Rifles and Rice

President Eisenhower's foreign aid requests for the next fiscal year clearly make both economic and military assistance continuing and vital parts of United States policy. Not only does the President's program reflect the "critical needs of Asia," but it also recognizes the need for an expanded program of economic development throughout the world. Congress has already begun to snipe at the economic plans not linked directly to defense requirements--the very plan that make the President's message both realistic and bold.

Nations that most need economic aid have already recognized the necessity for accepting Western help. In fact, the first conclusions issued by the 29 nations at the recent Bandung conference was "the urgency of promoting economic development in the Asian-African region." President Eisenhower also singled out for special comment "the vast are of free Asia," because, as he said, "the immediate threats to world security" are now centered there.

An expanded development program--desired by the Asians and supported by the President--is needed in part because of communist expansion. Free Asia looks longingly at Soviet assistance it Communist China. India, for example, has had to accept substantial Soviet aid for a steel plant. Other Asian nations, too, will be certain to strengthen their economic ties to China and the Soviet Union without increased U.S. aid.

Still, the basic economic problems of Asia--food, health, education and industrialization--would exist with or without a threat from communism. To win the friendship of underdeveloped areas, the U.S. must do more than fight communism; it must demonstrate positively that rapid industrialization and democracy are compatible.

Of the total three-and-a-half billion dollar mutual security proposal, over $718 million would go for some kind of economic assistance. Thus, although the larger part of the funds is still designed for military support of the free world, increased appropriations will make possible expanded technical cooporation and development assistance. Such economic aid would come, in some instances, directly from the U.S., and others, it would be channeled through the United Nations or regional economic pools such as the Colombo Plan. The President, in addition, requested a flexible fund for Asian economic development for use at his discretion within limits established by Congress. This fund, in effect, shows the tenor of the message as a whole: the recognition that different types of aid must meet different situations. Although some might wish the President's program gave more emphasis to economic development, military forces are clearly needed to counter opposing armies--whether in Korea, Yugoslavia, or the Middle East. But Congress should realize that rifles without rice do not reinforce a line of defense.