Ike's Trip (Part II)

NATO

The spirit of Europe was visibly coming alive last week under the quiet, sure touch of General Dwight Eisenhower. Wherever he went, Ike met and encouraged a growing will to resist the Communist threat.

Britain: Assurances. Before he left London, where he had arrived 70 hours before from the northern leg of his trip, Ike had every reason to expect that Britain would double her production of planes and tanks, increase her army by 2 1/2 divisions, her defense spending by 25%.

Portugal: Photography. In Lisbon, Ike stayed at the ornately elegant Aviz Hotel, in wonderment photographed his bathroom with its green mosaic walls and its pink tub standing like a throne atop a flight of steps. Next morning he settled down for a talk with Strong-Man Premier Antonio de Oliveira Salazar, learned that Portugal had a force of about 30,000 scattered around in regional garrisons. Portugal promised to concentrate her troops into two divisions. The Portuguese, however, see little sense in a defense set-up that excludes Spain.

Italy: Personality. Ike flew straight to Rome, where Italy's Reds had promised to make his visit a test of strength. They chalked obscenities on the walls, called a general strike, warned: "He must not land from the plane!"

But De Gasperi's government was tougher. It promised to dismiss government employees who struck, and threatened to cancel the licenses of shopkeepers who closed up. It tore down Red posters, erased the four-letter Anglo-Saxonisms, checked sewers for time bombs, and called out all its steel-helmeted police, who jammed Rome's streets.

The great Red protest fizzled out. But the Reds did score, though not in the way they planned. Carabinieri in Adrano, Sicily fired on demonstrators and killed a 19-year-old antiCommunist, member of the government Christian Democratic party. When the anti-Eisenhower demonstrations throughout Italy had ended, the Reds claimed four dead, 100 hurt as martyrs. Many, however, were not Reds, but victims of the unrest that periodically erupts in poverty-stricken areas.

Officially, Ike met a warm reception, especially from scholarly Premier Alcide de Gasperi and Foreign Minister Count Carlo Sforza. Said De Gasperi: "He does not give the impression of a militaristic general, and it is easy to think of him first as a man and as the head of a university --a humanist, a complete personality."

In Rome, Ike could not repeat the "hurry up with defense" pep talk he had given in other NATO capitals. Italy's hands are tied by the peace treaty, which it generally observes (in sharp contrast to Red Satellites Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, which have disregarded their treaties and armed to the teeth). The treaty limits Italy's total armed forces to 300,000, its artillery to a maximum range of 18| miles; its navy is allowed no submarines, its air force no bombers. Nevertheless, Italy enthusiastically agreed to increase its strength from five infantry divisions to nine, keep its conscripts in the army 18 months instead of ten or eleven.

Luxembourg: Music. Luxembourg, Ike's next stop, was a pleasant interlude. Ike greeted an oldtime Washington friend, Party-Giver Perle Mesta, now U.S. Minister to Luxembourg: "What are you doing out here in this cold, Perlie?" At his ninth NATO capital in 13 days, Ike was pale and tired; he put off an appointment with Premier Pierre Dupong, took a nap after lunch, instead. Constellation crew members reported that the general constantly pored over documents during flights. "He doesn't even take time out to look out the window unless we point something out to him," an officer said. That evening, Mrs. Mesta invited Ike and Luxembourg dignitaries in for a "real American meal," with steak and ice cream. Appropriately, an orchestra played music from Call Me Madam, including They Like Ike.

Luxembourg did. The government told Ike it would double its present 2,280-man army from two to four battalions, offered him its big steel plants to produce NATO munitions.

Germany: Truth. Next day, Ike landed at Frankfurt's Rhein-Main airport in the midst of a touchy political problem. Germans had been affronted by Ike's 1945 description of them as "arrogant in victory, very polite in defeat." In his first press conference, Ike took the touchy Germans gently by the hand: "I would be entirely a liar if I should say that, at the time of the conflict, I did not bear in my heart a very definite antagonism toward Germany. I had deep antagonisms against the German Nazi regime and all the Nazis stood for." But "for my part, bygones are bygones. As of now, I would like to see the German people and all people say they mean to be free. As one gang we will build -the strength necessary to protect ourselves."

Everywhere: Vision. Now that Ike had completed his tour of European capitals (he will visit Reykjavik and Ottawa this week), what picture will he take back to Washington? Eric Gibbs, chief of TIME'S London Bureau, who has followed Ike from capital to capital, last week cabled:

"At this point Ike is not committing himself publicly beyond generalities. But I would expect his report to Washington to make these points: 1) Present effective forces for Europe's defense can be counted at no more than a dozen divisions. However, the West's forces are so far outnumbered that detailed arithmetic does not matter much. What counts is whether European nations have the will to defend themselves. 2) Compared with six months ago, European governments now seem animated with a new spirit of urgency. Even so, no European nation's sense of urgency yet equals America's.

"To the all-important question--can Europe be defended?--the answer is: yes, if everybody works like hell and really means it."

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