T
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD. OREGON
" vnr.w SUNDAY. APRIL 7. IMS
Strange, Revealing Words Spoken by President Kennedy
By GEORGE J. MARDER dictate failure in negotia- , - '
By GEORGE J. MARDER
Umlid Preit International
Washington - m - "I am
haunted by the feeling . . ."
Strange words for a presi
dent of the United States
to say.
Strange but revealing.
When spoken by Presi
dent Kennedy at a recent
press conference, they prov
ed a rare and dramatic in
sight to the troubled
thoughis ot a world leader
struggling with the awe
some problems of the nu
clear age.
The question from a re
porter had been a simple
one: What hope was there
in still trying for a nuclear
test ban agreement with
Russia after a decade of
failure?
Asks Himself Questions
As the President started
his answer it was obvious
he lias asked himself the
question many limes be
fore. And in the loneliness
of the White House, he had
arrived at but one answer:
hope or not, he must keep
trying.
Why? Why go on? What
was his motivation in the
face of successive and frus
trating failures.
The answers lie in that
haunted feeling; the trou
bled thoughts which
brought furrows to the
President's brow. The feel
ing that unless he succeeds,
he will leave a heritage of
even greater global nuclear
danger to some future presi
dent. "Personally," he told
newsmen. "I am haunted by
the feeling that by 1970,
unless we are successful,
there may be 10 nuclear
powers instead of four, and
by 1975, 15 or 20."
The President's words
tumbled out in turbulent
confusion of his inner tur
moil. More War Than Peace
"With all of the history
of war - and the human
race's history unfortunately
has been a good deal more
war than peace - with nu
clear weapons distributed
all through the world, and
available, and the strong
reluctance of any people to
accept defeat. I sec the pos
sibility of the President of
the United States having to
face a world in which 15
or 20 or 25 nations may
have these weapons."
And that is what the
President regards as "the 1
greatest possible danger and
hazard."
He discussed only the
hazards of failure, not his
hopes of success.
Those hopes, humanity's
well as his, for an end to
the nuclear arms race are
gossamer, kept aloft as if
in the fluttering wings of
a butterfly. The hopes are
faint; they are based on
even more fragile expecta
tions. The facts of cold war life
tions for a test ban agree
ment between the big three
atomic powers - the United
States. Russia and the Unit
ed Kingdom.
But even should they
agree, the odds are over
whelming against a halt to
the spread of nuclear weap
onry. The pact under discus
sion at Geneva is limited to
the big three. There is noth
ing in it except moral sua
sion which could force oth
er nations to stop testing.
Nothing to keep France and
Red China, for example,
from developing their own
nuclear weapons, which
France is now doing over
Kennedy's objections.
It is estimated that 11
nations now have the indus
trial and economic potential
to develop their own nu
clear arms - if they want
to. Some, and perhaps all,
may feel impelled to do so
unless the nuclear arms
race is stopped.
The President's hope is
that a big three test ban
treaty would encourage
most of those nations to
join in, nations like West
Germany and East Ger
many and Japan and Israel.
Those nations would have
a self-interest in seeing to
it that the race doesn't
spread to powers which
might endanger their se
curity. There also would be
the matter of world opin
ion which would be expect
ed to support wholehearted
ly a test ban treaty and
frown on any nation which
threatened to disrupt the
truce.
The proposed treaty con
tains a provision giving
each one of the big three
the right to back out if it
felt its security was being
threatened by nuclear test
ing of any nation outside
the treaty. That would
mean France and Red China
would assume the responsi
bility of risking resumption
of an all-out nuclear race if
they continued testing after
the big-three arranged a
truce.
Officials Have No Hope
Nevertheless, there is no
hope among disarmament
officials that France and
Red China would be willing
to join now.
French President Charles
de Gaulle, miffed because
France was excluded from
U.S. and British atomic
know-how, is determined to
develop his own nuclear
force.
Red China thinks war is
the only way to impose
communism on the world.
Hence, officials see no
chance that she would re
spond to world opinion.
But the President keeps
trying - on the slim hope
of keeping the nuclear club
to 5 instead of 15 mem
bers. Otherwise, he gets
that haunted feeling.
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