Evening star., 1951-01-24
Cracks in the Grand Alliance

Two items in the news of single day clearly
reveal the extent and seriousness Of the break
in the ranks of the Western nations.
Britain's Prime Minister Attlee went before
a cheering House of Commons yesterday and
said: 1--WE do not believe that the time has yet
come to consider further measures" against Red
China).
few hours later amid chorus of demands
for a sitter attitude, the Senate of the United
States unanimously adopted two resolutions. one
called upon the United Nations to immediately
declare Communist China an aggressor IN Korea"
(The House previously had taken similar actiono
The other Senate resolution, adopted 81 to o
on a roll call urged that Communist China not
be given seat in the u N.
This expression of congressional sentiment
refecting-as 1t unquestionaby does-the over
whelming opinion of the American people, rules
out any acquiescence by this Government in a
settlement of the Korean war that would be
an appeasement of the Communists or which
would reward their aggression. We cannot agree
to let them have Formosa and we cannot now
consent to their admission to the United Nations
This being so and if the Chinese Communists will
not accept less, it would be an act of futility
for us to enter into negotiations under either the
u N. truce proposal the slightly modified
version of China's original rejection of that
proposal. The only real choice open to us appar
entity is to get out of Korea or to stay on there
and fight
Our intention, evidently, is to stay in Korea,
and pursuant to that we have tried, without
success, to induce the U. N. to condemn China
as an aggressor, which she clearly is majority
of our associates have shown marked reluctance
to take this step. They snatch at any fragment
of hope, such as the latest Peiping offer, and
they search frantically for some form of words
which would enable them to dodge the issue
Mr. Attlee, for instance, balks at condemning
China as an aggressor, but apparently agrees
Sin condemnng Chinese intervention in support
of an aggressor." When the political leader OF
our principal ally resorts to such fine hair
splitting as this, 1t is obvious that the breach in
the Western alliance is wider than one would
have thought possible few days ago.
The simple fact is that our fellow men,
bers in the u N. (not including those such as
Greece, Turkey and the Philippines who are still
willing to call spade a spade) have no stomach
for showdown with the Chinese. It may yet
be possible, although it is by no means certain,
that a resolution condemning Chinese aggression
will be passed in some form. There is almost
no prospect however, that majority will sup
port any kind of sanction against China. The
unpleasant but self-evident truth is that the
U. N. members who were willing to fight aggres-
sion when faced with nothing more formidable
than the North Koreans are not willing to take
any effective action against a bigger aggressor
If that might entail serious war or even a
threat to their economic interests.
This is situation which plays directly into
the hands of the Communists No one can say
to what disastrous results it may lead. It is
state Of affairs, however, which raises the pros
pect that we may not be able to count on many
allies in the days to come, and we are left with
the necessity of considering what our choices
would be in that eventuality.