Battalion Editorials
Page 2
TUESDAY, MAY 8, 1951
YOUNG SOLDIERS DON’T FADE AWAY w; J f tv
. Weeds for Dinner
Efficient Security.
A DVOCATES of airpower are beginning to
. get more legislative support. Generals
MacArthur and Eisenhower have been de
scribed as the leading military proponents of
this form of security, and their opinions are
going to show up in the form of increased
appropriations.
The lessons of Korea have shown that
World War II planes are definitely on the
way out. Demand for new and faster jet
Jbombers has caused a change in the produc
tion methods for the Boeing 6 jet B-47. Cer
tain models will be frozen in “blocks” to make
specific numbers of a given type available.
Further modification and improvement will
then take place between these production
blocks or groups of planes.
It is becoming increasingly apparent that
the simple “git there fustest with the most-
est” axiom of warfare is still fundamental.
The virtually unlimited manpower of the
Communist world means that local super
iority can be gained at any chosen point of
aggression. To oppose Russia with relatively
immobile ground and §ea forces spread thinly
around the world is futile from the start.
Airpower, on the other hand, can quick
ly bring opposing force to bear on any area
chosen by the enemy. This can be in the form
of men, material, direct firepower, indirect
or strategic firepower, and the many types
of interdiction that isolate the area of enemy
operation.
Essentially, airpower means more “fight
ing power” of all kinds for each taxpayer’s
dollar. This efficiency may prevent the dire
consequences of a war of “economic attri
tion” which might result from a standing
army on a man-to-man basis.
9
Civilian Defense
Status Pitiful
/CIVILIAN defense is like military prepar-
^ edness--it is a complete success if it never
has to function. With modern radar warning
nets,! it is possible that our vulnerable cities
would have enough time to take precautions
that would greatly reduce casualties.
At present, however, a one hour warn
ing in most places would in itself cause
enough panic casualties to make a bomb
nothing more than an anti-climax. Our civ
ilian defense is pitifully inadequate.
According to General Marshall, we are
buying time for military preparedness by
sacrificing men in Korea. If we fail to use
this precious time for civil defense as well,
we are inviting complete disaster. A word
to the wise —.
Ex-POW’s Give
Tips on Survival
rnnCAGO, May 8—(A 5 )—A haml-
^ ful of sugar is a weapon for
sabotage, a clump of weeds is din
ner, a canteen a pressure cooker.
These are tips on survival for
the living dead of 1941-45, former
prisoners of war in Japan and
Germany.
Here are a few samples from
a booklet, “How to Survive in A
Prisoner Camp,” planned by the
American Ex-Prisoners of War,
Inc., now meeting in Chicago:
All meat is edible, regardless of
the kind of animal. And weeds and
tree bark have food value, too.
Sometimes, the trick is in the
preparation. A tin can makes a
good stove. A canteen is a pres
sure cooker—especially good for
cooking green things to prevent
precious vitamins from draining
off.
A little sugar ruins a gasoline
engine—a simple way to sabotage
enemy equipment.
A razor blade is a handy flint
when matches aren’t available.
A man can drink, cook and
wash with just a quart of water
a day—if he knows how. (The
ex-prisoners say the U.S. daily
average per person is 300 gal
lons.)
Double up, and live. One man
under one blanket may freeze in
cold weather, but two men under
two blankets stand a better chance.
Mac Can Clear Up
Korean Situation
Question for Pentagon
How Ready Is US if Russia
Chooses to Begin Big War?
AP
By ELTON C. FAY
Military Affairs Reparter
WASHINGTON, May 8—bP>—
” Out of Gen. Douglas MacAr-
thur’s exposition oh strategy there
emerged today this question for the
Joint Senate Committees to ask
the Pentagon high command:
How ready is the United States,
including the state of her atomic
weapon and bomber force prepared
ness, if Russia chooses war?
The Senate’s Foreign Relations
and Armed Services Committees
asked MacArthur about all the
facts of policy and strategy dif
ferences which finally led Presi
dent Truman to fire him, and the
Russian enigma appeared and re
appeared many times.
Then, late Saturday, near the
close of the general’s testimony,
the riddle came up again.
Senator McMahon (D-Conn) con
tended the MacArthur plan-block
ading China, putting aircraft over
Manchuria and using Chinese Na
tionalist troops—might bring Rus
sia into the war.
The general replied:
“As far as the initial state of
an attack is concerned, you must
understand that our own pre
paredness, atomic preparedness,
is far in excess of that of the
potential enemy at the present
time.
“Within hours after he launched,
we could counterattack. Every dis
astrous and gloomy orphecy that
you have made you can multiply
against the enemy.”
Will Pentagon strategy-makers,
Secretary of Defense Marshall and
the Joint Chiefs of Staff agree
with that view? The joint commit
tees were ready today to begin
hearing their ideas, leading off
with Marshall.
MacArthur testified that if he
had been permitted to bomb the
Chinese Communist forces as
sembling north of the Yalu River
in Manchuria they would not
have been able to advance into
Korea in any degree or force or
strength. Why wasn’t the per
mission forthcoming?
The formal reason given by Mr.
