Evening star., 1950-09-17
sn.cinl nl.nnteb 10 The s,or


NEW YORK, Sept. 16.-The
tert of a Voice of America
broadcast to Europe today. out
lining American arguments for
integration OF German armed
units into a combined European
defense force, tollotUS:
Talk of the contribution indi-
vidual Western European nations
can make to mutual defense
against aggression has led to the
most careful consideration of
how the manpower and the vast
industrial capacity of Western
Germany may be integrated into
the total effort.
What, then, is behind American
official thinking on the issue?
American policy makers here have
reached the conclusion that Ger
man troops should have an op-
portunity to share in the defense
of Europe, but they also feel that
they should be included only with
proper safeguards against the
possibility of the rebirth of Ger
man militarism. This does not
mean that Germany should be
rearmed in any way remotely
reminiscent of the Hohenzollern
or Hitlerite war machines. 1t does
not mean the rebirth of a Ger
man national army. 1t does not
mean the revival of a German
general staff or any purely Ger
man political control over a new
Wehrmacht.
Policy Unchanged.
The record is quite clear-the
whole policy and practice of the
American occupation authorities
has been to build a Germany
which does not have the char
acter or even the potential to re-
create itself as a police or mill
tary state. There is no change
in this policy or practice and
none is contemplated.
American authorities, with the
cooperation of the German peo-
pie and their government, have
tried to create a state in which
freedom and individual liberty ex-
list, and in so doing instill con-
viction that this freedom and lib
erty is worth cherishing and worth
fighting for.
If the German people are ac-
cepting this conviction, if , they
are animated by European spirit
and a desire to identify them
selves with the common civiliza-
ton of the West, then here is
their opportunity to express it.
It is in these terms that the
idea of employing German troops
to stand with their neighbors in
the defense of Western Europe
is now put forward.
Single Authority Planned.
The whole concept of a North |
Atlantic military establishment
does not admit the outmoded sys-
TEN of national armies with 9 |
central laison. On the contrary,
it is concept calling for the in
tegration of all North Atlantic
forces and the amalgamat;on of
all national units under a single,
central authority.
It is into such an integrated
force, with a preponderance of
Western Allied soldiers, that the
German units would be fused.
Adherence Of militarism, and
particularly Of a revival of ma.
tional militarism In Germany, is
as strong in America as in Europe.
But it is also felt that the exig-
encies of the world in which we
live today summarily rule out the
luxury of sentimental preferences
and historic sentimentalities.
II the members of the North
Atlantic Council should decide
that German participation Isl
desirable and realistic, there would
never be question of giving
equipage preference to one ma
tion's soldiers over another. The
problem of short supply of ma
terial or the priority of ALLEGATION
simply could not present itself.
Task Would Take Months.
For if, in fact, it should be mu-
'tually decided that Germany
should properly be a member of
forces in defense of freedom, many
months would pass before the