Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-11-26
On Withdrawing Forthwith


In terms of both consistency and
principle, our country has done the right
thing in voting with the overwhelming
majority of the United Nations in favor
of the ASian-African resolution calling
upon Britain, France and Israel to with
draw their troops from Egypt forthwith"
But we ought not to minimize the fact
that the resolution itself leaves much to
be desired and does little or nothing to
remove the many deep misgivings that
still persist regarding the crisis in the
Middle East.
Unhappily, in this fearSomely COM
plicated matter, we have once again
found ourselves aligned with the men of
the Kremlin against our two greatest and
Oldest allies. Britain and France have had
only the support of Israel, Australia and
New Zealand in opposing the General
AsSembly's latest move against them-a
move backed by formal vote of So to S.
They have had no support from us. In
stead, they have seen us counted with the
Soviet Union on the side opposed to them,
and this bitterly ironical fact-though
unavoidable-ca hardly fail to place an
additional strain on our severely damaged
Anglo rench-American relationships.
Of course, Britain and France are
primarily to blame for this. After all,
they did not consult with us about their
Egyptian adventure. On the contrary,
they prepared for it behind our backs and
embarked upon 1t despite our known OPP
position to, and our strong appeals
against, any such military expedition.
Nevertheless, with that said, it should be
kept in mind that both of these good and
historic friends Of ours-unlike the Soviet
Union in Hungary-have affirmed their
readiness, along with Israel, to cooperate
with the U. N. in withdrawing their forces
from Egypt and promoting peace in the
Middle East. At the same time, however,
they have conditioned their readiness on
qualifications that seem to them to be
wholly reasonable.
These qualifications are based on the
judgment that full withdrawal of
Anglo-French armed power should not
take place unless or until the United Ma
lions Emergency Force is large enough,
and competent enough, to do the fol-
lowing: (D To prevent renewed hostil-
tiles between Egypt and Israel, (2) to
insure clearance of the SueZ Canal and
freedom of navigation through it, and (3)
to support conditions of general stability
under which it might be possible to lay
the groundwork for a durable peace
settlement.
Ambassador Lodge, our chief dele
gate to the U. NJ, apparently is not
unSympathetic to this viewpoint. Al
though he has cast our country's vote in
favor of forthwith" withdrawal of
Anglo French Israeli forces, he has
plainly indicated that the American def
milton of forthwith" is predicated on the
assumption that the pull-out will be
''phaSed" with the arrival of u. N. police
forces adequate enough to handle the
tense situation and prevent dangerous
vacuum of power that the Kremlin might
rush in to FILL AS for reopening the Suez
for oil shipments, he has stated the case
this way: 1--WE do not agree that the
withdrawal of foreign forces should await
the clearance of the canal. At the same
time we do not believe that the beginning
OF the clearing process must await the
completion of the Withdrawals"
One must continue to wonder,
though, about Colonel NasSer's ideas on
the matter. In keeping with another
U. N. resolution, he seems to have agreed
to negotiate with Secretary General
Dag Hammarskjold on establishing SEN
Sible arrangements both for international
policing and for putting the Suez Canal
back into normal working order. That
may well be encouraging enough to war
rant the swiftest possible troop with
drawals in keeping with Mr.. Lodges view
that all parties concerned should Ego at
the Job with optimism and faith and not
insist that every T. be dotted and every
IT be crossed before we move" Still,
everything considered, the immediate
prospect would look better if there were
f1rmer assurances from Cairo at this
time