The belated discovery of thousands of Russian combat troops in Cuba is a good time for us to examine the question: When we stand up to the Soviets and refuse to yield to their demands or offensive tactics, does this result in escalation or de-escalation of tensions? Does our nation profit more by confrontation or conciliation? | In a recent speech, former Congressman Walter H. Judd called the roll of the 13 separate occasions when our country stood firm against Communist aggression. It is an impressive list.
1. In Iran in 1945-46, we demanded that the U.S.S.R. pull its troops out of Azerbaijan. The Soviets did.
2. In Greece in 1947, in what was inaccurately called a “civil war,” we sent military aid and successfully stopped an attempted Communist takeover there.
3. In 1948 we broke the Communist blockade of Berlin with the Berlin airlift.
4. In 1949 we set up NATO and followed up with the Marshall Plan as political and economic vehicles to stop Communist expansionism in Western Europe.
5. In 1951, despite Soviet protests, we allowed West Germany to rearm and become part of the Western Alliance.
6. In 1953, President Eisenhower brought an end to the Korean War by sending word to Moscow that, if the Communists failed to start negotiating in earnest at Panmunjom, he would have “no inhibitions as to territory and weapons.”
7. We successfully stood up to the Communists in the Formosa crisis in 1954.
8. In 1958 we withstood an ultimatum to us to get out of Berlin.
9. In 1958 we stood firm in the face of military assaults on the islands of Quemoy and Matsu in the Formosa Straits. Despite an orchestrated propaganda campaign at home and abroad threatening all-out war unless we and the free China government on Taiwan evacuated immediately, President Eisenhower sent a small amount of fine U.S. equipment, especially the items known as “alligators” and “sidewinders.” They destroyed many MIG planes and we gained a tremendous military and psychological victory without involving American troops. Those islands are still free today.
10. Also in 1958, the Communists threatened a coup in Lebanon. President Eisenhower sent over a small group of Marines and averted the takeover. This success story endures as a classic example of how a strong nation can effectively preserve freedom and peace by a small show of military strength backed up by decisive leadership and overwhelming military strength.
It’s like the old story that used to be told to prove the respect criminals had for the Texas Rangers. A small town was terrorized by an uncontrollable riot and called for emergency help. In due course, the train arrived and one Ranger got off. The distraught Mayor asked, “Are you the only Ranger who came?” To which the Ranger replied, “Y’got more than one riot?”
11. In the Berlin crisis of 1961, we ordered a U.S. mobilization and successfully prevented a threatened takeover of Berlin by the Soviet Union.
12. The most dramatic of all confrontations, of course, was the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. After Khrushchev sneaked his offensive missiles into Cuba, our great Strategic Air Command went on airborne alert. The knowledge that we then had 50,000 megatons of nuclear striking power which could destroy not only Cuba but also Russia forced Khrushchev to back down and agree to pull out the missiles.
13. In the Yom Kippur War of 1973 when the Kremlin threatened to intervene, and our intelligence picked up the news that Soviet paratroopers were on the ready, President Nixon ordered a full alert of U.S. strategic forces. The Soviet paratroopers took off their boots.
The lesson of our relationship with the Communists — Russian, East German, Chinese, Korean, or anywhere else in the world — is that confrontation leads to peace not war. The Communists respect strength not weakness, determination not conciliation. We hope President Carter learns the lessons of history.
