Evening star., 1954-05-02

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new and painful war-posSibly the
prelude to the much-dreaded
World War III-but John @. Public
couldn't care less.
BY the week end the crisis had
subsided momentarily and the
President was able to give report
erS a reassuring statement about
the Indo- China situation. But
none of the issues that produced
the crisis had been solved. The
moment for decision had merely
been put of.
John Q. spent most Of the week
In front of the televiSion set, where
he saw the United States Army
locked in battle with q United
States Senator over one of the
Army's own buck privates.
The public was aware of the
opening Monday of the Geneva
Conference on Far Eastern affairs,
but the on-stage activity there was
old stuff. Communists and anti
Communists merely repeated old
hat schemes for unifying Korea,
schemes whose hopelesSneGS had
been demonstrated by the long
years they had gathered dust.
The off-stage activity in Geneva
and its environS seemed fevOFish
and probably was interesting, but
1t was too confusing to produce
any clear Impressions.
Only the men in the stock mar
ket seemed acutely aware Of the
gravity of the Indo-C China situa-
tion. Buyers tumbled over each
other in the New York exchange,
the Associated Press reported, to
shoot the market to its highest
levels in "a years. Steel, oil, au-
tomotive and electric stocks led
the way.
Fronce Turned Down
Last week end France pushed
the panic button over the grim
outlook at Diem Bien Phu. She
asked that American carriers
standing by off Indo-C China send
their planes into action against the
Wet Mini besiegers of the shrink
ing bastion in northwestern Wet
Nam.
The British were asked for direct
help too. Anthony Eden rushed
back to London for an extraor-
dinary Sunday session Of the Brit
ish cabinet. Admiral Radford,
chairman of the United States
Joint Chiefs OF Staff, made a
hurried trip to Europe.
After much soul-searching, both
the United States and Britain re-
fused. Prime Minister Churchill
was cheered from both sides Of the
aisle when he announced his gov
ernment'S position Tuesday. He
reiterated the British decision to
await the results of Geneva delib-
erations before taking any new
action In Indo- China.
Secretary Of State Dulles made
no explanation Of the United
States refusal but his position
seemed clear enough. He had made
a special trip to London and Paris
early last month, asking for inn
mediate united action in Indo-
China. Both London and Paris
had turned him down. They
thought it would prejudice the
allied position at Geneva and fore
close any possibility Of getting a
truce.
Now Secretary Dulles was putting
the pressure on for his united
action policy. He knew any uni
lateral move would be hard to sell
at home, If not impossible. In
addition there was the not-incon-
siderable point that 1t would be
misunderstood and deliberately
misinterpreted abroad.
In her hour of dire need, France
must have found the differentia-
ton between United States help
under an international banner and
under the Stars and Stripes a fat
uous distinction, especially after
the loud, tough talk and H-bomb
rattling that had preceded it. But
all there was left for France to do
except internationalize the war
was to grit her teeth and hold
on as best she could at Diem Bien
Phu.
For a consolation prize, the
United States turned over another
of. its battered aircraft carriers to
the French, who manned it and
sent pilots aboard to take her 20
odd Navy fighters over Diem Bien
Phu with napalm and explosives
for the Wet Mini.
Meanwhile, Gen. Christian de
CastrieS and his 5000 or more able
bodied Wet Namese and French
Union defenders continued to hold
out in their shrinking stronghold,
oblivious of the faint hearts in
Washington and Paris who have
been counting them out for the
past fortnight. The rains came in
buckets last week, and there is
some hope that eventually the
Reds ammunition trucks and
supply trains will be begged down
In the quagmire, or washed away
with the roads.