Evening star., 1955-07-24

the nuclear age has become i'm
possible. But he was not at all
starry-eyed in his approach to the
disarmament question.
1--WE have not as yet been able to
discover any scientific or other in
spection method which would
make certain of the elimination of
nuclear weapons" he told the
Soviet, British and French chiefs
Of government a.. Our study of
this problem is continuing. We by
no means exclude the possibility of
finding useful checks in these
fields"
The President did see hope, how
ever. that the Soviet Union and
the United States could convince
the world that we are providing as
between ourselves against the pos
sibility Of great surprise attack"
His hope. as 1t has for months now
seemed to be the Soviet hope, is
to organize some sort of alarm sys-
tenn.
While this by no means would
eliminate the possibility of world
suicide in a big nuclear war, it
could reduce the risks significantly.
Only Beginning
Mr.. Eisenhower also carefully
avoided giving the impression that
his two suggestions, for exchanging
military blueprints and aerial re-
connaisSance, would even provide
a good alarm system. He said they
would be "but beginning"
He did recommend that the
United Nations subcommittee on
disarmament, of which all the Big
-Four are members, give priority
attention" to inspection and report
ing.
Earlier in the Thursday afternoon
session, Marshal Bulganin had re-
peated the Soviet disarmament
plan. first unveiled last May 10.
1t, too, included provisions for an
inspection and alarm system, but
had enough jokers to make the
State Department dubious of the
f66QS luCeQClOQS.
1t was perhaps significant that
Moscow radio and Tass News
Agency informed the Russian peo-
pie of President Eisenhower pro-
posal for aerial inspection and ex-
change Of military blueprints.
But the Soviet delegation gave no
indication before the conference
ended on its reaction to the idea.
The final Big -Four statement mere
ly noted that all proposals made at
Geneva would be turned over to
the U. N. disarmament commission.
The idea of aerial reconnaissance
Is not new, however. 1t was first
proposed by the Truman admins
tration, but then as a project for
U. N.-sponsored flyers, not Ameri-
can and Soviet airmen.
What could the United States see
If the Soviet Union were to accept
Mr.. Eisenhower's aerial inspection
offer?
Broadly speaking, America has
more to gain than the Kremlin. For
Moscow already knows most of
what there is to know about United
States military installations be-
cause this is an open country.
Value Of Air Surveys
While there is a limit to what
aerial photography can see-and
the aerial Photographic mapping
job of Soviet Russia's far-flung
domains would probably take years,
rather than months-a remarkable
lot of information can be cleaned
from such operations. German W.
rockets were first discovered by
aerial reconnaissance in World
War II.
Using Sd color photography and
experts in nuclear installations,
military production and other stra-
tegic fields. United States aerial
reconnaissance officials have great
ly improved their techniques since
1945. Camouflage, for instance,
has been all but eliminated by new
film. A technique Of aerial survey
ing and mapping has been devel-
oped in which contour lines can
be charted within an error margin
of only 5 feet.
Effective aerial reconnaissance,
Of course, involves more than one
fight over an area. Soviet centers
Of activity (and American) would
have to be kept under constant
surveillance for the inspection to
be effective.
One possibility that worries some
military authorities is that the So
Wet Union could simulate prepara-
tions for a real war by conducting
maneuvers. and thus keep Ameri-
can Strategic Air Command nu-