Evening star., 1950-09-17

tarlly as france, although Sh0
is expected to make another real
effort if war comes and her gov
ernment decides to join the fray
with everything it has in its
power. Portugal, small country
in the extremity of Southwestern
Europe, cannot be considered a
military power and has been
made a member of the Atlantic
alliance only out of courtesy. She
has some strategically important
such as the Azores. which
are essential to the American and
British air forces.
In addition to these material
conditions there is political
factor which must not be over
looked. There are strong Com
munist movements in most of the
continental European countries,
particularly in France and Italy.
While the Communist parties
have been losing ground for two
years, they still have several mil
lion active members and a large
number Of associates.
Spain's Potential Value
The Communists have been
carrying on tremendous propa-
ganda against the "warmonger-
ing" United States and its pup
pets." the Paris and Rome govern
ments. The peoples of France and
Italy are SO war-weary that no
body should be surprised If
large portion of the -Commu-
mist population agreed that it
would be better to accept honor
able neutrality" to the devasta.
tions of another war.
Thus, from the viewpoint Of
available manpower and from the
psychological point of view, it is
doubtful that the European coun-
tries which are the pillars of the
Atlantic pact will be willing to
fight when the showdown comes,
unless they are strongly support
ed by other armies.
We are engaged in a bitter CAM
paign in the Far East. It will be
essential for some time that we
send across the Pacific whatever
troops are available to us at the
present rate of mobilization of our
armed forces.
How, then can we fulfill our
commitments to Western Europe
in the near future?
If it is true that manpower
alone does not make armies these
days, it is equally true that mill
tary equipment alone is not suf1.
cient unless you have men be-
hind the guns and in the tanks.
And only few men are available
among the members Of the pres
ent coalition in Western Europe.
After a good deal of pickering
the powers which occupy Western
Germany have agreed to permit
the recruiting of $4,000 Germans
for service in a police force"
armed with tanks and all the
other paraphernalia of modern
warfare. 1t is hoped that this
decision will be put into effect at
the earlist possible moment and
that the necessary equipment for
such German troops can be found
readily.
But it is Spain which can be
of utmost Importance to the de-
fense of the West. There are to-
day some 100000 men under
arms in the country. Another
100000 trained reserves are i'm
mediately available. The Span
iards have not fought a foreign
nation, except the United States,
since the days of Napoleon and
then their role was limited to the
old-type guerrilla warfare. The
civil war fought between 1886 and
1889 does not give any indication
of the ability of the Spanish
forces.
Joint Chiefs Puzzled
Of all the countries of Western
Europe. however, Spain is not
contaminated in the least with
Communist theology. Quite the
contrary. The Spaniards are all
determined anti Communists, re-
gardlesS of whether they are
Falangists. royalists. Socialists or
anarchists.
The present world conflict is,
among other things, an ideologi-
cal conflict. Russian propaganda
has succeeded to a remarkable de-
gree in camouflaging its aims Of
world conquest with an theology
which has sucked in millions Of
dreamers or power hungry dema-
gogues. There is no doubt in the
minds of those who have looked
into conditions in Spain that the
country would be of utmost i'm
portance as an ally against the
Russian steamroller.
Yet, in Washington everything
is being done to prevent Spain
from fulfilling its role in the
struggle against the evil forces of
Moscow. The State Departm Mt
and the White House, which alcne
oppose any steps to include the
whole Iberian Peninsula in the
Forthcoming struggle for survival,
have placed every conceivable
barrier in the way of Spain's par
ticipation.
The stated reason is that Gen.
Franco is a dictator. But so is
Tito, and a Communist to boot.
That, however. does not impress
our foreign policy-makers. They
do not admit that the policy Of
expediency as it is applied to Tito
should also be applied to the Com
munlst-hating Spaniards.
President Truman has gone to
greater lengths than any of his
predecessors in thwarting the
efforts of those who realize that
Spain's military support is essen
tial tn the defnpce of EI1rona