Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-04-07
A Fist-Not q Finqer

Dulles has said to the House Foreign Affairs
Committee that our Government, taking the
gravest view of the situation, has made up its
mind to go to great and decidedly risky lengths
to save Indo-China from being dragged behind
the Iron Curtain
To that end, referring to "ominous' evil
dence that the Chinese Communists are "com-
ing awfully close" to open and large-scale agrees
sion against that country Mr.. Dulles has
solemnly re-emphaszed both his own and the
Presidents past warnings on the subject
namely, that any such aggression would result
in grave consequences which might not be
confined to Indo-China," but might lead to
retaliatory counterblows against China itself
Further, through State Department an
nouncement, it has been revealed that our
Government has consulted on the situation with
Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand, the
Philippines and Thailand. The consultation,
which presumably is continuing, undoubtedly
has been initiated in an effort to organize the
program of united action" that Mr.. Dulles has
advocated to cope with the threat Of further
Peiping Moscow advances in Southeast Asia
Moreover, although he has deprecated" the
suggestion that attempts to achieve such action
might fail, the Secretary has not ruled out the
possibility that certain circumstances and con-
ditions could impel our country to go it alone
with major military force, against Red agrees
sion in Indo-China.
All this, quite obviously, is profoundly sig
nif1cant and portentouS and it can be explained
only by the fact that the highest councils of
our Government are convinced that the fall of
Indo-China would be pregnant with disaster for
us-politically, economically and militarily. The
reasoning involved here is based on number
of factors. To begin with, this far-away land
would in itself be of tremendous value to the
Red totalitarians as one of Asia's great rice
bowls and place rich in industrial raw ma
terials. But its chief Importance, its overriding
Importance, rests in its geography. For it is
the strategic gateway to a vast complex of
peoples and nations whose weight in the global
balance of power is so crucial that it virtually
defes exaggeration. Plainly enough, to let the
Peiping- Moscow Communists win this country
would be to give them the key to the whole of
Southeast Asia-a key that would place within
their reach these things, among others: Sc per
cent of the worlds tin 80 per cent of the worlds
natural rubber, two-thirdS of the worlds ex-
portable rice, and a huge and growing per-
centage of the worlds oil, tungsten and similar
products vital to our own American economy.
But that is not all. More important still, as
our Government sees it, is the political and
military fact that if China were lost to the
Communist empire, Thailand. Burma and
Malaga would be ripe for similar conquest And
after that in due course, the rich islands of
Indonesia would be in line for sovietization, and
Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines
would become acutely vulnerable to Subversion,
attack and absorption by the Red totalitarians.
And the same holds true for Pakistan, India
and Japan. In sum- the advent of such stua-
ton would have a fearful impact on our own
national security, and that is why President
be an event of most terrible significance to the
United States of America.
That is why, too, Mr.. Dulles has spoken out
as he has. acknowledging that our present
American course might involve serious risks, but
emphasizing at the same time that they "are
far less than those that will face us few years
from now if we dare not be resolute today"
Many of us-poSsbly majority-may have
little faith at the moment in the efficacy of
the vague kind of united action" he has called
for, and it may seem fantastic to admit the
possibility that our country might have to act
"alone" to stop the Communists in Southeast
that the loss of Indo-China could be catas-
trophic for U.S.
Accordingly, the Peiping- Moscow Cocoon
spirators would be we'll advised not to misjudge
the current temper of American public opinion,
however divided or uncertain it may seem to
be right now on this subject. For the United
States Government has shaken a warning fist
against further aggression in Asia, and If the
aggression comes despite that, our country
iudgine from it's past reaction to such events