Progress

NATO Progress Last week brought good news for NATO: P:The U.S. finally decided that there were "valid reasons" for bringing Greece and Turkey into NATO, began polling the eleven other pact members, whose unanimous approval is required. Inclusion of the two nations, the free world's outposts on the southern flank of the Red empire, would mean extending NATO borders 800 miles eastward, but would also mean the addition of 525,000 well-trained troops to Eisenhower's army. Britain and France would prefer a separate regional pact in the Near East, but will go along with the U.S. proposal.

P:The U.S., Britain and Canada began standardizing their arms, a move that would simplify production and supply, save vast amounts of money. The three armies adopted the new 28-ton "Walker Bulldog" as their light tank, agreed on 400 other items, including 8-in., 75-mm. and 240-mm. howitzers, fuel, lubricants, electric voltage systems.* P:The U.S. reassured its NATO allies about raw material shortages (other NATO members have long been worried about heavy U.S. stockpiling). Most serious of the shortages--tungsten, molybdenum, cotton, sulphur--brought Britain's Lord Privy Seal, Richard Rapier Stokes, to Washington last week. U.S. officials promised that the,U.S. would share its raw material reserves with its allies, consider their needs on an equal basis with U.S. industry.

P:In an all-night session the French National Assembly voted, 414 to 177, over Communist opposition, to allot 743 billion francs ($2,115,000,000) to military expenditure in 1951. NATO officials calculated that, with other rearmament expenditures not shown in the budget, France would spend $2,600,000,000 (11% of the gross national product) on defense. AP:fter sitting on its hands for two months, Italy's Senate passed a new defense bill (TIME, March 19) to spend an additional 250 billion lire ($400 million) to modernize the nation's armed forces, bring them up to treaty strength. Communists and their left-wing Socialist allies pleaded and threatened, found themselves outvoted 181 to 96.

* One major attempt at standardization failed. Britain went ahead with plans to replace her old .303-caL, bolt-action Lee-Enfield rifle, which dates back, to the Boer War, with a lighter, faster, .280-cal. automatic model. U.S. experts had hoped the British would adopt a -3O-cal. weapon capable of firing the same ammunition as the U.S. Garand M-t.

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