The Horrors On Our

North-Western Horizon

7WENTS in Indo-China, Indo- Ji nesia, Southern Asia generally, and in Nuclear Fission, this lonth, are of vital interest to wellers in all Pacific Islands, in iuding Australia, New Zealand and [a wail.

As this is written, the Chinese ommunists are making an all-out ttack on French Indo-China. If ido-China collapses, it will be the irn of Siam, Malaya and Burma )-morrow; and of Indonesia the a,y after. This is bringing the hor >r very close to our Pacific Islands.

Indonesia is “rotten ripe” for ommunist penetration. The gang ’ semi-educated chatterers who ere pushed into office as a “re iblican government” by Jap in vests after the Anglo-American Dliticians deserted and betrayed ie Dutch in 1946-47 are still in fice; but (according to a state ent made by Communist Party Jcretary Aidit on March 16) they )w are kept there only by Com unist votes.

The 70 millions in Indonesia are vided between moderate Moslems, :treme Moslems, Communists, tiinese, Socialists, and what-have >u, and the differences between iem grow ever wider. Never a sek passes without some sort of bellious uprising. The “govern ent” tries to divert attention from ternal chaos by loudly insisting i the surrender by Holland of estern New Guinea—on March 17,

for example, it initiated the “Irian Bureau,” pledged to agitate con stantly for possession of Irian (Dutch New Guinea).

Indonesia could be left to its own ferments, however, did it not pro vide Asia’s Reds with such a handy corridor to the South Seas.

MEANWHILE, the very terrifying explosion of the hydrogen bomb in the Marshall Islands on March 1 has started an inter national scream by all the little people for “an end to this lunacy.”

None of them appear to realise that, if the Anglo-Americans do not maintain their lead over the Red bloc in the development of nuclear fission bombs and guided missiles, they might as well surrender them selves to Muscovite-Asiatic Com munism, and all that that implies.

It was America’s lead in the de velopment of the atom bomb which kept the Russians out of Western Europe in 1945-50; and—although the Reds possess enormous superi ority in field armaments and are more than ready to march—it is our continued superiority in this branch of scientific horror, and America’s manifest determination to use the new weapons if attacked, that have persuaded the Reds to remain be hind their Iron Curtain, for the moment.

Let there be any weakening on our part, and the Russians will overwhelm Europe, just as certainly

as the countless masses of Asians will spill over on to the rich and defenceless lands of the Pacific.

The scientists probably are right: there IS a very grave danger that the continued development of nuclear fission explosions will wreck civilisation and perhaps destroy most of the life on this globe. But, in the view of most Americans, and many millions who are not Ameri cans, it is better to accept this risk of extermination, rather than the certainty that, without these dread ful weapons, we shall be over whelmed by Red Muscovites and Asiatic hordes.

Thirteen professors and “readers” of Sydney University, the other day, subscribed to a letter, pub lished in Sydney Morning Herald, expressing their terror of the bomb, and pleading that something be done to abolish it. How typical of the pin-headed academician and idealist! Can they not realise that Churchill and Eisenhower hate and fear this thing as much as anyone can; and that they would gladly join with other nations in outlaw ing all such weapons?

But the choice before the Anglo- American leaders is plain: Either the bomo, or Muscovite Commun ism—possible extermination, or a certainty of shameful slavery. What real man would hesitate in the choice?

Our leaders can only continue along the path they have chosen, and hope that there may soon be some socio-political development which will compel the Communist bloc to submit, with the Western Powers, to an international force

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which will control not only nuclear fission weapons, but armaments generally.

We shall not get that while the present Muscovite set-up remains.

Therefore we must remain con stantly on guard. It is a grim and ugly outlook —nothing more grim or more ugly preceded either World War I or World War 11.