Assumption That Russia Will Be Ready For War By 1953; Bill For Defence Shock To West

Wanganui Chronicle, 5 May 1950, Page 5

Assumption That Russia Will Be Ready For War By 1953; Bill For Defence Shock To West

LONDON, May 4 (Rec. 6 pm).—A heavy list of requirements agreed upon at The Hague by the Atlantic Pact Defence Ministers has come as a rude shock to almost every European leader outside the circle of Defence Ministers and Chiefs of Staff, says the special correspondent of the New York “Herald-Tribune” in Rome.

With almost no exceptions’, he declares, all European partners in the Atlantic Pact are already strained to the limits of their strength and resources by the tasks of post-war reconstruction. Plans drawn up by the Atlantic Pact standing group envisaged the building up of powerful European ground and air forces and the provision of naval forces to protect supply lines. The time allowed was very short.

of the plan, which they could not meet, and their feelings were endorsed when Ministers from Britain, France and the Benelux countries met at Brussels and also concluded they could not meet the bill for the plan agreed upon at The Hague. The American Ambassador in London, Mr. Lewis Douglas, was asked to inform Washington that the defence of the West could not be organised without much larger American contributions.

The correspondent declares: “As matters stand, we face a grave danger of the whole of the problem being deferred. Europeans cannot and, therefore will not, make the necessary effort at this time and it is almost inconceivable that the needed additional resources will be I provided by the American Congress. I He adds: "A grim central fact, which cannot be escaped, is that the ; year 1953, when Russian war preparations will be completed, will be j a year of utmost danger. If the West .now throws away 12 months of the short time that still is allowed for organising a solid defence, the con--1 sequences can be disastrous.’’

The year 1953 is the moment when Russian war reparations are expected to reach their first climax.

The standing group felt that it was necessary to provide at least a skeleton defence by 1953, with 36 fully-armed divisions in being in Europe by that date. In the final phase, in 1955, European ground forces were to be considerably more than 50 divisions, with all other arms in the balance.. The correspondent says the Italian Ministers were appalled at the costs