Evening star., 1950-11-19

an adequate defense force to
meet successfully a possible Rus
sian aggression.
There is never much trouble
for military men in coming to
agreement. They are realists and
fully aware of their heavy respon-
sibilities. Not so the politicians,
who are more mindful of their
political skins than of the realities
of a possible war.
Politicians and diplomats must
be professional optimists. Hence.
they deal more casually with
problems which appear urgent to
the military. They scof at the
fears of the military, who are
their subordinates in peacetime.
Pentagon Views
The Pentagon discussions were
heated. The chiefs of staff ap-
preached the problem of the West
ern force factually. They pointed
out that there was a good and
reliable reservoir of manpower
available in Germany and Spain.
They urged the political men to
draw on those two pools while
there still was time.
They recommended that at least
100000 Germans be provided with
the necessary tanks, Self-pro-
PEELED guns and other equipment
to fill the gap between what &C
tually exists as a military force
in Europe and what minimum de-
fenSe requirements dictate.
Some of the chiefs of staff also
urged that the 100000 Spaniards
who are in uniform today be pro-
vided, partially at least, with mod
ern weapons such as artillery.
tanks, radar and aviation to form
general reserve in case of need.
The Bonn and Madrid govern
ments had been sounded out and
found willing-if not anxious-to
cooperate with the MAP nations.
The present struggle in Europe
affects them as much as it affects
the other Western nations and
both Spaniards and Germans
were ready to join in the common
defense of the West. Lack of
modern equipment and of facili-
ties to create their own arms pre-
vents them from becoming useful
members of the free world.
These plans were sunk, for the
present, at least, by the prejudices
of politicians in France and
Britain.
That the practical views of the
military must be harmonized with
the ideologies of a number of men
in the present governments in
Paris and London has become
obvious.
| Wishful thinkers have had
things their own way since VI
day. Their hopes, based on the
assumption that all human beings
are alike and that the Russian
dictators are like other human be-
ings now should be shattered. The
Kremlin has used the U. N. as a
sounding board for its conspirato-
rial plans. The Soviet representa-
tives have nearly put that organi-
zation on the rocks.
Strong Talk Urged
Definite proof is in the hands
of the chancellories in Washing
ton, London and Paris that the
Korean aggression last June was
directed and ordered by Moscow.
There should be equal proofs that
the intervention of the Chinese
puppets in Korea, where the U. N.
police action" had been nearly
successfully completed, also orig
mated in Moscow.
Stain and his associates do not
believe that either the Koreans or
the Chinese can defeat the West
ern forces, whom they now are en-
gaging. But the conspirators do
not care how many Oriental lives
they sacrifice as long as the effec-
tivenesS of the European forces
remains impaired. And so long
as America has a full-scale war on
its hands in Asia, our help to
Europe necessarily must be on a
reduced scale.
But to the amazement of indie
pendent observers, who are not
enmeshed in the niceties of our
diplomats, the leaders of the ma
tions which are most threatened
by communism in Europe are the
very same men who placed the
greatest obstacles in the way of
the realistic plan to get all the
nations of Europe which are under
the Red guns banded into one ef-
fective defense force.
One French general of great
reputation stated to a distin-
guished American who visited him
last year in Paris that Europe
needs somebody to knock our
heads together and make us do
things"
This is rough language, but the
meaning is clear. Until the Amer
ican Government, which bears the
greatest burden of responsibility
for the defense of the West, asserts
itself and speaks frankly to our
Allies, the game the local poll
ticians have been playing for a
number of years now will go on.
The dangers which are facing
the free nations of the world are
so serious and imminent that
forceful talk might hammer some
real sense into the heads of the
oldtime politicos who still hold
sway in the Old World.
It may be that Congress, which
in the recent past has shown it
self keenly aware of the threats
to our security. will have to ac-