Evening star., 1951-03-06
Why the Free World Can Win


be required reading for anybody in the free
world who is faint of heart who tends to take
defeatist view of the future, who is prone to
underrate the actual and potential power of
the United States and it's allies viS-a-vis the
Soviet Union. It should be required reading, too,
for all who have been arguing against SUBJ
stantial American participation in sthe Atlantic
Pact Army being organized under General Eisen-
hover for the ground defense of Western Europe.
For what DR.. Bush has said Che and our
top military authorities have said it before in
other words) Is simply this: That the free world,
If it does all the things it can and should do
with the utmost speed, can become invincible
on land well as at sea and in the Sky-so
much so, in fact, that it can succeed not merely
in preventing another global war but in even
tually obliging the Russians to cooperate in
an enduring peace Moreover, as far as the
ground of Western Europe is concerned, we and
our allies can achieve this invncibility with
defensive forces much smaller" than the hordes
OF men and the masses of armor that the
Kremlin now has available for attack
In saying all this Dr. Bush, president of the
Carnegie Institution of Washington has spoken
not only as a member of the Committee on the
Present Danger but as scientist of great stature
whose experience as head of the wartime Office
OF Scientific Research and Development makes
him uniquely well qualified to talk authoritatively
on the subject. That fact, coupled with the fact
that he Is celebrated for keeping his feet on the
ground and refusing to let wishfulness override
his common sense, lends added strength and
significance to his relatively optimistic view of
the future. 1t is view based primarily on his
firm personal belief that no all-out war-barring
some fearful blunders-is in immediate prospect
because the Kremlin realizes that If 1t sent its
q v,Nar aiyr fNye.N H,x,n
A-bombs and the planes to carry them would
destroy RUSSIA thing we could do without
question as matters stand today"
But this very real and very terrible American
deterrent, this enormous superiority which we
enjoy today in terms of our capacity to deliver
long-range atomic attacks is not likely to last
indefinitely On the contrary, in DR.. Bushs
opinion, there is a strong probability that the
Russians, like ourselves, will in time be able to
build anti-aircraft defenses effective enough to
subject attacking planes to "prohibitive attri-
tion." Accordingly, he has urgently recommended
that before that day comes, before our present
great advantage is seriously lessened, we and
our allies make reality of the projected
Atlantic Pact Army-an army trained and armed
well enough to hold Western Europe against
vastly superior numbers" of Russians Such an
armys anti-tank weapons, for example, could
SoiAecA ou1 tiic value Ol OOVleG TANKS, ana lGS
tactical A-weapons could make 1t suicidal for
infantry and armored forces to concentrates
they would have to do-for breakthrough
assault on our allied defenses in depth.
Given this relatively small army, plus mas
sive and up-to-the- minute air and sea power,
then the free nations, in DR.. Bushs judgment,
can be reasonably sure that the Kremlin will not
attempt to attack. In short, they can be rea-
sonably sure that there will be no World War III
and that In due course the present danger-the
danger OF universal Communist aggression and
conquest-will fade away and make possible the
organization OF a decent peace. In that respect,
apart from our military strength, we and our
allies are likely to be helped in no small measure
by our matchless productive might, by Russia's
marked inferiority in steel, oil and other essen
tlals OF modern warfare, and by such factors
as the existence OF scores of millions of oppressed
people seething with discomfort behind the Iron
Curtain and yearning to be rid of the Red
tyranny.
That tyranny, after all, carries within itself
the seeds of it's own destruction. It's inherent
weakness is that it is held together by terror
and hate, which have never in the history of
mankind won anybodys love or loyalty Against
such system, the free world if it marshals it's
strength effectively, can build up-in addition
to mighty military defenses-politcal and eco
nomic pressures insuring the ultimate triumph
OF liberty and decency without an all-out shoot
ing war. DR.. Bushs faith is altogether well
founded-much better founded, certainly, than
defeatism.