Rainbow-Chasing

"Exercise Rainbow," an eight-day joint maneuver by nearly 100,000 U.S., British and French troops to test Western defenses against "an invasion by superior enemy forces from the East," began in Germany this week. The green-clad "invaders," a U.S. armored force, struck from the borders of Soviet-held East Germany and Czechoslovakia, forced back the British ist Royal Dragoons, Algerian troops from the French zone, and miscellaneous U.S. forces including regiments hastily summoned from Austria and Trieste. French, British and American planes whined overhead. Even the U.S. Navy joined in, with small craft on the Rhine. After retreating, the defenders were scheduled to "regroup" and then wage a "victorious counterattack."

Rainbow-chasing could not actually defend Western Europe against the present eight-to-one armed superiority of Soviet Europe. The real defense, rearmament, inched slowly ahead. For six weeks, the deputies of the twelve-nation North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) had been making plans for joint rearmament with a gap wide enough for a tank to crunch through: they had avoided discussing Germany, though effective European defense without Germany was impossible. When the NATO Foreign Ministers met in London last May, they had been afraid to tackle the vexed subject of rearming Germany. Korea had since changed the situation--but not the instructions already issued to the deputies.

This week as the NATO ministers assembled at New York's Waldorf-Astoria (see NATIONAL AFFAIRS), France was still reluctant to face reality. The U.S. move to increase its ground forces in Germany by five or more divisions was "most pleasing" to Paris. But French Foreign Minister Maurice Schuman put in the inevitable French warning on German rearmament. He wanted any rearming of the West Germans to wait a while. Said Schuman: "There is an obvious desire for all to see a line of defense as far east as possible for Europe. But the Allies must have priority. When the Allies' minimum defensive strength has been reached, we can then envisage Germany's rearmament."

Any French politician had to say this, but the U.S. leaders were under no compulsion to let the French hamstring action on Germany as they had in the past. All that the U.S. had to say was that it would not and could not undertake to defend France so long as Germany was defenseless. This week, at long last, Acheson was prepared to be firm. Ernest Bevin was ready to back him. To both of them, the most important item before the Foreign Ministers was how, when and with what Germany would be strengthened to become the bastion of a free Europe.

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