Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-12-20
Let's Be Honest

Dr. Albert Schweitzer is an old Afri-
can hand, and is much respected in some
circles But we do not suppose that any
Of the smash TShombe" people will be
impressed by his suggestion that the
United States and the United Nations
should abandon their effort to crush
Katanga. In this Congo business, how
ever, we should at least try to be honest
with ourselves.
On December 8, 1861, Secretary of
State Dean RuSk said that the United
Nations does not intend Ito conquer Ka-
tanga or to impose particular political
solution" Five days later, Acting Sec
Rotary Of State Ball had this so say: 1.-THE
U. N. has made it clear time and again
that its purpose is not to crush the Ka-
tanga forces militarily or to impose a
political solution by force"
What are we reading now? The
United States, we are told in dispatch
from the United Nations, has decided
to throw its full logiStic Support-be-
sides sending a special military mission
- to the Congo-behind Mr.. U Thant'S eff
fort to crush the rebellion" of Katanga
President Noise Tshombe. There is even
talk of putting American fighter planes
into this effort.
But what is this rebellion" which
Mr.. U Thant wants to crush? Last week
Mr.. Tshombe proposed a new formula
for dividing Katanga's revenues with
Premier Adoula's central government in
Leopoldville. There has been no response
from Mr.. Adoula. According to Senator
Dodd, Democrat Of Connecticut, Mr..
TShombe has shown more than a little
readiness to accept the essentials of Mr..
U. Thant'S eight-point plan for fed
Grafton or confederation in the Congo
But what about Mr. Adoula? When will
he submit the proposed constitution to
his own Parliament, which may very we'll
reject 1t? When will he announce the
general amnesty, which would at least
give Mr.. TShombe and his aides some
protection from politically inspired muir
der charges? Why is the U. N. command
in the Congo winking at the central gov
ernments invasion Of Katanga2 And
why did Mr.. Adoula-not Mr. Tshombe-
repudiate the ceaSe-fire agreement
signed last October II under U. N. and
State Department auspices?
1t seems to us that the villain, or at
least the larger villain, in this piece is
Mr.. Adoula, not Mr.. TShombe. Yet all
the abuse, the propaganda guns and the
military threats are being brought to
bear on the latter. Why is this2
Some inspired reports have suggest
ed that the Russians will move in unless
Tshombe is brought to heel. But this is
an old and threadbare propaganda line
1t has been noised about, whenever con-
venient, since the Year l as far as the
Congo problem is concerned. For our
part, we don't believe 1t is to be taken
seriously.
Nevertheless, the threat Of force and
more force, with United States support,
is very much in the air. The plain in
tent is to impose, by military or eco
nomic coercion, political settlement on
Katanga despite what our State Depart
ment officials were saying year ago.
So let's be honest about the matter. II
we propose to embark on a course which
has no legal sanction from the U. NJ,
and which, in addition, is both danger
Gus and Of very dubious morality, the
real reasons for 1t should be spread upon
the record. Propaganda blasts against
Mr.. Tshombe are not enough to explain
or justify doing today the very thing
we were virtuously disclaiming any in
tention Of doing year ago.