PRESIDENT KEEPS WAY OPEN FOR INTERVENTION BY U.S.

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27367, 4 June 1954, Page 11

PRESIDENT KEEPS WAY OPEN FOR INTERVENTION BY U.S.

WASHINGTON, June 2. President Eisenhower today left the door open for a request to Congress for authority to commit the United States to action in South-east Asia to combat Communist expansion. But he was careful to point out that he had not yet decided to seek such authority. Mr Eisenhower, in answer to a question at a press conference, said that the matter of a resolution authorising action in the area occasionally came up, among other possible lines of action, that could serve the Allies’ interests, but he had not by any manner or means reached a decision of that kind.

This caused immediate speculation in Congressional quarters as to what type of action the Administration might have in mind. A questioner had quoted two unnamed senators as saying last week that they believed Mr Eisenhower would “submit to Congress a resolution authorising action in South-east Asia sometime before the adjournment.”

Although action was not further defined, the phraseology lent itself to the interpretation that it was military intervention in Indo-China.

On the other hand there was some though in Congressional quarters that the President might have been thinking in terms of a resolution giving support to the idea of the proposed 10nation South-east Asia defence pact. There had been authoritative reports that such a resolution was under consideration in the executive branch. A Reuter correspondent wrote today that if the resolution would merely authorise the Government to negotiate with other nations the establishment of a South-east Asian pact, there appeared little doubt that Congressional approval would be forthcoming. But the question of actual military inter vention was quite a different matter as far as members of Congress were cn cerned

Some weeks ago. Administration leaders were sounding out Congressional reaction to suggestions that in the evert t of a sudden emergency in Indo-China, the President should have

some standby authority to act quickly. Such authority could be provided by a simple resolution. The idea had been projected by the Secretary of State (Mr Dulles) in private talks with party leaders from the Senate and the House of Representatives, but it received a very cool reception. The attitude of Congressional leaders was that it was most unlikely that Congress—jealous of its constitutional prerogatives, which give it the right to declare war—would agree at the time to giving the President what would in effect be “blank cheque” authority in advance to involve the nation in a South-east Asian conflict. Many members of Congress have made it clear that to date there has not been sufficient clarification of the issues in Indo-China to justify in their minds any intervention with United States forces.

Military estimates of the size of the United States forces commitment which would be required for successful intervention in that war have caused some sobering reflections m Congress.

The correspondent says that on the basis of these studies it is becoming apparent that if military intervention becomes necessary, sea and air power alone will not be sufficient to ensure success and that ground forces will have to be committed. Some Army estimates put the required land forces as high as 10 divisions. At present, with the United States Army in the process of being reduced from 20 *o 17 divisions by next year, the nation does not have any divisions to spare for Indo-China, the correspondent says.