Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1952-02-08
OPERATION UNITY
Europe Wants War Goods Faster,
But Armament Is E enormous Job

If the fighting broke out tomorrow,
all Of the countries we visited,
France, Italy, Turkey, Greece, West
ern Germany, Yugoslavia and The
Netherlands, would give good &C.
counts of themselves with their
limited military establishments. Not
necessarily because of NATO ideals,
but surely to defend their own coun-
tries.
Unstable governments have him
dered arms production and held
down military training in some Of
these countries, Of that there can
be no doubt. France is usually
offered as Horrible Example No.
in the homeopathic sweepstakes.
Europeans like to say that the
Frenchmen are dragging their
feet" SHAPE leaders recognize
France as a special problem but
they do not share the dismal view
point of the French military effort
often attributed to that country by
other Europeans.
France is fighting man-sized
war in Indo China. Much of her
military strength is being diverted
to that sector and while some critics
will characterize this as a Colon
iaI' war rather than a struggle for
the freedom Of suppressed peoples,
the hard fact is that $4,000 of her
commissioned and non-commission-
ed officers are engaged on that bat
tie front.
Our military leaders think the
Frenchman will, and has the abil-
ity to put up good fight if called
upon. The French economy is rocky
and the government is shaky, but
when the chips fall, France is ex-
pected to do its part.
Italy can't do much about build
ing up her forces until she is re-
leased from the restrictions of the
World War II peace treaty.
Greece has just finished horrible
and bloody civil war against Com
munists and is ready to fight Com
munists again, if necessary. But
the Greeks too want peace.
Yugoslavia Will Fight
Yugoslavia will fight Russia if
necessary, but she won't fight COM
munism. This country is itself
communistic to the core. In fact,
the Jugs" claim a rather superior
kind of communism. A good tough
partner to have on your side but
certainly not partner to get en-
thusiastic about when you come to
consider idealism and an appeal
"to the hearts of men," 1t is still
a police state despite Tito's assur-
ances that he is opening the gates
to all types of inquiry and investi-
cation of his country's affairs.
Looking beyond the possibility of
immediate war, the people we
visited sense that their fate is
closely tied to ours. They believe
that the only language Russia
understands is power. They know
that the power Europe has to offset
Russia without American help is
not enough to deter the aggressor.
From this fact they conclude that
there can be no turning back in
present efforts to build up Western
forces. While. the 1851 goals for a
unified armed force were not met,
they agree with our SHAPE lead
ers, who contend that 1852 will be
a crucial year.
1t is upon us, and goals formerly
set for 1858 must be met in the next
IL months. This is the year in
which the strength of German in
dustrial production within the So
Wet zone will make itself felt in the
struggle for increased arms.
This too, is the year in which the
American people will decide how
much further they are able and will
ing to keep the arsenal running and
the checkbook open.