Evening star., 1961-07-26
Berlin: No Surrender

SOleIlH ana, we CnOugnC, some
what harasSed President summed 1t up
In these words: 1--WE seek peace-but
we shall not surrender. That Is the
central meaning Of this criSis-and the
meaning Of your Governments policy"
Last nights words and the deeds
which will follow them should leave
no room for miScalculation in the
Kremlin. For Mr. Kennedy made one
thing entirely clear-if the Russians
force the issue we will fight for West
Berlin. Tied to this firm warning, how
ever, was renewed offer to negotiate
If there is a basis for good-faith
discussions. eve are willing" said Mr.
Kennedy, "to consider any arrangement
or treaty in Germany consistent with the
maintenance Of peace and freedom, and
with the legitimate security interests of
all nations"
The import Of this is that the
decision as between war and peace rests
with Mr.. Khrushchev. It is to be expected
that he will go through with his threat
to sign separate peace treaty with East
Germany. Should this be followed, how
ever, by action to cut the supply routes
to West Berlin, action which would
bring, in time, the collapse Of that free
community, we will fight to maintain
our right Of access to the isolated CITY,
Furthermore, there is little prospect
that such military action could be kept
within the bounds of So-called limited
war. Western ground forces, some 81
divisions of NATO, are greatly outnum-
bered by the Communist divisions
perhaps as many as 88 in Eastern
Europe, with some 40 more Soviet divi-
sionS standing by in Russia west Of the
Urals. Nor can the additional manpower
which Mr.. Kennedy will call up now
materially alter the balance. This means
that fighting, once under way, could
quickly expand into thermometer war
the kind of war which, as Mr. Kennedy
said, "could rain more devastation in
several hours than has been wrought in
all the wars of human history" Con-
Seuuently, one must fervently hope that
there will be no miScalculation by either
side, and, most specifically, that Mr..
Khrushchev will not misjudge the de-
termination of the West to defend
Berlin.
In the face of the Soviet leaders
threatful attitude, however, we are left
with no alternative except to begin to
prepare for the worst. For the imme-
diate future, Mr.. Kennedy proposes to
add 217,000 men to our armed forces
through a variety of means-including
doubled and tripled" draft calls. This
rise in manpower will be supplemented
by more spending on modern conven-
tional weapons plus retention in service
or reactivation Of planes and ships
scheduled for retirement. The cost, in
Guiding some new money for civil de-
fense, will be $3.5 billion. In short, the
total increase in defense spending since
January will be Sc billion, the defense
budget goes up to $475 billion, and the
prospective deficit for this fiscal year
will be over IS billion.
If all this serves to discourage Mr..
Khrushchev from pulling the trigger it
will have been money and effort well
invested. But there should be no illu-
sions. Even the limited preparatory
measures outlined by the President will
be felt by all Americans, especially those
WIlOSC CdIccIS d4lu 4dA1A4Ay AfCo WALL NC
disrupted. And this may be only the
beginning, for Mr.. Kennedy made it
clear that he will not hesitate to ask
for more If the situation takes turn
for the worse. Finally, this is not a
short-range measure. 1t is evident that
the intention is to build up American
armed power and to maintain it at
higher level for the indefinite future.
The added load may have to be borne
for many years.
In this situation, it seems to us that
at least two things are imperative. Our
allies must assume their full share of
the effort, despite the obvious reluctance
of some to do so. And the Kennedy
administration as we'll as the American
people must be willing to give up or
postpone expenditures on things which
are not essential. True, Mr.. Kennedy
said last night that we must keep down
all spending mot thoroughly justified
in budget requests" He seems to think,
however, that everything for which he
has asked since taking Office is justified,
and he offers the easy assurance that
1--WE can afford all these efforts" We
disagree AS this Nation begins to pre-
pare for the danger of war, it should
be willing to cut back on those things
which are not essential to this prepa-
ration. The more abundant life has
great political appeal, but its mainte-