Progress at Ottawa

NATO Progress at Ottawa In six busy days, the NATO Council meeting at Ottawa:

P: Unanimously decided to admit Greece and Turkey into the North Atlantic alliance. If ratified by all member governments, this action will add about 30 divisions, now under arms, to the West's fighting strength. As the U.S.'s General Omar Bradley put it: "You need the Mediterranean to defend Europe, and you need Greece and Turkey to defend the Mediterranean."

P:Listened to (but postponed action on) an urgent report from General Dwight Eisenhower, warning that NATO is not mobilizing fast enough to meet its defense target by 1954. The fault, Eisenhower implied, lies especially with some of the smaller NATO members. P: Set up a twelve-man Executive Committee (delegates dubbed it "The Twelve Apostles") to decide how much of the defense burden each member should bear. P: Agreed to support Prime Minister Alcide de Gasperi's demand that the Italian peace treaty be revised, especially to give Italy the right to have more arms. This week, at Washington, De Gasperi is exploring ways & means to do it. The problem, as always: Russia, which by the treaty's terms must agree to any revision. P: Got a U.S. promise of half a billion dollars for NATO's "infrastructure,"* i.e., defense installations built in one country but shared by all. With the U.S. commitment in their pocket, the French promised to get going on a dozen or more new airfields which NATO must have in France.

*Formally added to the dictionary of officialese. Said one minister: "Now, when we disagree sharply with another delegate, we can say: 'I'll give you a swift kick in your infrastructure!' "

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