Will Eliminate Fear Of Aggression

Chronicle (Levin), 26 July 1949, Page 5

Will Eliminate Fear Of Aggression

Received Tuesday, 10.55 a.m. WASHINGTON, July 25. President Truman said today that approval of ihe £1,450,000,000 dol'ars arms aid programme would elimlnate fear of aggression. The Presfdent, in appealing to Congress for approval of the programme, said: '"The record of world events since 1945 offers us no certainty that all members of the United Nations will uphold the principles of peace in acmal prac-ti-ee. Indeed there is proof to the contrary, proof that in pursuit of their selfish ends some nations have resorted to, and may again re-

soi; to, the Lhreat or tfse of force. Fear crc-ated by this experience ' hauuts the world and creates conditions of insecurity an'd instability wliivh stand in the way of economL and social progress. J "As long as the danger of aggression fxists it is necessary to think in terius of the forces required to prewnt it. It is unfortunate that this 2s true. We cannot, however, aehieve our goal of permanent peaee fcy ignoring the difncult and

unp1easant tasks that lie in the way." The President underJined the purpose of the _ programme by specifically naming the Soviet union as the power which created the atmosphere of fear and danger. He said: "The principal task of the free nations of Europe in the last four years has been to restore war shattere'd economies. The inherent dimculties of this task have been aggravated by the foreign policy of the Soviet Union, which has done its utmost to prevent European recovery. The President continued: "The full recovery of world economy requires peaceful conditions and t'he assurance that the work of iabour, indusiry and agriculture won't be swept a'wav in an outburst of international violence. "In place of these conditions the Soviet, with its violent propaganda, its manipulation of the consniratorial activities of the world Communist movement and its maintenance of one of the largest peacetime armies in history, has 'defibera'e'y created an atmosphere of fear and danger." President Truman said that in the face of what had occu^red in Greece, Berlin, Persia and Turkey, and in the light of the suppression of human liberty in the countriesunder Communist control, the na'ions of Western Europe had not been able to ignore the necessity of military defence for themselves. They had seen what the Soviet had done to the nations wherefore it professed friendshin and wherewith it was recently allied. "They have observed how a Communist coup d'tat, operaXing in the shadow of the massed mihtary might of -the Soviet Union, can overthrow at one sfroke the democratic liberties and political independence of a friendly nation. "As a consequence of that experience, and in the light of the fact that two of the most devasta't- 1 ing wars in history have originated in Europe, they realise they must have a shield against aggression to shelter their uolitical institutions and the rebirth of their own economy and social life."