STRENGTH OF SOVIET

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 70, Issue 260, 21 August 1950, Page 3

STRENGTH OF SOVIET

Army Divisions in Europe NEW YORK, Aug. 19. The United States and Britain must commit equipment urgently to defend Western Europe, Mr (John Sherman Cooper, one of the State Department’s chief advisers, declared to-night. He accused Russia of resorting to direct military action in Korea and said this placed other areas of the world in great peril.

Mr Cooper said that under present conditions Soviet forces could overrun Europe at 1 any time. Russia, he said, had possibly 175 divisions under arms. The Western countries had a combination of American, British, French, Dutch and Belgian troops amounting to little more than 12 divisions.

“The danger implicit in this disparity in arms is appalling,” said Mr Cooper. There were three urgent essentials for Europe’s defence. The first was-immediate completion and approval of the 12 Atlantic Treaty nations of a defence plan specifying precisely each country’s military tasks and missions.

The second was the creation of a unified military command. The third was United States action to make clear that “it will join in the defence of Europe in the initial stages of an assault should it come.”

Mr Cooper added: “This means that the United States and Britain must commit men and equipment before such an assault begins either in an occupied zone or elsewhere in Europe.”