Evening star., 1950-06-02
The Free Must Be Strong to Be Sofe

The Presidents first semi-annual report to
Congress on the Mutual Defense Assistance Pro-
gram is couched in what is probably the bluntest
and most blistering official language that has
yet been used to describe Soviet policy and the
threat that that policy has created for the free
world.
Among other things, the report bitterly in
diets the men of the Kremlin for sabotaging the
United Nations, blocking treaties for Austria
Germany and japan, continuing the effort to
force us out of Berlin, renewing pressures
against Turkey, controlling the Chinese Reds
menacing Southeast Asia, committing "calcu-
lated act of aggression" in brutally shooting
down one of our naval planes over the Baltic,
deliberately poisoning our diplomatic relations
with the satellites of Eastern Europe, and in
general operating as malignant force" actively
and Systematically seeking to destroy democracy
everywhere in "a grim struggle to make the
entire free world slave"
Some will undoubtedly say that this language
does violence to the diplomatic niceties, that it
is too unvarnshed, that 1t carries frankness to
an extreme, or that it upends the celebrated
principle that one should speak softly and carry
big stick Be that as it may, however, the
fact remains that it is language that call things
by their right names. For what it all adds up to
is the simple, unadulterated truth that the Soviet
armed to the teeth, that it is ceaselessly striving
for world domination and that "the ability of
democracy to survive now depends on the ability
of democracy to defend itself"
That is why the President has called upon
Congress to provide 81 222, 100000 for the Mutual
Defense Assistance Program In fiscal 1851. The
sum, which is a bit smaller than the one granted
for the current year. is meant to cover arms and
kindred military aid allocated as follows: For
the general area of China, $75,000,000; for Iran
the Philippines and Korea, $27,500000; for
Greece and Turkey, $120,000,0O0, and for coun-
tries in the Atlantic Pact, $1000,000 900. The
Kremlns propagandists, Of course, will keep on
shrilly falsifying all this as part Of a plot to
unleash new war against Russia, but its sole
purpose, obviously, is to promote the safety Of
the non-Soviet world-particularly the West
insa time of great peril - 1a'so@ Has -
The need for the program is hardly open
to dispute AS the President has said, there has
been no basic change in the international condi-
tions that led Congress to inaugurate the MDAP
last year The threat of Soviet subyersion and
aggression, though held in check, looms as large
as ever. Indeed in some ways, especially because
the Russians have succeeded in producing an
atomic explosion of their own, the prospect seems
to have grown even more dangerous. Accordingly,
as long as the situation remains what 1t is, as
long as the Kremlin continues to follow a men,
acing course mutual military assistance will have
to be the order of the day, with the United States
playing leading role in the Atlantic Pact to
build an integrated defensive system of "bal-
anced collective forces"
Although our economy can stand the impact
of this program and related measures, the
President has not tried to sugar the pill involved
On the contrary, he has frankly declared that
fbo &oc I,0%I, $or &r;a ,le
abroad-"will involve sacrifice because the price
of peace and freedom is high when aggressive
forces stalk the earth" But if the non-Soviet
nations pay the price, if they do everything that
clearly needs to be DONE their combined might
will not merely insure their own security, but
also vastly improve the outlook for an enduring
peace in the world at large.