U.S. May Increase Military Assistance To Greek Government

Wanganui Chronicle, 29 December 1947, Page 5

U.S. May Increase Military Assistance To Greek Government

Recd. 10.20 p.m. New York, Dec. 27. Official opinion in the State Department is crystallising gradually in favour of increasing United States military assistance to Greece, says the "New York Times" Washington correspondent. Events are convincing responsible officials not only that economic and military aid should be continued beyond June 30, when the present appropriation ends, but also that more emphasis must be placed on military assistance to the Greek Government. Continuation of the armed Communist rebellion in Greece and the announcement that the Communists have created a “first provisional democratic government of Free Greece" have prompted reexamination of American policy. State Department officials said the decision whether to ask for more money and carry the programme past June probably would hinge mainly on the development of the situation created by the proclamqtion of a Communist State by guerrilla leaders. So far as they know, no consideration has been given to anything more drastic than increased material aid to the Greek armed forces.