Evening star., 1950-05-28

In other words. the seeds were
planted at the London Conference
for a United States of Europe.
with the political and military
participation of the North Amer
lean continent.
/ The plan for a French German
coal and steel pool was the initial
but not the most important step
toward that goal. It's benefits are
expected to be greater from the
political than the economic stand
point.
Others May Join
The French and American gov
ernments, which initiated this
measure with the full support of
the West German government,
hope by this preliminary move to
end centuries-old fears, suspicious
and jealousieS which separated the
two great countries of Western
Europe. But they expected to go
much further and actually bring
about close French-German CO.
operation in all fields in the near
| future.
There seems to be no doubt in
the minds of Secretary of State
Acheson and Foreign Minister
Schuman that once this close COL
laboration is established, all the
Western European nations will
want to join. French German an
tagonism, dating back to the Ma
poleonic wars, undoubtedly was
at the bottom of the last two
great wars.
All the efforts of enlightened
Europeans to bring about q
United States of Europe have
failed because of that antagopism.
And SO long as both thesg key
European nations were sufficient
ly strong to fight each other, all
efforts toward reconciliation were
doomed.
Now both countries are in bad
shape. In order to survive, par
ticularly in the face of the East
ern threat, they must have Amer
lea S economic. political and MILL
tary support. Without this they
cannot expect to recover and
without their recovery, we cannot
hope to have even the illusion of
peace on the other side of the
Atlantic.
Immediately after the war it
was impossible to overcome the
feeling of superiority of the
French and the vindictiveness of
the Germans. Hence all the hopes
for conciliation between them had
to wait until they themselves
could see clearly that only by
honest cooperation could they
meet the new threat from the
East. This appears to have
seeped into the minds not only of
political leaders but also the mass
of citizens. who appreciate that
the plan for pooling certain in
dustrial resources is only a minor
step toward more important goals.
New Military Idea
Because of suspicious which are
deeply ingrained in most Euro
peans it was necessary for Secre-
tary Acheson to suggest one Of
the most important steps this
Government has ever taken: The
organization of an international
military force composed of all
the Western elements. The idea
is revolutionary. particularly as
far as this country is concerned.
In April. Gen. Omar Bradley,
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff. made Speech in which he
stated that eventually we may
have to give up a small portion of
our sovereignty. Since he did not
amplify his statement further,
the rank and file did not quite un-
derstand its meaning. What the
general had in mind is obvious
now. 1t was a reference to that
international military force which
was proposed in London by our
Secretary of State and fully ap-
proved by the other conference
participants.
This plan, said to have been
born in the Pentagon. in effect
abolishes the old concept of indi-
viduality integrated national de-
fense forces. Hitherto whenever
alliances or coalitions were origi-
mated each member brought into
the field its own complete military
force-ground, sea and air.
In the last two wars it was up to
this country to provide equipment
for the individual armed forces of
each nation. besides arming the
branches of our own national
defense. This not only was
neavy burden on the United States,
but it caused severe friction with
our partners in war. Some did
not want their armed forces
placed under the command of an
American: we baked at the idea
of have a foreigner in charge of
all our forces. National pride
played an important role.
Based on Ability
The plan set forth in London
for the creation of an international
military force provides that the
new allies will form an effective
force in accordance with their
abilities. The continental European
nations. for instance, will provide
the ground forces. thus removing
to a great extent the cost and
delay in bringing American ground
forces to Europe in large numbers.
Because We and the British are
better equipped in the air, the
task Of providing tactical and
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