Behind the Paris Ordeal:
TAS, SAL
Western failure to understand its own defense of the status quo and the Soviet attack on it lies Behind the Paris Ordeal By Sal Tas PARIS THE ORDEAL is over; we have only to ask ourselves why it...
...This time a part of the press revolted and the conference ended in anonymous noise and boredom...
...The worst thing is to be impressed and say so (as Adlai Stevenson did), for that will make the Russians believe they are having an impact on us which will, therefore, stimulate their aggressiveness...
...In the face of this uncivilized attack, people tend to close ranks...
...The answer is that the U.S...
...And so the Kremlin lost all interest in the summit...
...The intentions were all too obvious...
...But the Macmillan school of thought, which holds that things are better because they could be worse, was out of business this time, The Russians wanted an argument and got an initial advantage not because the U.S...
...Chiefly, it has discovered that the policy of limited peaceful coexistence has exhausted its possibilities...
...But why does the Kremlin want a resumption of cold war...
...only Macmillan—probably for his own electoral reasons—made some efforts for the record...
...The one answered the other...
...The journalists got a taste of it at the final press conference...
...from its allies, As one American journalist put it aptly at Khrushchev's final press conference in Paris: "You said you already knew all about these U-2 flights before you went to the States, Why did you not take it up with Eisenhower then...
...was guilty (it was no more guilty than any other nations, including its NATO partners who silently and knowingly profit by the activities of the American armies and secret services), but because the U.S...
...And it refuses just peaceful or civilized diplomacy...
...The moment Khrushchev made his attack, a Soviet satellite loaded with instruments crossed the Paris sky...
...But why was it necessary for Khrushchev to direct his attack against the U.S...
...I think the answer is that the Kremlin had already decided against a summit conference and instead wanted a new wave of the cold war...
...Up to this moment Khrushchev had played the hail-fellow-well-met (thanks largely to the stupid cooperation of the international press...
...But everyone realizes that the threat to West Berlin will be intensified...
...The more aloof, self-confident and powerful we are, the sooner will the Kremlin drop its aggressive diplomacy...
...It is possible that Khrushchev got the impression at Camp David that Eisenhower was willing to give ground, but one thing is certain: In Paris, de Gaulle made it crystal clear that no concession of any importance, no weakening of the Western position, was to be expected either from him or from Adenauer...
...For the West, peaceful coexistence means the peaceful acceptance of the status quo...
...But the West must face the fact that the Soviet Union refuses to accept the status quo...
...This small, stocky, red-faced figure fulminating, gesticulating, roaring slogans taken from electioneering pamphlets was the perfect image of George Orwell's Animal Farm...
...Obviously he overdid things...
...That Khrushchev insisted on excuses from the U.S...
...This being the case, Khrushchev could not merely stay home and call the conference off...
...The damage this time was nonetheless limited, thanks to Khrushchev's behavior...
...The answer is remarkable...
...and humiliation of the President signified that he did not mean to do business...
...Why then had he come to Paris...
...And why such a scathing, brutal and vulgar attack on its President...
...The Soviets are not out for peace: They are out for success, and the cheaper the price the better...
...And this could only be done in Paris, with violence and a clarion call, as is the Bolshevik nature...
...it was necessary instead to present a plausible reason for this change in Soviet foreign policy...
...Nonetheless, the Kremlin will not make war for it knows the price of aggression...
...But again, the State Department showed itself incapable of conducting propaganda warfare, which is the essence of cold war...
...we have only to ask ourselves why it took place...
...pleaded guilty...
...I didn't want to spoil the atmosphere then, Things changed for me when we caught the United States red-handed...
...By directing his attacks solely on Eisenhower, Khrushchev hoped to isolate the U.S...
...Above all, it was important to make the change in such a way as to strike the right propaganda note for resuming the cold war...
...The Western alliance is not hurt...
...is the only opponent that really counts...
...For Russia, it means a peaceful advance of the Iron Curtain...
...A contemptuous "no comment" would probably have been the best reaction, but anything would have been better than a haughty reply which could not stand...
...It wants diplomatic, not military, aggression, Even a peace treaty between Russia and East Germany remains unsigned because the USSR fears the implications of such a pact, to which it would then be committed...
...The unbelievable vulgarity of the scene, the incredible and sometimes simply filthy language of the Russian leader not only shocked the audience, but stunned it...
...De Gaulle knew immediately that all mediation would be fruitless...
Vol. 43 • June 1960 • No. 23