Truman in his April 11 speech to
the nation was that to bomb Man
churia and China itself would mean
a “very grave risk of starting
a general war.”
MacArthur contends the risk of
intervention by China or Russia
has always been present, from the
first day when the United States
stepped in to help the Republic of
South Korea.
Are there reasons other than
those specified by Mr. Truman?
It is quite possible the senators
may hear some.
The Battalion
Lawrence Sullivan Ross, Founder of Aggie Traditions
"Soldier, Statesman, Knightly Gentleman"
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Even if Russia did not openly
enter the conflict, some military
men Here say, there is a ques
tion whether the United States is
entirely ready to engage in full-
scale war against Manchurian
bases while countering attacks
by a Red air force “loaned” to
Communist China.
But what, the committees may
ask the Pentagon, was the reason
for the reluctance to allow Mac-
Arthur’s air force even to cut the
bridges across the Yalu River
from Manchuria, as MacArthur
says.
Senators may want from admin
istration officials a statement on
whether the U. S. has told the Uni
ted Nations it will bomb enemy
bases in Manchuria if the Commun
ists launch heavy air attacks on
UN forces in Korea. Reports about
this have persisted for months.
And what, exactly, did some of
the terms mean used in the Jan. 12
“study” which the Joint Chiefs
of Staff prepared for Secretary
Marshall and which MacArthur
said coincided with his own views?
Ohte of the recommendations in
that study was to remove re
strictions on “air reconnaissance”
of China coastal areas and Man
churia. Air reconnaissance is “a
directed effort in the field to
gather information of the enemy,
terrain, or resources,” according
to the military definition. It
does not mean attacking targets.
Applied to the JCS study, this
would mean that U. S. aircraft
would fly over China and Manchur
ia to see what the Communists
were doing to further the Korean
War, what preparations they might
be making, for new moves against
Southeast Asia or Chiang Kai-
Shek’s Formosa.
MacArthur appears also to be
proposing bombing attacks in Red
assembly areas and supply centers
in Manchuria.
The JCS paper, which MacAr-
fhur said he assumes was vetoed
by Marshall or Mr. Truman, also
proposed removing restrictions
on operations of Chiang’s Nation
alist forces now on Formosa and
providing supplies and equipment
to help them operate against the
Communists.
That, says MacArthur, is all he
wants to do.
Mr. Truman, said that “if we
were to do those things, we would
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flict on the continent of Asia.” He
referred to the proposals on bomb
ing and on use of Nationalist
troops.
Is this refusal to give Chiang
support for offensive, instead of
purely defensive power, dictated
only by over-caution and fear of
bringing Russia into the fray?
The Joint Chiefs may tell sena
tors there are other controlling
factors.
MacArthur estimates the Na
tionalist force on Formosa includes
“in the neighborhood of a half
million troops.” He says they are
excellent troops, but their equip
ment is “spotty,” that they lack
artillery, trucks, a “great many of
the modern refinements.”
Some Pentagon quarters argue
that the matter of supplying 500,-
000 men with heavy equipment
would be difficult for the U. S.
while it still has to provide mater
ial for fighting an active war in
Korea and building up its arma
ment for defense against an all-
out war by Russia.
/GENERAL MacArthur holds out
^to the American people an en
ticing prospect of being able to
clear the Korean war from the
hooks and so be in a better posi
tion to meet Communist aggression
wherever it occurs again.
The general is significantly sil
ent on what happens if his plan
should fail. He is so sure of his
own ideas he virtually refused to
consider questions about what
would happen if it didn’t work.
Seemingly secondary with the
general, but always in the back
ground, is his. belief that intensi
fied action against China would
not bring Russia into the war.
He also seems to think Russia
would not be much force in a far
eastern war if she did come in.
Yet MacArthur described how
the Russians trained the North
Koreans in Manchuria, passed this
real army through the North Ko
rean border patrol and attacked
South Korea. American intelligence
had known their actions but not
their intentions. Then the Chinese,
after MacArthur’s Inchon landing,
began massing their troops in Man
churia, but as MacArthur said, it
is very difficult to determine an
other power’s intentions, both with
regard to the North Koreans and
Chinese, the facts did not produce
an American decision to be pre
pared for the worst.
The North Koreans and the Chin
ese are now Russia’s front echelons
in Asia. Russia has between 250,000
and 500,000 troops in Manchuria
and Siberia. It’s a good bet that
she has no intention of committing
theih to war, since she as well as
the allies must be prepared in Eu
rope. But concrete reliance upon
the belief that Russia will not “pass
through the present front echelons,
as did her satellites, would be re-
petiously dangerous.
The conflict between the admin
istration and MacArthur seems to
RUN
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boil down to the hope, on the one
hand, that a settlement in Korea
may be possible if the Chinese are
stopped cold there, and the belief
on the other hand that such a set
tlement depends upon an actual vic
tory.
Also involved is General Marsh
all’s matter of buying time in
Korea while preparations are made
to resist even greater threats.
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Bible Verse
rpHEY THAT trust in the Lorj
shall be as Mount Zion, whicli
cannot be removed, but abideth for.
ever. —Psalm 125:1,
Send her youriove and
warmest good wishes.
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