Evening star., 1955-06-26
Formula for Peace


Francisco meeting Of the United Nations,
Secretary Of State Dulles has corrected
Foreign Minister Molotov's upside-down
version Of history. At the same time, and
more important, he has served blunt no
tice on the Kremlin-in advance Of next
months projected Big Four summit"
conference.-the our country and its
allies, refusing to buy peace at any price,
have no intention Of diSmantling their
common defenses against the threat of
Red aggression.
AS far as history is concerned, Mr..
Dulles has effectively demolished Mr..
Molotov's bland portrayal-as presented
to the U. N. earlier last week-of
"peace-loving" Communist world busily
intent upon reducing tensions every
where. Actually, as the Secretary has
declared, If that world has grown more
reasonable, and If developments like the
Korean armistice and the Austrian treaty
have improved the international climate,
the primary credit for the change does
not belong to the Reds, who have gener-
ated trouble on every continent. It be-
longs instead to the resolute policy Of the
free nations in building up their arms
and standing firmly together to preserve
their way Of life-a policy that has played
a key role In inducing the Kremlin to
shift to an ostensibly softer line.
That is why Mr.. Dulles has empha-
sized, in answer to Mr.. Molotov's call for
the liquidation Of the free worlds most
vital defensive arrangements, that the
United States and its partners must con-
tinue to maintain and strengthen the
collective security they have achieved
with such undertakings as the North At
lantic Treaty Organization (including
West Germany and other alliances In all
the threatened sectors of the globe. The
Kremlin, in the context Of these danger
Gus times, asks for the moon when 1t asks
for the breakup Of these alliances. For
their existence is an absolute imperative
for us and our friends, and since they
conform to the U. N. Charter, and since
"they thwart no nation that does not
covet the land and peoples" over which
they stand guard, the Soviets can bring
no legitimate or acceptable complaint
against them.
Certainly the way to effect further
promote peace at this stage, is not
through insisting that the free world rem
der itself acutely vulnerable to Com
munist conquest. On the contrary, as
Mr.. Dulles has said, There is one ex-
tremely simple method of bringing an
end to what is called the cold war'-ob-
serve the Charter Of the United Nations;
refrain from the use of force or the threat
Of force in international relations and
from the support and direction of subver-
sion against the institutions Of other
countries" But obviously there still is
massive reason to doubt that the Moscow
Peiping axis is willing to accept and ad-
here to this formula, and the doubt now
has been intensjiled by the incident in
which Soviet jet fighters have just shot
down one of our Navy patrol planes over
the Bering Strait.
Indeed, unless unprecedented or the
act Of trigger-happy pilots, this incident,
coming at the present moment, raises
grave questions as to the worthwhileness
Of going ahead with the Big Four "sum-
nit" meeting. On that point, however,
Judgment must be held in reserve pend
ing careful factual determination of
whether or not Russia's leaders have any
valid excuse for the shooting. Mean
while, to repeat what Mr.. Dulles has in
dicated, the Geneva conference-assum-
ing that 1t will be held as scheduled-will
make no headway against the great and
dangerous problems of our time unless
the Kremlin is at last willing to live up
to its U. N. obligations. without that, a
true peace simply cannot be attained.