More Money, More Power

The voters had been asked to pay billions in Marshall Plan aid, and billions for U.S. military expansion. Last week, in his first formal report, Defense Secretary Jim Forrestal told them that all this was still not enough for security against the Russians.* The U.S. taxpayers would also have to dig up more billions to arm America's friends abroad.

In a 65,000-word message to the President, Forrestal urged top priority for legislation which would permit the President to send "military assistance" anywhere overseas. Such authority to act without reference back to Congress should be so general that arms (but not men) could be sent to any country "with international interests similar to those of the U.S." The best guess of what it would cost was $1 billion this year, billions more later.

As for America's own U.S. military machine, Forrestal said it badly needed cranking up. True, the U.S. did hold a "fair margin of superiority" on virtually every technical weapon. But even the atom bomb was neither sufficient to prevent attack, nor enough to insure victory after attack. Any war would require the best combined efforts of the Army, Navy and Air Force. And Jim Forrestal reported frankly that, after 15 months of "unification," they were a long way from being unified.

Congress hadn't given him enough authority to knock heads together, Forrestal said. Congress had empowered him only to set "general policies and programs," and to exercise "general direction, authority and control." For that he had himself to blame. As Navy Secretary he shared the Navy's mortal fear of unification, joined the admirals in insisting on restriction of the Defense Secretary's authority. After 17 months as Defense Secretary, Jim Forrestal saw it all in a clearer light. He asked Congress to kick out the word "general" and let him really do the job.

* For a "technical" aspect of the Forrestal report see SCIENCE.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.