“Soviet agents miss no opportunity to encourage trouble between Israel and the Arab states, ” the State Department charged today in a report reviewing the foreign policy of the United States.
“The Soviet Union, ” the report said, ” seeks control of the Near East but is not interested in relieving its trouble. The Soviets do not know or attempt to provide the solutions to any problems, nor do they care where the right and wrong can be found in any dispute. Their agents only blow on every fire and sabotage every element of good will or good sense.”
Emphasizing that the tension between Israel and the Arab states is one of the political problems that disturb the Near East, the report pointed out that “the answer to the political problems of that area is up to the people themselves. ” It emphasized that the United States, through its Mutual Security Program, is providing economic and technical assistance, as well as military aid, to the countries in the Near East.
“United States policy looks beyond the present emergency, ” the report stressed. “Our program is designed to help the people of the Near East obtain the tools and technical guidance now which will enable them to carry on their development through the years to come.”
The report emphasized that the United States is now working with other nations to establish a Middle East Command in order “to strengthen the defensive capabilities of the Middle East ” and help the states of the area “with their preparations to resist Soviet aggression.”
Testifying today before the House Appropriations Committee, Secretary of State Dean Acheson expressed concern that “political confusion is creating weakness” in the Middle East “at the very moment when it is of paramount importance that we join together for collective security. ” The Secretary said that the State Department still believes that a Middle East defense command is “essential” and that the Department is “working in that direction.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
