Evening star., 1952-12-14
Bombing Beyond Yalu
Would Be Futile and
Risky, FinIetter Says
BY the Associated Press


tary of the Air Force Finletter said
tonight that to send strategic
bombers beyond the Yalu River
boundary of North Korea Man.
churia would be bombing the
wrong place"
1T also would run the sharp
risk of leading an exasperated
world into an all-out war;" he
added.
The Air Force chief did not rec
ommend bombing any place out
side Korea. In saying that the
region across the Yalu would be
the wrong place, he explained that
the real source of Chinese Com
munist strength in weapons is not
in China. He did not say where
the real source is, but left no
doubt he meant Russia.
Mr.. Finletter's comments were
made in an address prepared for
delivery before the Bronx County
Bar Association as Gen. Eisen-
hover was returning from his trip
to Korea, where he went to study
means of ending the war.
However, Mr.. Finletter's text
made no direct reference either
to the Eisenhower trip or the
forthcoming meeting between the
President-elect and Gen. Douglas
Macarthur, who has expressed
confidence there is "a clear and
definite solution" to the Korean
stalemate.
Foresees Swift War Planes.
MI. Finletter's speech covered
variety of subjects dealing with
air power. including these:
l. We now have experimental
planes which can fly at about
twice the speed of sound C760
miles an hour at sea leveD land
we are talking about the produc-
tion of combat palnes which will
have these speeds"
2. Similarly, there is talk of jet
engines producing $4,000 pounds
of thrust and even higher" (The
majority of jet engines now have
a thrust of only a little over one
third of that
3. In the rocket missile field,
the time is foreseen when rocket
engines can produce 100000
pounds thrust and drive the mis-
sile into space at speeds approach
ing 10000 miles an hour.
4. Aircraft-manned and plot
less. together with new atomic
explosives-"are either going to
destroy the world or have a big
part in saving it, Atomic weapons
which long range and almost in
credibly fast planes" can deliver
"on any enemy who might at
tack us are the greatest destruc-
tive force that man has ever had
in his hands,
Can't Bomb Wrong Place.
On bombing beyond North Ko-
rea. Mr.. Finletter said:
THE decision of 1850 to limit
bombing to North Korea is, be-
lieve, right. There is no point in
bombing the wrong place. The
real source of Chinese Communist
strength in airplanes. guns. tanks,
ammunition and other war ma
terlel is not in China. =.
II doubt if the Chinese Com
munists will challenge our air
superiority over our own lines un-
less and until they receive the
new Russian twin-engine jet light
bomber. of which the IL-28 has
been publicly announced as type,
for this plane has the range -
which the MIG has MOTTO fly
from bases in China and fight
long time over our United Nations
lines and even deeper south.
Reds Could Withdraw.
''The trouble with this is that
II we did bomb the Yalu, the Com
munists would just move far
ther back and we wouldn't be any
better off. In fact. we would be
worse off because we would have
to fly farther than we do now
to hit our target.
But the basic point isn't that.
It is that once we start bombing
over the Yalu we will not only
lose our own sanctuary (the Com
munists have not bombed our
lines or rear areas but we almost
certainly would extend the war to
all of China.
This, 1 have said, would be
bombing the wrong place. 1t also
would run a sharp risk of lead
ing an exasperated world into all
out war;