Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-10-16
French Military Defiance
Held Threat to Republic

Z - =
Continued From first Page
could have the most serious
consequences.
At the same time, there has
been 4 sudden revival Of scarce
talk about the possibility Of
strong -arm political action from
the right. Although these rumors
are understandably dffIicult to
pin down, the political basis for
such q move certainly exists.
The tradition Of opposition to
the government by top military
leaders founded BY Gen. Charles
de Gaulle has been carried on by
his followers in the National AS
semhly. These men. protested
advocates Of q strong executive.
have IN practice lost no oppor-
tunity to undermine the author
tty Of successive French govern
uaents.
II la 80
II the army itself, the tradi-
ton is personified BY Frances
ranking military ofiicer, Marshal
Alphonse JUN. The Marshal's
contempt for his civilian supe-
riOrs In the government Is open
and notorious. on one occasion.
he bluntiy disoheyed an order
Of the then Premier Laniel to
report TO him after he had pub
licly attacked the proposed Eu-
ropean Defense Community.
More recently, he has actively
sought to obstruct Premier
Faure's policy il North Africa.
Defy Civilian Authority
Other top military leaders have
shown themselves more loyal to
Marshal JUN than to their teila-
porary civilian bosses. When Mr..
Faure summoned d Moroccan
general named Kettani ben
Harmon to accept d key role
Iii his Moroccan reform plan,
Gen. Kettani consulted his friend
Marshal JUN and turned down
the offer. Mr.. Faure's arst civil
ian resident general Id Morocco.
Gilbert Grandval. was sabotaged
nv the military officers on whom
he had to depend. His successor,
Gen. Boyer de Latour. has so
far failed conspicuously to carry
out the orders Of the premier.
None Of these gentlemen is
worried about his tlnnlilitary dis
obedience. The simple fact Is
that II Il came to . showdown,
no military tribunal could be
found to convict them. And no
civilian tribunal would have au-
thority to make q decision stick.
In the course Of g recent de-
bate In the Assembly. 1 deputy
asked II 1t were true that one
regional civilian administrator
and q general in Morocco had
refused to obey orders received
from Paris.
Mot just one. fortunately, but
everyone /" retorted Gen. de Mon-
sabert, Gaullist deputy from the.
Pyrenees.
In that case. how can you
expect the young people to obey
orders?" another deputy wanted
to know.
The question Is pertinent. The
trouble is that disohedience and
indiscipline Is infectious. On
every level Of society, contempt
for the authority OF the French
government is insidiously trans
forming itself into contempt for
the authority Of the state.
For their part. the young peo-
pie have shown themselves very
susceptible to the infection. The
North African crisis has forced
the government to recaf some
$1,000 former draftees linen who
have completed their normal Ia
month period Of military service)
to the colors. II has also had 10
extend the normal period OF
shout los, 900 others. Like all
cases OF partial mobilization. the
process has caused plenty OF
headaches.
Conscript Protests Mount
AS always. there have been
many cases OF individual hard
ship and Acknowledgement and
an unlimited volume Of protest.
The great majority OF the re-
called soldiers complain that
they have been taken away from
the homes and jobs to twiddle
their thumbs in metropolitan
barracks. Others have objected
far more vigorously when they
were sent to the lighting front
In North Africa. The pattern Il
hardly universal. Certain iinitz
Of '.rappeIes" have already dis
tineuished themselves in action.
But in general, the state Of
morale Of this recalled civilian
army is deplorable. And q series
Of incidents have taken place
which should make the most
carefree politician stop and
think.
In each case. the trouble has
been pinned on q relatively few
ringleaders and bad leadership
on the part Of officers. It i
estimated that one out Of five
draftees IN the France Army are
Communists or Communist SYM
pathizers. They have made an
easy target for r1l.flrla oaY,fia uafl1-