PEACE IN OUR TIME?

Taupo Times, Volume I, Issue 48, 10 December 1952, Page 4

PEACE IN OUR TIME?

rJ1HE visit of the Republican Presi-dent-elect of the United States, General Eisenhower, to the Korean battle-ground is in fulfilment of his pledge to the electors to work, for peace — a pledge seconded in after-the-poll speeches by the political leaders on the Democratic side. The event adds a new point of interest for New Zealand observers to a campaign iii which their country is an active participant. Beyond the fact that General Eisenhower is seekng some mean.s of breaking the staiemate over the tiuee negotiaGons, ard tbus opening tne way to a discussion and settlement of peace terms, nothing is known as to what approach to the question he has in mind. That he may be successful in his mission, that he may see light on a baffling situation where others have failed, we may all hope. It would be unwise, however, to pin too much faith on the outcome. The Korean War is not a confliet in the accepted military pattern. It has to . be f ought out under conditions designed to avoid a third World War. iStrategy in the strict military sense is handicapped by restrictions imposed by international considerations of extreme delicacy and gravity. A major error of judgement might have appalling repercussions. 1 The question has been asked: Why wcrry about the Koreans? In other worcls, why not let them settle their disputes by themselves ? When questions of this kind are asked it "s necessary to remind ourselves that the issue at stake in Korea is not a •local bnt an international issue. The issue is whether the rude of law is to prevail over the rule force. The League of Nations after the First World War was founded to vindkate the rule of law. It parted because two European thugs — Hitler and Mussolini — took the law into their own hands and successfully challenged its authority. The world is now making another attempt

to assert ihe rule of law in international relationships. Its new instrument, the United Nations Organisation, is at present under its first critical test. It is committed to the task of convincing the North Koreans that aggression pays no dividends. And in convincing the local aggressors it has also to convince their Communist supporters behind the f scenes — Russia: and China. It is largely due to the tactics of Russian Communist Imperialism that the present state of unrest in the world prevails. From the outset the Russian veto • at the United Nations has operated with the effect of a spanner thrown into the works. The Soviet delegates to the United Nations Organisation will "neither dance, sing, nor hold the candle." They are, under orders from Moscow, deliberate and persistent obstructionists. What hope for peace — in our time, a world peace settled on secure foundationsy can there be expected from an attitude of this kind and the tactics dictated by those at the Kremlin responsible for it? Let it not be supposed that General Eisenhower is under any illusion about the background of the Korean problem, which is only a puppet show in overall design of Soviet Grand Strategy. He is, however, apparently convinced that a way out of the present deadlock there should be possible. Let us hope that he may be granted to see the light.