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Show Even though the Kennedy Administration Ad-ministration does not yet like to admit it, and it sounds preposterous, pre-posterous, its latest foreign policy gambit with Moscow is aimed, as this columnist predicted predict-ed a year ago, at making the Soviet Union a "partner in peace." And U.S. Allies, who have enjoyed en-joyed a partnership status of their own throughout the whole Cold War, are protesting the possibility pos-sibility that they may be left out in the cold by a new, but unlikely, Soviet-American Alii-ance. Alii-ance. Such an Alliance, if it does come about, will not occur overnight. over-night. It would not solve all our problems. It would not displace such historic ties as the Anglo-American Anglo-American alliance we have had with another former enemy, Great Britain. But what is interesting, is that, in the midst of the Cold War struggle for world supremacy and while Khrushchev continues to declare that he "will bury" the United States, the U.S. is making a major effort to make an active ally of a self -proclaimed foe that most Americans are not even remotely aware of. The Administration is making a major effort to develop a Soviet-American front against Red Chinese-supported aggression in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and particularly in Laos. Our disarmament policy is aimed at eventually bringing the Soviet Union into a control machinery ma-chinery vthat could detect clandestine clan-destine atomic tests, including those by Red China, which is expected ex-pected to explode its first A-bomb A-bomb by 1964. The U.S. is now actively seeking seek-ing a working partnership with Moscow in the peaceful exploration explora-tion of outer space. Despite rebuffs, the Kennedy "crisis," etc. . SUill, the Administration is convinced that the only hope for peace is to try, try again and hope that Red Chinese pressure on Moscow and the rise of moderate moder-ate Soviet political leaders will bring it about. Most Republicans, watching this new outburst of "creative" Soviet - American diplomacy closely, are confident that President Presi-dent Kennedy's effort to work out an alliance with Russia against Communist China will flop, and are quite prepared to use "appeasement" as a campaign issue. This is already the Nixon-Rockefeller-Goldwater theme. However, Republicans are hampered ham-pered in their criticism by the fact that GOP President Eisenhower Eisen-hower first began seeking to make the Soviets a partner against the Red Chinese, by inviting in-viting Khrushchev to the U.S. and by the fact that most polls show most Americans favor a reasonable effort to improve Soviet ties. But ironically, since the decline de-cline of the ultra-conservative, anti-Communist John Birch Society, So-ciety, it is not Americans but America's Allies who are now protesting our new stress on Soviet-American agreement the most. Belgium blames the U.S. for allowing Communism to make rapid progress in the Congo. Portugal Por-tugal blames the U.S. for thwarting thwart-ing its efforts to use NATO weapons weap-ons in suppressing anti-colonialism in Angola and for our failure fail-ure to act against Nehru when India seized Goa. The Netherlands Nether-lands fear our policy of denying 'arms for the defense of New Guinea at the same time Russia is supplying Indonesia's Sukarno with vast amounts of munitions. Spain and Portugal blame the Administration is seeking a wide expansion of its medical, scientific, scien-tific, educational, trade and cultural cul-tural exchanges with the Soviet Union in an effort to tear down the Iron Curtain. And despite initial disappointments, disappoint-ments, the U.S. will continue to seek broader information exchanges ex-changes with the Soviets, such as the TV film swap presidential news secretary Pierre Salinger hoped to conclude in his maiden diplomatic mission to Moscow. He eventually expects to conclude con-clude the TV film swap that would allow President Kennedy to address Russian TV audiences while Khrushchev addresses the U.S. for strengthening anti-Government forces by repeated censure cen-sure of the Salazar and Franco regimes. Canada and Australia are miffed at U.S. pressure to halt grain shipments to Red China at the same time the U.S. says it would also consider such shipments itself if only the Red Chinese would "ask." Our Allies are baffled by U.S. pressure to ban Cuban trade at the same time the U.S. steps up trade with Russia. Nationalist Chinese President Pres-ident Chiang is angered at efforts to thwart a China Mainland invasion in-vasion from Formosa when he believes the time now is ripe to overthrow the Red Chinese American people. In Berlin, the Administration is trying, despite outcrys from West German Chancellor Adenauer, Aden-auer, to make the Soviets a partner part-ner in guaranteeing the freedom of access to West Berlin. Adenauer's Aden-auer's complaint is that we are seeking to share responsibility for West Berlin's freedom with the only Power, the Soviets, which is threatening it. But this has now become a prime Berlin policy objective. The U.S. believes it already has an unofficial "understanding" "understand-ing" with the Soviets that irresponsible ir-responsible hotheads in the Congo, Middle East and Cuba's Castro should not be allowed to drag either the U.S. or USSR into an atomic Third World War. There are, of course, risks in this policy. The U.S. has extended extend-ed a hand of friendship to the Soviets before, during and after the Russian Revolution, during the 1930's, during and after the Second World War and before and after the Korean War and Hungarian bloodbath, Berlin regime. Italy has admitted pro-Soviet Socialists to its Government, as a move to expand trade ties with the Soviets. The friendly Philippines Philip-pines are angered at last week's Congressional slash in war damage dam-age claims. Latin American nations na-tions are protesting that the Alliance Alli-ance for Progress aid plan is blatant meddling in internal economic affairs. And Great Britain is sore that the U.S. won't guarantee preferential trade if she joins the West European Common Market, which remains to be finalized. But criticism by West Germany's Ger-many's Adenauer and French President de Gaulle is greatest. They fear the U.S. is "going soft" toward Communism and want to begin negotiating directly direct-ly with Moscow themselves. We seem to be having least trouble with the Soviets and "Neutralist" regimes. Good company, and good discourse dis-course are the very sinews of I virtue. Walton. |
