Evening star., 1954-09-14
Europeans Out Focus on Views ofU. S,
To the Editor Of The Star:

10 the Eoirof or ne Star:
THE ARTICLE entitled Europe
= Fears U. S. will Blunder !" by Harry
F. Byrd. jr.. published in The Star Of
September 4. illustrates perfectly the
remarkable weakness and incapacity of
Americans travelling In Europe, with
respect to their potential and natural
role as propagardists for the United
States. Mr.. Byrd reports instances Of
comment and argument by Europeans
he met that We're hostile toward the
United States or that tended to create
and justify neutralist position on the
part of the West European countries as
between the United States and the
Soviet Union. 1t is possible that Mr..
Byrd did indulge in occasional Snappy
comebacks in conversations as against
the neutralist and pro-Russian propa-
ganda which he heard while in Europe
But his article does not refer to any
such efforts on his, part to correct false
views already prevalent and appar-
emily tending to spread.
A Communist travelling in Western
Europe would in most cases be an ac-
tive propagandist for the Soviet Union,
and how he would rejoice to have some
true information or, for novelty, some
sound arguments that would help his
cause! But citizen of the United
States of the type of Mr.. Byrd when
travelling in Europe seems to act on
the belief that the highest wisdom is
to take the role OF passive wax tablet
so as to record from Europeans what
ever they may say that is harmful to
the United States, however unreason-
able or untrue in fact it may be, and
then broadcast this adverse propaganda
at second hand in the United States.
Take for example the statements Mr.
Byrd quotes as representative of opin-
ion in Rome, Italy. Mr.. Byrd states:
In Rome one hears talk like this.
We have been invaded by the Ger
mans, the British, the French, the
Americans-by every great power at one
time or another except the Russians.
Yet you expect us to fear the one coun-
try that never has attacked u.s."
Now this statement is so OBVIOUSLY
fallacious inference from ambiguous
and partly false premises of fact that
1t would have been complete push
over as matter of rational discussion
If any one had the patriotic impulse to
refute it. In the first place. it is not
strictly true that Russia never invaded
Italy. Northern Italy was traverSed by
many thousands of Russian troops to-
ward the close of the Napoleonic wars in
1913 and 1914. These Russian soldiers
lived off the country and INDUCED in
widespread pillage. The well-known,
Italian-made film on the life of the
great music composer, Giuseppe Verdi.
depicts the action of Verdi's mother in
taking refuge in lofty church steeple
with her gifted child and remaining
there several days to escape the per-
sonal harm believed to be threatened
by the ravages of these hostile invading
Russian troops
More to the point is the fact that
Russia and Italy have long range con-
f1icts of interest in the Mediterranean.
This has been illustrated by the partic-
lpation OF Piedmont, the nucleus of the
modern Italian state, under the leader
ship of Cavour and the royal House of
Savoy, in the Crimean War along with
France and England against Russia in
the 18th century. Thus Italy has
invaded Russia And Russia may some
day reciprocate because of this secular
cOnIllct OF interest. - s.
The United States has no such long
standing conflict of interests with Italy.
At the present juncture, the factor
that forestalls any immediate threat
OF Russian military action against
Italy is the emergence of Titoism in
Yugoslavia. a development that is en-
tirely accidental from the standpoint
OF the basic Russo Italian relation
ships. Tito's Yugoslavia is a project
ing bulwark to Italy as regards any
Russian military movement. It is pos
sible that the common dislike for Tito's
regime, and indeed for Yugoslavia, on
the part of both the Italian govern
ment and the government of the
Soviet Union, has rendered many
Italians blind to the ultimate danger
the Adriatic where communism of diff
ferent sorts already appears both in
Yugoslavia and Albania.
The most serious fallacy, however,
in the apocryphal Italian statement
that Mr.. Byrd quotes is that it
takes no accounting of what was the
nature and purpose of the invasion"
of Italy by the Americans. The in
nuendo is that the American invasion"
indicated, and perhaps even demon
strated conclusively the dangerous and
unfriendly role of the United States
toward Italy at the present time.
But how could any intelligent Italian
in Rome or elsewhere draw such a
fallacious inference from any possible
version Of the real facts2 Our military
action in Italy in World War II was
dictated by purely military considera-
tions. The Italian government of that
time had deliberately entered the
maelstrom of Hitler's continental wars.
by declaring war late in the spring of
1910 against France just at the time
when France was already sinking under
the terrible blows of Hitlers war ma
chine. President Roosevelt truthfully
characterized this action of Mussolini's
government as a "stab in the back"
of France at the moment of Frances
great extremity. Mussolini's govern