Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1952-01-25
OPERATION UNITY
OPERATION UNITY
Unity Must Be Top Consideration
In Alliance of Western Nations
By Farnham F. Dudgeon

By Farnham F. DudgeOn
Editors note: This is one Of series Of
articles prepared by the Editor of West
ern Newspaper Union while on a $4,000
mile flight through Europe and the Near
East. Purpose Of the trip for the
writer and thirteen other American jour.
nalists to observe progress made in build
up Of strength and Indignation Of North
Atlantic Treaty Organization forces and
the efforts being made by the Europeans
themselves in self.help.)
1.-THE program on which the Unit
ed States is embarked in Europe
must succeed, for there is no ac-
ceptable alternative for our coun-
try. If you are in boat in strong
sea, you do not stop pulling your
oar if the boat starts leaking; you
keep on pulling, even harder"
1t was with these, and other equal
ly inspiring words from General
Dwight D. Eisenhower in his Su-
preme Headquarters. Allied Pow
ers in Europe, near Paris. France,
that we began our eight-country,
24-day inspection trip of the major
Western European countries allied
with the United States against Soviet
aggression.
In this same initial briefing, the
supreme allied commander author
lied another direct quotation, which
was to register with us again and
again as we talked with United
States officials, and with the mill
tary and political leaders of France,
Italy, Turkey, Greece, Yugoslavia,
Western Germany. and the Neither
lands.
General Eisenhower said:
The free world vastly outnumbers
the Iron Curtain countries in total
resources. The essential. however,
is unity. Dictatorships achieve unity
by dagger in the back; the only
way in which VIC shall obtain unity
in NATO is for each of our coun-
tries to realize that its enlightened
self-interest is best served by cling
ing together in this association"
Can this enlightened" unity be
achieved?
In an attempt to get some kind Of
answer to this vital international
question our group of neWspapermen
had pretty good look at much of
what is happening in these coun-
tries ringed tightly around the west
ern footlights of the Iron Curtain.
Here are some of the essential i'm
pressions created as a result of our
observations:
nn,,Iovo1 ArourI
The United States and its West
ern allies are very definitely de-
ployed in a political and economic
organization and in limited mill
tary aggregation around the Rus
sian perimeter from Norway on one
flank through Turkey on the other
flank.
The battle lines for defensive mill
tary tactics are drawn. Our strategy
to defend the free world from Rus
sian aggression has been charted
Maps showing the deployraent of the
enemy forces have been compiled
from a Woodworking intelligence or
ganiZation. What forces we have in
readiness are placed where it is
believed they would do the most
good, should "the gong ring to.
morrow"
There is no feeling of false opti
mism or of bluff. Our leaders admit
that we would be in serious trouble
if the Soviet forces were to move
tomorrow. But we are in better
shape today than we were six
months or year ago.
If we aren't strong enough to hole
the Russians back, why haven't they
struck to date?
One military leader put it this
way:
1--WE think Russia knows that il
this thing breaks, it will be fifteer
round fight. Russia might win the