aa
-llldecision.
% should perhaps be added that a policy of determent in regard to Russia
has nothing to do with any imputation of aggressive or warlike motives.
The
gravest danger to us lies in the fact that without proper precautions on our part
the Soviet Union might some day stumble into a war with us.
Misjudging the sit-
uation, the Russians might advance to a position from which it would be hard for
them to retreat.
They might decide to go through with the action they had
started, believing that we would either not oppose them or, if we did, be incapable of doing them mich harm,
From their point of view the same danger would
present itself in a different Light,
They would fear that if we did not regard
the risks for us as being too great we might oppose by force action they were
undertaking under the compulsion of vital necessities,
Neither country has any
reason to resent what the other may do to minimize the chances of an outbreak of
Soviet-American hostilities which would be the greatest calamity imaginable for
both of then
SoS
In the atomic age the threat of retaliation in kind is probably the stronzest single means of determent.
m6
Therefd
= the preparation of such retaliation
must necessarily occupy a decisive place in any over-all policy of protection
against the atomic danger,
Neither we nor the Russians can expect to feel even
reasonably safe unless an atomic attack by one will be certain to unleash a dev-
astating atomic counter-attack by the other.
However, once we are living under
the threat of atomic attack, even the most reliable preparations for retaliation
in kind may not prove sufficient to give us a sense of security.
We are too
much aware of the risks which the Nazi dictator was willing to take to feel satisfied that the Soviet leaders would under all circumstances shrink from sacri-
ficing their cities.
We may be doing them an injustice; the fact remains that
only recently dictatorially ruled and dissatisfied nations took up arms at the
risk of immense sacrifices, . They did so at a time when their rulers felt sure of
ultimate victory and were willing to pay the price it required to attain it,
ye