Evening star., 1950-11-02
By Blair Moody
forth American Newspaper Alliance

Wy 0tVu WtOOOy
North American Newspaper Alliance
ROME. Nov. 2.-Italy, bombed,
beaten. disillusioned and dis
armed by its disastrous interlude
under Mussolini. is now taking It's
place in the phalanx of democracy
as the guardian of the back door
to the West.
The italian Army is not much.
1t has eight divisions. inadequate
1y trained and miserably equipped.
It Is strictly limited in size by
treaty to 250,000 men. including
$4,000 Of Interior Minister Mario
Scelba's high-powered carabinieri:
It can have only 200 fighter
planes, no bombers: its supply of
tanks and ultramodern weapons
Of concentrated firepower is al
most nil.
But Italy's allies in the North
Atlantic Pact. notably the United
States. are now moving swiftly
to beef UP" the Italians and give
their highly regarded commander,
Gen. Efisio Marras, something to
work with.
In the hands Of Kremlin pup
pets this strategic peninsula could
slash the Mediterranean lifeline
in two and extend as a dagger
pointed at the heart of North
Africa. AS it could serve as an
Allied air base. so it could give
the Red air force control of
wide area. Its invasion would
open the door on Southern France
and flank the defenders by an
end run similar to Hitler's of
1910 through Belgium into North
ern France.
Good Tank Country.
The Po Valley Of Northern italy
Is good tank county,. The noun
tains separating it from the Croa-
tian plains Of Northern Yugoslavia
are on the wrong side of the
border. BY the time an invading
army got to Italy it would be past
the spots which could be strongly
held. Thus one Of the greatest
bulwarks Of Italian defense is the
strength Of their old rival, the
anti-Kremlin Communist Marshal
Tito.
Yugoslavia's 100000 or more
men are nothing to scof ct, and
could almost certainly mince I'D
any attack by Bulgaria. Hungary
and Moscow's other Balkan satel-
lites If the Red Army stayed out.
But real strike westward count
ing the Red Army in, might force
Tito into rugged central Yugo-
slavia-by when Italy and the
West had better be ready.
The heat is now on, with
emphasis on the fact that this
would be an italian fight too, not |
merely a clash of giants, the
United States and U. s. S. R., for
world power.
American Ambassador James c,
Dunn says Italian spirit has scared
since signing Of the North Atlantic
treaty. accepting Italy into the
grand alliance for freedom as
full partner.
'eNeutralism" Wanes.
"Neutralism," Mr.. Dunn says.
or the futile hope Of staying out
Of an East-West struggle, has
waned among Italians as prospects
have grown Of their being able to
defend themselves. Given a little
time. Mr.. Dunn expects, the Ital-
ian army would be ready to put
up a stiff fight against anyone.
1t is unfortunate that the peace
treaty-which cannot be changed
without Soviet assent - limits
Italy's use Of its greatest military !,
asset. manpower. One of the Ma !,
tons great problems Is chronic !,
unemployment Of young men, with !
The birth rate bounding and 2o0,- |,
oo0 more reaching employable age
zach year. |!
Now that America is standing j
ut Italy's side. however, Italians !
are training their army with the
slogan, Every man a .
sergeant" Maximum firepower
per soldier is sought-a higher
ratio. even. than is planned for !
other Western forces. s
Seek Cadre of $500 Men.
The purpose here" said one ]
highly placed American, "is to
create highly trained and heavily j
armed cadre Of ESQ., 900 men. II
there Is no war, that is all Italy
will need. If war comes, the
Italian force would be in a posi- :
tion to expand rapidly. OF course,
once the nation was attacked, re-
serves could be called in. The
treaty limitations would no longer
The present Italian conscript
serves for year or less. That is
not enough to make a real soldier