Evening star., 1950-12-24

Of attack. Primitive man was justified
in exercising his right to strike a pre-
yentive blow when he saw a bare fist
descending on him at arms length, or a
stone lifted against him. In the course
Of time he saw an ak uplifted, dagger
drawn, then sword thrust at him, then
spear leveled, then an arrow fitted to
bowstring. The danger, though moving
back in space, was still immediate and
certain in time With the invention of
gunpowder, the assailant moved farther
and farther away; but no basic change
was introduced in the elements of GER
tainty and immediacy of attack. Then,
long-range artillery, though discharging
explosives from emplacements even out
of sight and miles away, could menace
life and limb with equal certainty and
immediacy.
Distance Means Little
Now comes the age of air power, with
military aviation carrying flaming death
from bases located 5000, 5000 miles away.
Aircraft carriers far out at sea, flying
bombs, guided missiles, jet bombs and
atomic explosives can now be a certain
and immediate menace from ever
growing distances in this era of global-
minded-warfare. Who shall maintain
that the substantive and inherent right
of self-defense is Cancelled out by an
accidental circumstance or by the in
genuity of an aggressor in a chemical
laboratory?
The Japanese air force which bombed
poor1 Harhpr uoS earriod rOint
designated for the takeoff by fleet
of war vessels, including carriers which,
we now know left the northern Japa
nese port OF Tankan Wan on November
26, 1941, for the attack delivered on De-
cember 7. The attacking planes took
off from the decks of their carriers at
a point approximately 230 miles north
of Pearl Harbor. 1t would be a tor
tured Interpretation of the right of self
defense to deny the corresponding right
to have intercepted and destroyed that
advancing menace at any point, near
or far.
Should history repeat itself and pro-
duce Soviet feint in some remote area
of Asia or the Middle East, 1t will be
the signal for those burnt once in the
fire of such deceit to keep their eyes
fixed on the Northwest and Arctic sec
tor of our American defense system.
An Appalling Responsibility
II the Government of the United States
has sound reason to believe (that is, has
moral certitude) that similar attack Is
being mounted and ready to be launched
against this country from any source,
then 1t would appear that President Tru-
man would be morally justified to take
defensive measures proportionate to the
danger. That would mean use of the
atomic bomb, as no power would launch
a surprise attack on the United States
without an adequate supply of atomic
bombs. Should large numbers of civil
ians be harmed by American necessity to
use the bomb in self-defense, that regret
table effect, not intended as such, would
be attributable to what moralists describe
as the indirect voluntary. An attack
against us would have to be sudden, un-
announced, sufficiently devastating and
so widespread in coverage as to cripple
our powers of reprisal; the reply to any
partial crippling would be so overwhelm-
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ment could risk the gamble without Ger
tainty of success. Losing the gamble
under present conditions of warfare
would mean practical annihilation.
This argument preSupposes, as its
crucial premise, accuracy of information,
honest information, competent informa-
ton, and an alert intelligence service.
If time permitted, a warning or an ulti-
matum to an enemy found to be prepar-
ing such an attack should be given. But,
with or without ultimatum, I personally
see no immortality, though much tragedy
and horror of consequences, in the Gov
ernment of the United States choosing
the lesser of two evils. Neither reason
nor theology, nor morals require men or
nations to commit suicide by requiring
that we must await the first blow from a
power with no moral inhibitions and
when, as in the case now under consld-
Grafton, the attack would surely include
bombardment by atomic missiles.
Even Christ himself did not disdain to
seize a lash and drive the hypocrites out
of the temple But what an appalling
responsibility is now laid on military in
telligence, on diplomatic vigilance and
on all related security agencies which
gather and analyze information in this
atomic age.
l.