The Daily Alaska empire., 1951-05-03

WASHINGTON, May 3 = tR - Gen. Douglas MacArthur said today he does not believe Soviet Russia is in position to launch any pre- datory attack from the Asiatic con. tinent"
 The deposed Far Eastern com mander gave that estimate to the Senate Armed Services and For
 eign Relations committees inquiring into MacArthur's dismissal and Far Eastern policy.
 Macarthur testified behind closed doors. but censored transcript of
 his testimony was given to news | men. The general said he believes Rus ] sian forces in Siberia "are largely defensive"
 In this connection, Macarthur ob- | served
 T believe that the Soviet has so often repeated the incorrect state
 ment that We are planning to at tack him that he has finally begun to believe it himself" Russ Strength Deleted Senator Russell (D-Ga), chairman
 of the combined committees, called for an estimate by Macarthur on
 Russian strength in the Far East. Part of what Macarthur had to say on that was deleted from the transcript given reporters. In that connection, Senator Hugh
 Butler (R-Neb), on leaving the hear ing earlier, had told reporters Mac
 Arthur also said lie doesf't believe Russia could move more troops east | ward because the trans-Siberian railroad already is taxed to its limit. The transcript recorded Russell as asking MacArthur about the haz-
 ard of having removed all U. S. gar
 rison troops from Japan to Korea
 when the war broke out last June Japan Capture Doubted "If Russia had seen fit to have
 moved at that time, assume they
 could have captured Japan, could they not?" Russell asked. T would doubt it very seriously senator" Macarthur replied. ] He added that he does not believe Japan could have been taken ex- cept by an amphibious effort. Then
 he said:
 "As long as we held control of the sea and of the air over tha sea, would doubt that the Soviet Union
 would have been able to overrur Japan in any coup de main." GA coup de main is a sudden ano unexpected movement and attack. The questions of what Russia | might do in the Far East = and the Soviet capacity to act witt strength there are important ones in the whole controversy revolving ] about MacArthur.
 General Urged Blockade Macarthur has urged blockade oi Communist China and air action against it because of the Communist move into the Korean fighting. The Truman administrations po- sition is that the war should be con- fined to Korea if possible = that {, the steps Macarthur propose; might spread the war into greai conflict.
 The Russians have a treaty oi
 mutual assistance with the Chinese Communists. Russian arms have
 been used by the North Korean
 Reds and the Chinese Communist but thus far there has been no evi-
 dence = at least none has been pub licly disclosed of direct Russian intervention in Korea.
 Macarthur First Witness Two Senate committees, meeting
 jointly, called MacArthur as tho
 first witness at general inquir.
 into his differences with the admin
 istration and the whole question o! ,U. s. Far Eastern policy.
 Reporters were barred from tn,
 hearing room on grounds matter
 of vital importance to national SC
 curity might come out in the hear
 ings.
 To inform newsmen, and througl
 them the public, an arrangemen
 was made to give out a censore'
 stenographic report of. the testi
 mony.
 This naturally, however, lagge' , far behind the actual progress o } the hearing.
 Macarthur Praised } The first sections of the trans , cript disclosed that Chairman Rus } sell of the Armed Services commit . l taa opanad tho haariuo with o zen