Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-05-27
For the Free Worlds Safety


Although some voices have been raised in
favor of sharply reducing the funds requested,
Congress can hardly fail to give strong bipartisan
support to the substance of the program set forth
by the President in his message on foreign
military and economic aid. This is so for the
simple reason that the program is indispensable
to the security of the United States and the rest
of the free world at time when it is imperative
for our own and like minded nations to hold fast
together in great common effort to build up the
strongest possible defenses against the threat
of Red aggression.
What the President has recommended is
that Congress, for the fiscal year ending June
80, 1852, provide Cd $6,25O00o,ooO to supply our
friends abroad with military assistance in the
form of guns, tanks, planes, ETC., and
(2) $2,250,00O000 for economic aid designed pri-
marily to help them carry out their own expanded
rearmament efforts without at the same time
dangerously lowering their present austere living
standards. These two items-whch are over and
above the $50 billion requested for our own
armed servces-total only 5000 million more
than the $SS appropriated for the same purposes
for the current fiscal year. Although the bulk
OF the projected OUTLAWS has been earmarked for
the prime strategic theater of Western Europe,
the program includes the substantial sum of
SIS billion for other regions principally Asia
Gncluding FormoSa), with the Middle East and
North Africa the next most important bene-
f1ciaries. followed by Latin America.
AS the President has said, this program has
been drawn up with an eye on three major
characteristics Of the Soviet threat-namely,
that that threat is worldwide in scope, total in
nature and thing of indefinite duration Hence,
lest they be picked off one by one, the free
countries must spare no effort in the joint
enternriSn 0f increa SING their
economic, political and moral strength. Our
aid-which is not meant to continue for ever and
which is based on the principle of helping those
who help themselves-is designed to make that
enterprise so successful that we and our friends,
after rapidly building our defenses for the i'm
mediate future, will be sufficiently well prepared
for the long pull, sufficiently more powerful than
the Red empire, to deter the men of the Kremlin
from new acts of aggression and to persuade
them to change their policies. The objective, in
short is for our side to become strong enough
to prevent another global war or to win 1t if
1t cannot be prevented.
OF course, nothing we and our friends may
do can absolutely guarantee the preservation Of
peace. But Mr.. Truman has given voice to
reasonable faith in declaring as follows: 1.-THE
strengthening of the free world along these lines
is the best hope of producing changes in the
policies of the Soviet Union without world war.
Military defense forces will put stop to the
kremlins hope of easy conquest Growing pros
per1ty in the free countries will Illustrate Soviet
political warfare In these circumstances the
Soviet rulers will face growing internal pressures
The peoples under Soviet control will grow more
and more FESTIVE under the burden of an agrees
siVe and futile policy of hostility toward the
whole world. The rulers of the Soviet Union will
be forced by these pressures to abandon their
policy OF aggression" And in time-though at
Is too early to predict how or when"-they may
reverse themselves to such an extent that our
century may become "the brightest man has
known upon this earth
In any event, there can be no doubt that
the United States and its friends-while making
clear to the Kren1lin that they are always ready
to follow the road of peaceful settlement of
disputes. OF control and reduction of ornaments
OF co-operation"-have no choice at this stage
but to make their mutual security as strong
as possible as fast as possible That way they
can have good chance to prevent the kind
OF war that could destroy freedom and every
thing else in the world'-or at least to crush the
Soviets If the Soviets start it. The President has
spoken eloquently on that score The program
he has recommended, even though 1t may be open
to question in some particulars, certainly merits
the support Of Congress and the American people
as whole