Evening star., 1952-06-26
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Korea and the Loborites

Although Prime Minister Churchill and
Foreign Secretary Eden have voiced some
displeasure over not having been consulted or
told about it beforehand, they have made clear
that they fully support the massive air strikes
against the enemys power plants near the
privileged sanctuary" of Manchuria. But the
opposition Laborites have taken different view.
They have filled the House of Commons with
cries that General Clark, supreme commander of
our American and allied United Nations forces,
has acted impulsvely on his own in ordering the
attacks and that he has thus exceeded his
authority in a way that could conceivably
precipitate World War III.
This barrage of criticism has come not only
from Aneurin Bevan and his "neutraist" fol-
lowers but also from the usually moderate and
level-headed Clement Attlee. Speaking for the
Labor Party as whole, the former Prime
Minister has deplored the failure of the United
States to seek Britain's advice before deciding to
strike at the power plants, and he has gone on
from there to make points like the following:
Cd The wreckage of the plants sis bringing
conditions of total war" to great numbers of
North Korean and Manchurian civilians; (2) the
action that has been taken constitutes "a
profound mistake in psychology; and CD it
will "lessen the chances of armistice, and may
lead us dangerously nearer to general conf1agra-
ton in the East"
It is not impossible, of course, that the
attacks will be answered by the North Korean
and Chinese Reds with heavy retaliation of
kind that could intensity and enlarge the present
war. But Mr.. Attlee and the other Laborite
critics have been less than realistic in giving no
weight whatever to this ominous fact: That the
enemy during the past year, while deliberately
blocking progress toward a truce at PanmunJom.
has carried through with vast build-up of aik
and land strength in a manner strongly sug-
gesting that he is preparing to launch an about
offensive. Clearly enough, in the teeth OF such
threat the power-plant bombings can be amply
justified, in Mr.. Edens words, as part OF a
general plan to try to neutralize the immense
military advantage which the Communists have
gained since the armistice talks began" With
the same consideration in mind, Field Marshal
Earl Alexander -Britain's Defense Minister, who
has Just returned to London from Korea-has
declared that he has mo quarrel" at all with the
Clark decision.
AS matter of fact, General Clark has not
played the role of an impusive lone wolf in this
matter. On the contrary, as Defense Secretary
Lovett has explained, he has acted only after
consulting with our Joint Chiefs OF Stan and
receiving their permission to strike. Further,
although he has not been in direct touch with
the governments of the countries whose forces
are allied with us in Korea, it seems safe to
had advance information from him about the
bombing attacks. In any case, the simple truth
is that he has stayed well within the scope OF
his authority under existing u. N. agreements,
one of which empowers him under certain condi-
tions and circumstances (such as an all-out
enemy air assault) to bomb Red China's
privileged sanctuary"
final point worth emphasizing has to do
with the location of the attacked power plants.
4~I>1@ 1avYA nlyoN
out as if these targets were on the sanctuary"
side of the Yalu River. They are not. They are
on the Korean side, and to strike at them is
not actually to extend the war area. That area
is still limited. It will be enlarged only II the
Communists force us to enlarge it.. Mr.. Attee
and Mr.. Bevan have not distinguished them
selves with their criticism. 1t is criticism that
the enemy can be counted upon to exploit to the
full In his Stalling act at Panmunjom