Evening star., 1950-11-12


! follows:
/. To protect Manchuria and
Soviet Siberia against what the
Communists may conceivably
sincerely believe is an American
plan to seize these vital strategic
areas.
/ 2. To provoke world war now,
before the West can carry out its
new armamentS programs.
/ 3. To pin down U. N. forces
! in Korea SO that Russia or China
Or both-can strike elsewhere
with greater immunity to inter-
| ference.
4. To involve the free world,
and especially the United States,
in a long and exhausting war of
attrition such as those now being
fought in Malaga and Indo- China.
S. To protect the great hydro
electric works along the Korean
Manchurian border and the whole
frontier area in general.
Avoided Making Charges
6. To recover North Korea.
7. To seize all of Korea.
8. To compel the free world to
make deal on Korea, and posi-
bly, on other issues as we'll. which
would be favorable to Peiping and
Moscow.
| 8. To fight a "token cam
paign" to save the face of the
Chinese Communists, who prom
ised some time ago to help the
North Koreans.
It was possible from the begin
ming that the Chinese and the
Soviets might seek to accomplish
purposes like these. Washington
thought chances were against
their intervening in Korea in an
attempt to do so, but officials
never counted on this. The
United States did not leave what
it hoped was we'll enough alone.
1t did everything it could to con-
vince Peiping and Moscow that
it was neither necessary nor de-
sirable for them to intervene
Washington has also done what
it could to be ready to deal with
the Chinese and Russians If they
should come in.
Until last week, the United
States meticulously refrained from
charging the Soviets and Chinese
with responsibility for launching |
the North Korean aggression.
Washington said repeatedly that
the Soviets could stop the war if
they wanted to, but it never said
they had started it.
u. n. Role Emphasized
President Truman and Secretary
of State Acheson, moreover, have
repeatedly assured the Commu-
nists that the United States has no
selfish designs on Korea.
At the same time, the United
States has gone out of its way to
emphasize the primacy of the
U. N. in all American planning for
the postwar era in Korea. This
has been stressed partly in order
to show that Washington has no
intention of enscohcing itself in a
permanent, privileged position in
the peninsula. With this same
purpose in mind, the United States
has prevented Syngman Rhee,
president of the South Korean re-
public, from asserting any politi-
cal or administrative authority in
North Korea.
| Finally, President Truman SOL
emnly warned the Communists
early in the conflict that further
Red aggression might bring on
world War-something the United
States has thought the Kremlin
wished to avoid.
II am sure that those who have
It in their power to withhold acts
of aggression must realize that
new recourse to aggression in the
world today might well strain 10
the breaking point the fabric Of
world peace" the President said
in his message to Congress of
July 10.
Woefully Unprepared
The United States has pursued
three principal policies in its at
tempt to be ready for large
scale Chinese or Russian inter-
vention in Korea, on the chance
that this might occur in spite OF
all attempts to prevent it.
First, this country set about
building up its own national mill
tary establishment and concen-
: trating the greatest possible
strength in Korea.
:. Second, Washington has called
upon it's friends and Allies to do
these same things, and promised
} to help them in doing so.
Third. Washington has sought
:; from the beginning always to
have U. N. sanction for the opera
tionS in Korea.
The forces which other u. N.
members have sent-and have
promised to send-to Korea are
/ small. They serve at least two
principal purposes nevertheless:
They demonstrate that it is the
whole free world in general, and
) not any single power, which is
fighting the Communists, and
: they give the contributing nations
stake in U. N. victory which
it would be impossible for them
to ignore even if they might later
/ wish they could do SO.
From the point of view of ma
tional and world policy, these
units are important Communist
attacks on them presumably con-
stitute acts of war against all the
countries they represent.
The Communists have now
strained the fabric of world peace
almost If not quite to the breaking
point of which the President spoke