Evening star., 1954-05-30
Critics Of Eisenhower
Declared IIInutured'
Writer Says President Merits
Support in World Crisis
By Eronk R. Kent

BY Fronk R. Kent
At no other time in the history Of this
country have foreign policies been so
dificult to deal with or the conse-
quences Of mistakes so potentially
disastrous. Even superficial knowl-
edge Of the complications in the Far
East. in Europe and in Guatemala
makes this clear. When are added
apparent inability to achieve any
agreement with Russia tending to-
ward peace plus the somewhat dan
gerouS state of our domestic economy
it does seem that the gravity Of the
burdens imposed upon the President
and his Secretary of State are such as
to command the sympathy and sup
port, Of all citizens of good will re-
gardless of politics.
If these men were feeble and in
competent it would be pretty awful,
but still they would be entitled to
support so long as they were going
in the right direction and the situa-
tion so critical But when they are
concededly strong, able and deeply
patriotic certainly there seems no ex-
cuse for efforts to tear them down and
! increase their troubles. Yet, exactly
that appears to be happening. From
all quarters the hostile sharpshooters
pour in their critical fire. Some Of
this is well intended but q great deal
Of it is illnatured and ignorant.
comes from Democratic sources. A lot
comes from men who do not-and
cannot-have anything like the in
formation or experience of existing
foreign problems possessed by MIR.
Eisenhower and Mr.. Dulles. And, Of
course. they have no responsibility
at all. However. those facts do not
prevent them from pointing out the
shocking blunderS" of the State De-
partment and deploring the lack Of
knowledge and discernment' dis
played by the President. We do not,
it is declared, understand Britain,
France, China. China or Ger
many. We have made colossal errors"
in dealing with all these and 1t is
doubtful now whether we can correct
them.
There are several things to be said
about these critics: "a They obviously
are not equipped with all the facts
which White House and State Depart
ment have; (2) they are not free from
personal prejudice and partisan feel
ing; 80 they resent not being called
into the Inner circle" and their ad-
vice asked. All these critics do not
agree. Some blame the administration
for not doing one thing; some another.
Occasionally, one of these foreign
policy experts will disagree not only
with the Others but with himself. 1t
is worth noting that one of the most
active of these critics is Walter
Reuther of the CIO, who periodically
points out the administrators mis-
takes" and finds no virtue in it at all
which is easy to understand. An
other is Arthur Schlesinger, jr.. speech
writer for the glib Mr.. Stevenson and
head of the ADA.
How much attention Mr.. Eisenhower
and Mr.. Dulles pay to these acid and
often violent attacks is not known.
Certainly, they are aware Of them and
certainly they do not make life easier.
1t can hardly be pleasant to wake up
every morning and read articles tell
ing how inexcusably stupid you have
been and exactly what you should
have done. by persons infinitely less
we'll informed and equipped with
neither responsibility nor authority.
That can be exceedingly irritating
but it can be stood-and it is part
of the job of high public Office. What
is much harder to take calmly in times
such as these is the vast harm which
uninformed. partisan and prejudiced
criticism of American foreign policy
does to our position abroad--when
made by American writer's and politi-
clans. Recently. a journalistic custom
has become established which, in effect,
could hardly be more deleterious to our
relations with our allies if it had been
conceived by the Russians themselves.
Certainly. it must please them i'm
mensely. This is the habit of foreign
press correspondents in this country
cabling over to their home papers
the gist of such domestic criticism as is
outlined above. When this appears in
upon by American correspondents in
London and cabled back as a reflec-
ton of British sentiment.
OF course. this would be matter
of general mirth if it's effects were not
serious. But they are. They stimulate
anti-American feeling over there and
anti-British feeling over here. So,
when real differences over policy arise
they become magnifled all out OF pro-
portion The basic fact that between
the British and ourselves there exist
unbreakable bonds Of friendship is for
gotten. real rift between us is as
unthinkable as that either could en-
gage in a war that did not bring the
other in as an ally. The recent bicker-
ing that has been going on is unreal
and foolish. 1t has been stimulated by
the attacks here on American foreign
policy and by the journalistic ex-
changes above noted. The world crisis
is too great and the possibilities too
awful for this kind of thing now. 1t
would be a sound idea to stop it.