Evening star., 1954-04-17
America and the EDC

sage to the Prime Ministers Of the six nations
involved has set forth assurances that should
help to speed up ratification of the European
Defense Community treaty. Certainly, coupled
with Britains strong commitment to associate
itself closely with the project, they are assur-
ances Of such firm American support and CO.
operation that it is difficult to see how there
can be any real justification for further delay
in making the EDO an operating reality.
OF the six signatories, four-West Germany,
Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg
have already ratified the treaty. But France
and Italy have thus far heSitated to put the
issue to a parliamentary vote. The Laniel
government in Paris and the Scelba govern
ment in Rome are pro-EDC, but they must deal
with legislatures in which there is no certainty
Of majority support for the project. Powerful
opposition elements especially in the French
National Assembly-have resorted to emotional
arguments against it and have played upon
number of public fears, including the fear that
Anglo American forces might be withdrawn
from Europe after organization of the Defense
Community and the fear that the whole enter
prise might lead to a rebirth of aggressive
German militariSm.
Like the British commitment, the Presi-
dents message Is document designed to put
to rest all such fears. To that end, 1t makes
clear among other things, Cd that the United
States will maintain "appropriate' military
strength In Europe as long as Western security
is threatened; (2) that our policy in that
respect will abide faithfully by the obligations
America has assumed as a member of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization obligations
that will remain in effect for period of long
duration, indefinitely; 60 that possible changes
in the size or composition of our forces over
there will be subject to interallied consulta-
tion; a. that those forces will be closely inte-
grated with those of the other NATO powers,
including the EDC's projected six-nation supra
national army; (5) that steps will be taken to
increase the effectiveness of the common de-
tense by sharing with our allies certain of our
now-secret data on atomic hydrogen weapons;
and (6) that our country will regard as a
menace to itself "any action from whatever
quarter" that menaces the integrity or unity"
of the EDO.
In effect, in thus affirming that the United
States would react vigorously against external
or internal threats to the European Defense
Community. the President has offered guar
antee of a kind that ought to calm those
Frenchmen who have professed to be afraid
that West Germany once rearmed within the
EDCs framework, might in time revert to
brand of Hitlerism and seek to dominate or
shatter the six-nation organization. Beyond
that, with his other assurances, General Eisen-
hover has effectively knocked down irresponsi-
BILE talk about how American forces might in
the not-too-d distant future be pulled back home.
Actually as he has emphasized, our country is
committed to the North Atlantic Treaty for the
sake Of its own as well as allied security, and
that is why it is anxious to promote and sup
port the NATO Strengthening EDO.
All this taken together with the British
pledges, should be well weighed by the French
National Assembly next month when it debates
the question of whether or not to ratify. If
the final vote is affirmative, a similar vote will
be virtually certain in Italy, and the free West
will then be in position to add notably to its
strength and unity. On the other hand if
emotion triunphs over reason in Paris, the
EDO will be dead And If that happens, as it
may, the NATO alliance will be affected in
way that could have grave policy repercussions,
especially here in our own country.