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Show Mission to Saudi-Arabia AN ULTRA hush-hush military mission left recently for Saudi-Arabia. Saudi-Arabia. Just what this group of about 200 American officers and technical sergeants will do in Arabia is supposed to be a strict secret, but real fat is they are to train an Arab air force and re-equip re-equip abandoned U. S. air fields. Why this secret mission is leaving at this time is not known, but behind be-hind their trip is an agreement with King Ibn Saud by which he gives a pipeline concession to the Arabian-American Arabian-American Oil company. Members of the military mission mis-sion were selected after elaborate elabo-rate screening tests, then given Instruction In the Arabic language, lan-guage, espionage and demolition demoli-tion work. The group left from Washington. New York and Miami, all wearing civilian clothes. In order not to attract attention, they will proceed in small details and by round-about routes. For Instance, one detail will go to Paris, then Germany, then Greece and finally to the Arabian-Iranian border. A GOP Sen. Styles Bridges of New Hampshire was commenting comment-ing to colleagues about President Presi-dent Truman's failure to mention men-tion the civil rights program in his Jackson Day speech. "The Democrats," q n o t h Bridges, "are haunted by the past, befuddled by the present and terrified by the Henry Wallace Wal-lace future." Another Red Circle? YOU CAN PUT a red circle around April 18 as the next big day for Red Russia. That's the date of the Italian elections and the date when the Communists will attempt their next Czechoslovakia. The Russian goal in Italy is to win 40 per cent of the April balloting. ballot-ing. If so, they will arfbmpt to move all other political parties out of the cabinet and take over Italy completely. com-pletely. In preparation, a secret Red battalion of about 250,000 men, including Yugoslavs, has moved into northern Italy and Infiltrated Infil-trated into key places. Meanwhile also, the Russians are spending millions of lira la Italy. Money is being pumped in as never before to undo the results of the Friendship Train and other Ameri-can Ameri-can relief to Italy. Most important fact about the Soviet money is that it's spent where it counts most. Much of it goes to subsidize key labor leaders. In contrast, the American propaganda propa-ganda funds were cut to the bone by congress last year. an Next step in army-navy unification unifi-cation will be merger of army-navy army-navy water transportation. Most people don't know it but the army actually keeps more vessels ves-sels afloat than the navy 2,953. This is 300 more than the navy's total fleet. On top of this, the air force operates an additional 350 vessels. J J The Picture Changes DURING THE FIRST FEW MONTHS Harry Truman spent In the White House, he kept insisting to friends that he did not want to run for a second term. One term was enough; he wanted to get back to his old love being a senator from Missouri. Mrs. Truman who carries a great deal more weight with the President than most people suspect felt exactly the same way, possibly pos-sibly more so. At that time, however, Mr. Truman's Tru-man's close friends and political leaders felt just the opposite. They were determined that he should run again, believed he was the only candidate can-didate with whom the Democrats would win. Now, however, the situation Is somewhat reversed. Today the political leaders desperately don't want Mr. Truman to run, but are afraid he has the bit in his teeth and can't be persuaded to bow out. Bob Hannegan, the man who two years ago repeatedly denied that Mr. Truman would not run again and who was the first to propose his name publicly for reelection, now ii privately sorry he ever made the suggestion. Ed Flynn of the Bronx, who helped nominate Mr. Truman at the 1944 Chicago convention, alio is convinced that Mr. Truman's name on the ticket means certain defeat. Southern leaders, of course, are not even private about it They want to junk him at any cost. But although Mr. Truman two years ago would have been quite in the mood to bow out, today it may be different. After all, human nature na-ture Is human natjre, and Harry Truman is known to be stubborn man. Sometimes when his friends, such as Tom Pendergnst or Ed Pauley or Gen. Wallace Graham, art under fire, he has gnnt to extreme ex-treme lengths to buck outraged pub. lie oplnim. |
