LETTER TO (Sanitized)FROM B.G.H. VANDERJAGT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80R01731R000700050002-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 25, 2003
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: June 7, 1956
• Content Type: LETTER

STAT
Approved For Release
c/o THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
2210 - E .. STREET. N.W.
WASHINGTON. D.C.
Dear
500;
In last night's Evening Star appeared the attached column by Dorothy
Thompson,which is a kind or critique on President Eisenhouser's appoint-
ment of 34 brain stormers.
In the last sentences which I underlined Miss Thompson may be right
but somewhat one-sided as-she had to include also the entire list of-
news paper columnists.They always criticise but never come up with a
new idea.
In tonight's Evening Star appeared the attached Editorial A'TWO-WAY
STREET and in which I underlined. alsox a sentence.
It may be understood that the U.S.A.sent some of its best men to the
other side.Which the Russians may have understood also.Nevermirid that
they were-confident that for the American scientists it was, impossible
to attack the foundations of commpnism.And as Karl Marx invited,that wasw
exactly the basis on which he welcomed criticism.Any other talk as about
freedom and. that we-are such good boys would. be meaningless and non-infor-
mative.
To read this from an editor of the Evening Star is astonishing,because
his newspaper is full of that meaningless talk.
The curious thing is that an eventual new idea for our Foreign policy
could neither be Republican or Democrat because it is founded on a non-
political basis,which on the other hand could. be embraced by-both parties.
However its simplicity would be extremely difficult to be understood,
because fundamentally it comes to the point that you had to show that
2 apples plus 2 apples were equal to 4 apples and not to 3 or 5.
It is as-with gravity.The Reason of Gravity is really extremely sim-
ple but it takes Captain Horn already more than 2 weeks to tell me that
I am wrong.Though he wrote me-that no scientist can give a definite- rea-
son for it.Neither could they tell in Moscou that Karl Marx was-wrong.
But without understanding gravity we--will never make the fullest use
of it and so it will be with oommunism.Without understanding that its-
basis is wrong we-will never succeed in getting rid of it.
Respectfully yours,
CDCIrtnaT NO.
NO CHANGE IN CLASS.
[] IacCLASSIFIED
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FORM I NO - 241 36-8 (47)
 w`~niths
7
A Two-Way
Ap t For RelivA , Street
tans. The returned from p rewarding experience in
goods and Russia. Duripg their 10-day visit there,
through they associated and talked freely-in
the two public places and private homes-with
ssibilities, hundreds of Soviet scientists. They have
,eady has come back knowing considerably mbrp
?ach4nery . than they knew before they went over,
aS tech- and as a result they are strong advocates
ie expan- of the idea that there should be increas-
les. There ing numbers of such trips on a reciprocal
50 million oasis,
use banks, Among the things learned by these
ed by the men is the fact that Russia today appears
to be a lot less secretive than it used
-en under to be. At any "rate-and this may well
'epresents be symptomatic of a fundamental change
t this in for the better in the Soviet system-they
to. restore found themselves at liberty to see all they
wo coun- wanted to see, and their conversations
.tical and discussed and debated many subjects
st. Trade ran m rom pure scientific matters to
e postwar a icate political questions, , and they
ie narrow could detect no effort to put a gag gn
:t, which any ing or s eer the a into meaning-
expanded less or nonin ormativ -channels'
ice each More important still, the visiting
resources Americans were allowed to give a close
ielopment inspection to concrete evidence-such as
Thus, the cyclotrons-that left no room for doubt
al barrier that Soviet science is far advanced in the
~rt of the field of physics, particularly in basic
nuclear research bearing upon the nature
of energy. In fact, according to some of
these tourist-experts, the Russians in this
respect have already achieved a lead that
of varied the United States may not be able to
A native overcome for the next 10 years. And
Connect- perhaps the biggest reason for their
.ingtonian impressive showing is that the Kremlin
t achieved is placing an enormous amount of money
aldier and at their disposal.
en more' Such information is well worth
in CQn- having, and it points up the value of
ed, States exchanging visits with the Soviet 'SJnion
:e he was along the lines advocated by President
ringing a Eisenhower. This two-way street to
into an knowledge can be traveled without en-
Finance dangering our security; indeed, it may
expressly actually help us in that sense. There is
not stem no monopoly in the field of abstract or
hough a applied science. We can learn from the
publican" Russians just as they can learn from us.
