change his
attitude.
While Mr.. Malik was Aaking
these statements, however. Com
munist agents in Asia and Europe
we're telling a different story.
They were saying that without
Russia's effective assistance and
overpowering role in the councils
of the nations, the free people"
of Korea could not have achieved
such wonderful successes. They
were telling everybody that if
they wanted to avoid the fate Of
South Korea, which was estab-
lished by a free and democratic
vote. they must accept Moscow's
domination, which alone can
guarantee them against the dew
astations of war.
Today the story does not sound
so good. The nations of Asia,
which believe more in physical
power than in the ideals voiced
by some of their leaders, are be-
ginning to wonder whether Russia
is as irresistible as it looks from
a distance. If she is unable to
save her Korean puppets from
destruction will she be able to
save other satellites.
In China. the top men, like Moa
Tze-tung and Chou En-lai, are
bound to continue to follow their
masters. But will the rank and
file of the army-many of whom
fought for the Nationalists until
collapse-continue to
believe in the infallability of Rus.
sian might?
Europe Now in Doubt
In Europe there is the start of a
doubt about Russia's irresistible
force, particularly among the op-
pressed peoples in the countries
behind the iron curtain. They
have been silently looking for lib
Grafton (the real kindD ever since