SO-CALLED TRUCE

Evening Star, Issue 26028, 17 February 1947, Page 7

SO-CALLED TRUCE

POSITION IN INDONESIA DUTCH SEEKING ARMS FROM U.S.A. NEW YORK, February 14. The Dutch are seeking military equipment from the United States for operations in the Netherlands East Indies, but repeated attempts have failed to win the State Department’s support, says the special correspondent of the ‘ New York Times ’ at The Hague. He adds, moreover, it is felt here that American opinion would condemn such support, but a determined effort to rally American public .opinion to their cause inspired the Dutch authorities to give the information that they hope will achieve the desired result. With this in mind, Lieutenantgeneral S. H. Spoor said, “I will follow the policy of Theodore Roosevelt —namely, soft words backed up by a big stick. Your people probably do not realise that up to now I have been running a .sort of shooting gallery for the amusement of Indonesian terrorists. Our casualties average one man killed daily under the so-called truce, which is wofse than before the truce. It cannot be tolerated much longer. Our intention is to undertake a series of limited. objectives by which we hope to eliminate resistance without stirring up trouble over a wide area. At present,” General Spoor said, “ we have a total of 100,000 men. Enough to do the job.”