Evening star., 1950-07-12
Fears Seen GROWING
In Congress Circles
Over Korea DebacIe
Tydings' Words on Position
In Far East Might Have
Been Uttered in 1o41
By David Laurence

By David Lascrence
A second Pearl Harbor" and a
second Bataan" are phrases one
hears often in Washington now
adays to describe growing fears
about the debacle in Korea.
Unquestionably the commitment
made by the President when he
ordered American troops into Ko-
rea two weeks ago was larger
than could be Immediately full
filled, but nobody is blaming him
for that commitment. He had nc
real choice. What everybody il
talking about, however, is the fail
ure of the administration to ap.
praise the entire Far Eastern stu.
alton several months ago in term.
of potential trouble and to allo.
cate American military forces ir
such a way that they could be
made Immediately available tt
any danger area there.
It is a sad commentary on the
whole situation to find the chair
man of the Senate Armed Services
Committee, Senator Millard Tyd.
ings, Democrat, telling reporters
after his conference with Gen
Bradley that naturally the logisti-
cal problems are extremely difficult
due to distance. the limited port
facilities. and relatively poor land
ing field facilities for aviation" :"
Some One Blundered.
Those words might have been
uttered about Americas S position in
the Far East when the japanese
attacked both the Philippines and
Hawaii in 1941, but one must rub
ones eyes and pinch oneself to
make sure this is 1850. With all the
Navy's aircraft carriers-which do
not need landing fields for their
planes-and the vast number of
supply ships to operate the fleet
trains" that licked distances and
'logistics" in the Pacific only five
years ago, it seems as if some one
has blundered badly despite the
SIS billion a year spent for de-
fenSe purposes.
What can the average citizen do
about it? He can turn out of Office
at the polls the Congressman and
Senators who fell down on the job
by failing to exercise vigilance
but these same Congressman and
Senators will point to the law
which they passed in 1948 and
claim an alibi. The 'unifcation
law of that year created Ma
tional Security Council" The coun-
Gil is composed of President Tru-
man, Secretary of State Dean Ach-
eson. Secretary of Defense Louis
johnson, the Secretaries of the
Army, the Navy and the Air Force
and Chairman Symington of the
Resources Board.
The National Security Council
has this responsibility specifically
written in the law:
"D To assess and appraiSe
the detectives. commitments. and
risks of the United States in rela-
-tion to our actual and potential
military power, in the interest of
national security, for the purpose
of making recommendations to
the President in connection there
with; and
"(2) To consider policies on
matters of common interest to the
departments and agencies of the
Government concerned with the
national security, and to make
recommendations to the President
in connection herewith
President Cannot Do All.
The National Security Council
Is composed of men obviously
busy with direct responsibilities
of their own. Only last December
the Committee for Economic De-
veIopment. comprising eminent
business men of progressive
school of thought, issued report
recommending that there be added
to the National Security Council
three full-time civilians without
any other responsibilities in the
Government. The report said:
$50 far, the National Security
Council has not fully lived up to
its high potential though it has
made important progress. But
it does not appear that it has yet
formulated a comprehensive set
of current and long-range securi-
ty policies covering both foreign
and domestic aspects of the prob
lem. AS a result, the President is
seriously handicapped in carrying
out his responsibility to recon-
mend balanced and comprehen-
sive security program to the Con-
gress and the people"
The President cannot do it all.
He must have around him able
men. He has had busy men
around him and some of them far
from able. Each is charged with
many more tasks than the broad
problems of American securi-
ty. National security cannot be
treated as a side issue-yet evi-
IDENTIFY it has been. That's why the
naval aircraft task forces which
could have been patrolling Far
Eastern waters on June 25, ready
to supply tactical aviation along
with the United States Marines.
were nowhere near the Korean
battlefront but 5000 miles away.
- The ships were in "mothballs. J"
The naval aviators who nine
months ago cried out against this
neglect were called "rebels" and
"fancy Dans." and the Chief of
Naval Operations was removed by
Secretary Of the Navy Matthews,
& -