Word: acheson
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This is the background against which Secretary Acheson last week reported "giant strides" of progress at the Lisbon NATO conference. Such progress reports are familiar milestones of the last five years. They are true, in a way. The free world does move, but the question is whether that movement amounts to anything when measured by 1) the cost of the U.S. effort and 2) the progress of the enemy. Thus measured, the U.S. is taking "giant strides" north on a train that is moving south...
Exaggerated prophecies of gloom had surrounded Dean Acheson's departure for the London and Lisbon parleys. Last week, reporting on his trip over a radio-TV hookup, Acheson countered with an exaggerated picture of sunlight and good cheer. Said he: "The past two weeks have been a time of historic decision . . . They have brought us to the dawn of a new day in Europe." Acheson based his claim on "five major accomplishments" of the London and Lisbon meetings...
What Is a Division? "First," said Acheson, "agreement was reached on the forces to be made available to General Eisenhower's NATO command . . ." He was referring to the Lisbon decision that "approximately 50 divisions" for Western defense would be in existence by the end of 1952. This figure is strictly a statistic. Of the 50 divisions, only about 25 will be combat-ready and in Europe. The others are mere skeletons of reserve divisions. They are not to be mobilized until war begins, and then many of them are expected to come from Britain...
Commendable as the Wise Men's efforts were, it was notable that NATO, which was formed in 1949, took until 1952 to get itself a single, sensible economic blueprint. Acheson frankly recognized that it was only a blueprint, that the $300 billion has still to be appropriated by 14 national Parliaments, including the U.S. Congress...
Faure, well knowing that Acheson has no legal power to commit U.S. troops, murmured evasively: "This news is obviously premature." Last week he found a scapegoat for the news story. His Information Minister called in the news agency's director general, Maurice Negre, 51, and suspended him. The government could do so because it pays more than half the agency's bills...