Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1961-10-18
No Happy Horbinqer

The inimitable Nikita KhruShchev
has put on one of his more striking
performances in opening the 22nd Con-
greSS of the Soviet Communist Party.
Speaking for we'll over hours a (the
very verbosity of the man tends to make
the mind reeD, he has won the worlds
top headlines with a characteristic
mixture of massive boasts, intimations
OF megalomania, occasional passages of
sweet reaSonableneSs, ugly threats and
a generally Orwellian, truth-upending
version Of past and present history, not
to mention the future.
Never, not even in Hitler's heyday,
has the technique of the Big Lie been
employed more brazenly, or with greater
aplomb. And the Soviet Premier has
put special emphasis on it allan
emphasis presumably meant to in
timidate the faint of heart throughout
the free world-with his announcement
that the USSR, on October 81, will set
off thermonuclear explosion equivalent
to so million tons of TINT. Everything
considered, therefore, his latest exer-
else in public speaking (even though
he has not thumped the lectern with his
shoe) can hardly be regarded as a
harbinger of happy times to come.
Even SO, although the full text of
his extraordinarily long winded remarks
has yet to be analysed by the experts,
there possibly may be some significance,
some promise of an easing or abatement
OF the Berlin crisis, in Mr.. KhruShchev's
latest comment on the matter. At any
rate, he has given the impression that
the Kremlin has retreated from its past
threat, repeatedly voiced since 1859, to
sign separate peace treaty" with it's
East German puppets before the year
ends. What he suggests now is that he
will defer such move for many weeks,
and perhaps months or longer, IF the
Western powers display readiness to
settle the German problem" in a way
that will be mutually acceptable"
On its face, this would seem to be
an encouraging modification of the
Soviet position. Unfortunately, how
ever, Mr.. Khrushchev appears to be still
intent upon ~ having all Anglo
French-American forces withdraw from
West Berlin and (2) converting it into
free demilitarized city" that would be
defenseleSS against step-by-step Com
munist take-over. But perhaps this
misinterpretS the actual meaning of his
words; If so, then further preliminary
Western discussions with the Russians,
through the channels of quiet diplomacy
may lead to effective negotiations for
mutually acceptable" agreement that
will be genuinely workable and trust
worthy.
Meanwhile, though, the general
tenor of the Soviet leaders speech (there
should be some better word for such an
Unfortunately protracted monologue)
offers little or no invitation to optimism
This Is so because, wholly apart from its
completely mendacious attack on the
West in general and the United States
in particular, it plainly indicates that
the Kremlin is committed to a sort of
everlasting cold war and to brinkman-
ship OF kind that could suddenly spell
fins for very large part of the human
race, including the Russians. Nothing
could better confirm these recent words
Of President Kennedy: 1--WE are destined,
all of us here today, to live out most, If
not all, of our lives in uncertainty,
challenge and peril"
In such harsh circumstances, what
needs to be made most emphatically
clear to Khrushchev and Company is
that the American people are prepared
even to the point of manufacturing the
deadlieSt weapons imaginable, beyond
mere megatons-of facing that kind of
future unwaveringly, standing fast in
defense Of honor, freedom and every
thing else in the priceless heritage of
Western civilization.