Bingham It would be narrow-visioned of us, and
c Service self-denying, if we insisted upon main-
ton when taining a wall of Intellectual censorship
11 Service between our two countries.
477,4 Oe
Approved For Release 2061A5/0,5 CI P80R01731 R000700050002-2
 4P}vriFF3 Wh
A'New Idea on the Subject Seen Vital
To Any Campaign Discussion
The slightest remark ema-
nating from a 'Russian leader
warrants cable tolls from any-
here. In Moscow, Premier
Bulganin, attending a garden
party at the British Embassy
and offered some cherries from
Italy, refused them on the
ground that they were NATO
cherries ,that_ there is nothing
good about NATO and that,
except for NATO, Italy and
her cherries would. be wonder-
ful. This remark was a front
page story in newspapers here.
The Russian leaders are not
worried about NATO Its
troubles ar,e too obvious to in-
spire in Its opponents anything
more serious than Premier
Bulganin's heavy-handed
humor, conveyed, of course,
by the Western press.
At the height, presumably,
of American power, our politi-
cal leaders are as fascinated
by their Soviet opponents as
a rabbit, by a snake. All our
moves are conditioned by So-
viet actions. We seem to have
nothing whatever to say for
ourselves. What is the reason?
I think the reason is that
*e ended the war with a very
false visio.n of the futtTe. Our
leaders calculated that we
would emerge as the only great
power whose resources would
be intact, and that out of this
position we would take over
the role of "world policemen"
on the pattern of Pax Ro-
Mane or Pax Britannica, and
by military might and a vast
expenditure of surplus goods,
we would usher in the Ameri-
can, century.
There were several things
wrong with this idea. The most
important error was to believe
it 'could lie realized peaceably.
The "Pax Romana" exists
only in memory as an age of
peace. Rome destroyed her
Most powerful enemies-in the
course of which she. also de-
'gtroyed the Ronan republic.
Thereafte her legions policed
fxlost - of the wpi'ld.,, but not
'without perpetual "marginal
wars."
Great Britain, at the height
of her imperial power, at
tempted to hold what she had,
making one alliance Ito ,fit 'one
situation and another 'for an-
other and was involved in per-
petual "police actions."
Rome and Britain were, fur-
thermore, frankly imperialist.
They raised and trained im-
perial castes of soldiers and
administrators. Each consid-
ered itself, for the time, as
entirely justified in keeping
the lesser breeds in line.
Neither American history,
nor the American practice of
government, nor the American
mind, fitted her (or will ever
fit her, as long as the republic
exists) for such a role. We
have not been empire builders
but empire smashers, standing,
at least platonically, for the
"right of self-determination."
However, the "right of self-
determination" is not a peace-
able idea, but a highly ex-
plosive one.
So our policy is schizo-
phrenic. What might have
been gained by consistent
Wilsonianism we lose by al-
liances with decaying empires.
What might have been gained
by a real imperial policy is
impossible for a democratic
people.
There was another alterna-
tive: The traditional American
policy of aloofness, with (as
the late Senator Taft sug-
gested) the extension of the
Monroe Doctrine to certain
critical areas.
Actually, we have extended
our lines throughout the globe.
Today 1.5 fnillion American
troops are stationed in 900
places, in few of which they
are secure; in none of bvhich
they are popular.
They are there to "contain"
Soviet forces. But the Soviets,
who possess a real imperial
idea, to which they are con-
sistent, keep their forces in
reserve and move politically
and diplomatically in the
global areas that American
revolutionism (anti-imperial-
ism) has opened to them.
Notice has been given that
foreign policy will be debated
during the campaign. We pre-
dict there will be no debate
worth the name. The Demo-
crats are arguing that the pol-
icy of the administration has
not weakened but strength-
ened the Communist bloc,
and, again, the obsession with
communism w i l l dominate.
They will call for increased
foreign aid. But if "foreign
aid" is a policy, we have been
outbidding the Soviets ten to
one. Their can, in fact, be no
deba a of n foreign_ policy un-
less, or until one party 6-r--We
o er comes up with a new
And the won't find it by the
recommended rain storm-
ing." We have had little of
anything else-and it always
seems a the same
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