"We Will Go Anywhere . . ."

Last week, as every week for the past few months, the U.S. through its State Department spoke out to the world. Some of its speaking was done on minor issues; sometimes the Department's enthusiasm ran away with it, as when it reprimanded the Swedes for signing a trade agreement with Russia. The Swedes' justifiable reply: that's our business.

But most of the minor statements fitted in with the larger program: to call the Russians at every turn.

P: To Yugoslavia, which was ready to let the plane-shooting incident be lost in diplomacy's shuffle, went a tart note from Acting Secretary of State Dean Acheson, demanding indemnity payments for the five flyers killed and the two planes lost.

P: From the Communist-dominated Polish Government, which had chewed over the U.S. demand that Poland hold a free election, came a tart reply: stay out of Poland's internal affairs. But the Poles knew that, however angrily they might react to U.S. demands for democratic government, the U.S. would keep on insisting on them--even though the fight might be lost.

P: In Korea, the U.S. crisply reaffirmed all its original pledges made to the Koreans at Cairo and Potsdam, and, by inference, blamed the Russians for the present chaos in that country. Said the State Department: U.S. troops will stay until Korea has democracy.

In the Shadow. As a sign that the U.S. was now talking turkey, when that kind of talk was necessary, the giant aircraft carrier U.S.S. Franklin D. Roosevelt and a heavily gunned, six-ship escort lay at anchor last week almost in the shadow of Italy's Mt. Vesuvius (see cut). They would move on, in reply to a Greek invitation, to the port of Piraeus four days after the Greek plebiscite Sept. 1 (see INTERNATIONAL).

Immediately Communist cries of "gangster diplomacy" rang out. They were answered promptly by bull-tongued Admiral William F. Halsey, who snorted: "It's nobody's damn business where we go. We will go anywhere we please." Of course blustering "Bull" Halsey, whose diplomatic age is about seven and a half, was a bad boy to say it. But many an inhibited career diplomat and citizen were glad that he had.

The fact that these U.S. international moves were bright with danger had been fully considered and accepted. The London press questioned U.S. wisdom in following such a hard line and made a plea for caution. Echoed a shrewd and veteran Washington observer: "A policy of firmness may lead to peace, but it never has in the past."

Wherever it led--to Greece, Turkey, China, Korea--the U.S. apparently meant to go. Uncle Joe Stalin could put that in his pipe and smoke it. That was exactly what he was doing this week, when he summoned Molotov from Paris to the Kremlin (see INTERNATIONAL).

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