Evening star., 1957-12-23
A Way to Die-Or Live


OF all our NATO allies, Britain has
shown the most readiness with the pos
sible exception Of Turkey to arm itself
with American intermediate range bal
listic missiles and to prepare launching
sites Tor them In close cooperation with
the United States and the supreme COM
mand Of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization.
This policy, as set forth in the final
communique OF last weeks allied SUM
NIT" meeting in Paris, has been indorsed
IN principle" by every member Of NATO.
But the Endorsement, which recognizes
that our IRBMs cannot be delivered In
operational quantity for another year
or more, carries with 1t the qualification
that earnest efforts should be made in
the mean time to negotiate workable
eace-promoting agreements with the
Kremlin.
AS far as responsible British author
tiles are concerned. they agree with the
ofrcial American thesis that the missile
plan is defensive measure of vital i'm
portance to the safety Of every nation
belonging to the Atlantic alliance. They
feel this way because of alarming ad-
vances In Soviet rocketry and the threat
Iui nature OF what has come to be known
as the Kremlin's "Sputnik diplomacy"
Yet. In approving the IRBM program the
other day, the House OF Commons gave
the Macmillan government a majority
OF only SO votes, and the preceding
debate-notably the speeches of some
diSsident Conservatives and the Labor
ties led by Aneurin Bevan-refected the
deepest kind of misgivings among the
people of Britain.
The same holds true. but to an even
greater degree, for public opinion else
where In NATO. including particularly
Norway. Denmark and West Germany.
why? There are several factors involved.
one Is that the average man In the
street has not been unaffected by Mos
cows warnings. Another is that he
understands the terrible implications of
the new weapons and how they could
result in nothing but mutual annihila-
tion should there be total war. A third
Is that he is skeptical land similar skep-
ticism can be found right here in WASH
ngton) OF the deterrent value Of the
missile plan, especially since 1t would
require at least some measure OF in
terallied consultations time-conSum-
Ing process that might rule out the DOS
sibility OF effective retaliatory launchings
in the event Of Soviet attack that could
devastate Western Europe within a mat
ter OF minutes. And finally. fourth.
NATO's average man In the street still
harbors the hope-whether ill-founded
or not, whether wiShful or not-that the
Kremlin, II only for the sake of its own
survival, does not really want to unleash
nuclear hell and that the West should
therefore find 1t possible to negotiate an
enduring live-and-let-live understand
ing with the East.
Certainly, all things considered. this
Is not an unreasonable hope, and NATO
accordingly should spare no effort to
promote such meeting Of minds. Mean
while, Of course, we and our Atlantic
allies-thoSe ready and willing to estab-
liSh an IRBM defensive setup-must
strive for operating agreements that will
make that setup a genuinely effective
deterrent, not one subject to a crippling
sort of consultation.
True, since their record to date is
not conducive to optimism. the Atlantic
community can do little more than hope
that the men Of the Kremlin will yet
come to recognize present reality for
what 1t is-namely, that the way the
world is going, on both sides Of the Iron
Curtain, is not way to live, but way
to die, with nations lined up against
nations under arms capable Of wiping
out all life on. this planet.
Here we have the fearful makings
Of universal suicide. Paradoxically,
however. they can also be the makings
Of the brightest era in human history II
only East and West display enough wit
and wisdom to figure out how to live
together in truly trustworthy peace.