U.S. TROOPS IN JAPAN

Chronicle (Levin), 14 February 1949, Page 5

U.S. TROOPS IN JAPAN

rN,Z.P.A

Alleged §tatement by Higli Ameriean Offieial

Rfedeivfed MondaK.12.15 p'.iri, T§KI0, Ffeb.- 13. A dfeniai b,y the afeting afmry secrfctary iri W&shirigtdri; . th&l a slatferiient had befen. rriade iriTBKJc} by high American ' Af rriy offici&is,indi^aMn| feiihfer tlift abaii&driffitrifc of Jabari iii iiriie oi War Of a hos-; sible wiihd'r&Wal of tfdopis; eausfed surjJrise ".ih ihfbrnle'd qtiartefS bf Tokio. Most .offleials in Tokio MVf knowri. for a ' Wefek that a sp>fefeiai, secrei j?fe§s. ebrijference — •Wh^resfrbfii Generai MdpAf thur's , piibiic itiformation omc'er Was exeiuded— was callfed last Sunday night - by a high Amfeficgri- miiitafy autliority. and'- thkt only hand pieked Ariierlcan correspondents were invTted fo attend. By noon tlie followihg* day Tolcio buzzed1 Witli talk that sensational disclosures, which had been madb at thfe conference, would be published without a compromising source, on Friday. Reuter s correspondent later obtained the transcript of the , conference after agrefeing to abide by the samfe conditions imposed ttpori the Americans. The transcript, quoting a high military authority, directly says inter alia: "I don't thinkwehavea single obligation to these people for anything. i don't think we have any fnoral obligation to feed them« or proteet them. Some surprising people like Filipinos and Australians, will scream if we leave Japan and say we have obligations here, feven thougli the Filipinos and Australians are lbudest in condemning the Japanese. ✓ "I tend tb the opinion that Japan is valueless in case ■ of war with Russia. I don't know what our troops here could do in the event of an outbreak of war. It might be better to puli them out before the war starts, but no decision has been made and any announcement of sttch a move would be premature. I will have samething to say about the situation in a month or two."