OCR Text |
Show ; - EDITORIAL To say ihat the government of the United States is making mak-ing some of the oravest decisions in its history of foreign pol- icy, is to repeat the obvious. The President's speech of March 12 was simply one more momentous step along a road whose end on one can foresee. Mr. Truman put into ' somljcr words a set of principles which, whether one likes j them or not, are clear, basic and unequivocal. There will ; be changes in details, as, for instance, in how money will be appropriated for the aid of Greece, Turkey or other na- tions. But it seems certain that after the tumult and the shouting die, the broad principles will remain. It is worth nothing that Senator Vandenberg, the principal Republican Republi-can congressional authority on foreign affairs, approved the President's declaration. It is plain that we are gradually assuming the position in the world which was one held by Great Britain. England emerged from the first war strong and rich, and regained her traditional role as a world power on which the sun never nev-er set. A victorious and proud France was her main ally in Europe. The end of the second war saw an. incredible change. England is weak and hungry, relying on Ameri-! Ameri-! can dollars for her subsistence, and the greatest Empire the j modern world has known is in the weary process of disinte- gration. And little is left of the old France. As a result, there are just two vast forces in todays j worlds-one is the United States and the other is Soviet Russia. Rus-sia. Mr. Truman did not speak the word Russia but no one who heard his voice or read his words could doubt what was in his mind and the minds of Congress. Greece is of little importance in herself, and few Americans can admire the present Greek government. But Greece is a buttress between Turkey and the Soviet Unionand Turkey controls the Dardanelles. As Time put it, "If Turkey and the Dardanelles Darda-nelles went, the whole Middle East might slide into the Russian orbit." And that would be an ominous victory for the forces behind the Iron Curtain. It is apparently the view of Mr. Truman and his advisors advis-ors that the time for firmness can no longer be postponed and if this involves great, calculated risks, that is a chance we must take. To lose the peace could be as ultimately ruinous as if we had lost the war itself. To carry out this firm policy, the State Department has been measurably strengthened. |