The New Focus

Local defense will always be important. But there is no local defense which alone will contain the mighty land power of the Communist world. Local defense must be reinforced by the further deterrent of massive retaliatory power. [The Administration had made a basic decision] to depend primarily upon a great capacity to retaliate instantly by means and at places of our choosing.

--John Foster Dulles, before the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City, Jan. 12, 1954.

Since Secretary of State Dulles uttered those words ten weeks ago, a confused discussion about what he meant has spread across the U.S. and around the world. The questions snowballed. Did Dulles mean that the U.S. would abandon local ground defense, perhaps withdraw its ground troops from Europe? Would the U.S. rely solely on air-atomic power? Did Dulles mean that any war would automatically be turned into the big atomic war? Did "instantly" mean that the President would take the U.S. into war without consulting Congress or allies?

Confusion by Interpretation. The confusion did not spring from the policy itself. John Foster Dulles had clearly noted the importance of local defense, had spoken of reinforcing it. But as the policy was interpreted by bureaucrats, challenged by politicians, and analyzed by the press and by people who want a blueprint for all future decisions, the public view of it became distorted. Last week both Secretary Dulles and President Eisenhower took great pains to give the public a new focus on the "new look."

By week's end, most of the reasonable questions had been answered. Among the more important items: P:The U.S. has no intention of abandoning local defenses. All around the world, the U.S. is continuing to build forces among its allies. P: The U.S. has not decided that air-atomic power is its sole weapon. In the new military budget are funds for the biggest Army and Navy the U.S. has ever maintained in peacetime. The U.S. is still willing to accept sound international control of atomic weapons. The U.S. does not intend to turn every little war into a general atomic war, but it does intend to use the threat of "massive retaliation" as a deterrent. It has already warned the Chinese Communists that direct intervention in Indo-China or new aggression in Korea would mean broader retaliation by means and at places chosen by the U.S.

The Meaning of "Instantly." Before the week of clarification was over, the meaning of "instantly" had been established as clearly as it could or should be. If the enemy sent bombers toward targets in the U.S., the President obviously would order U.S. planes into the air without waiting to consult Congress, allies or the United Nations. In cases where good judgment indicated there was time for consultation, both the Congress and the allies would be consulted. It is impossible to draw up in advance a specific list of courses that would be followed in every instance. And if such a listing were possible, disclosing it to the enemy would be the height of folly.

At his news conference, Dwight Eisenhower said the President of the U.S. not only could but must act instantly if the safety of the country is threatened. Said he: Any President should be worse than impeached, he should be hanged, if he failed to do what was necessary to protect the people of the U.S. in an emergency.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.