Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-09-02
Suez and the Will to Peace

When 1t meets in Cairo tomorrow
with Egyptian President Nasser, the
ave-power Suez committee will begin an
extremely difficult negotiating task.
Whether it will succeed or not Is any
body's guess All one can be sure of at
the moment is that it will be dealing
with dangerous situation that could
lead to war in the Middle East unless
reason prevails over conflicting passions
and ways are found to work out peace
full agreement
The committee, as organized at the
recent London conference on Suez, is
made up of representatives of Australia,
Ethiopia, Iran. Sweden and the United
States. The initial move of these five
will be to place before Colonel NaSSer
the American-sponsored 18-nation ma
jority plan for establishing an interna-
tional board to operate the canal in asSo-
citation with the United Nations. In effect,
although assigning large role to Egypt
on the board, and although amply pro-
tecting that country's sovereignty and
economic interests, the plan would deny
absolute control to Cairo and set up
dependable guarantees inSuring France,
Britain and other major users of the
waterway against possible trouble-now
or in the future-in sending their ships
through.
Colonel NaSser has already indicated
that he is fatty opposed to any such plan.
What he wants, apparently, is something
like the minority proposal Of the %
nation London meeting. This proposal,
as put forward by India with the con-
currence of IndoneSia, Ceylon and Russia,
would place Cairo in complete control
of the Suez Canal, subject only to an
international advisory" agency-an ar
rangement regarded as untruStworthy by
the majority. Accordingly, judging from
present appearances at least, the five
power committee is faced with problem
of the first magnitude in trying to recon-
cile these opposing ideas through COM
promise satisfactory to all parties con-
cerned. And the problem has been made
more difficult still by Anglo-French mill
tary moves and the Kremlin'S seeming
determination to poison the air with
enlargement propaganda.
AS for our official American view,
President Eisenhower has emphasized at
his latest news conference that the Suez
Canal is already "internationalized" in the
sense that many nations have perpetual
treaty rights to use it and that Egypt
cannot legally jeopardize those rights.
But at the same time, while expressing
himself as very hopeful" that the major
ity plan will be accepted, he has plainly
implied that he does not see eye to eye
with those who would Immediately resort
to armed force in case Cairo rejects a
sound compromise. AS he has put it, the
United States is committed to peace
full settlement of this dispute, nothing
else," and he has made clear that it will
keep on doing everything possible to bring
about such a settlement regardless of
SetbackS or obstacles.
This is right and proper position.
Indeed, if similar position were held by
all the other nations on both sides of the
critical Suez controversy, the world could
confidently look forward to good results
from the impending talks in Cairo. To
say this is perhaps to give voice to
pious generality, but still the fact remains
that unless everybody involved shows a
will to peace in the present situation, the
drift to war may become perilously swift.