THE WEEK

The British and French move to reoccupy Suez was a dramatic moment in modern history; for it held out the hope that there is, deep in the bosom of the West, a resolution to survive that will pierce through clichés about the Use of Force, the Evils of Aggression, and the Compulsions of Coexistence. But last week, the English and French stalled: perhaps because their courage was great enough to stare down Egypt, the Arabs and the Communists, but not great enough to stare down the United States; perhaps because, owing to internal decay, they could muster the energy for a single brilliant flash of determination but, like a wornout battery whose power is overtaxed, were unequal to any sustained effort. The next weeks will tell.

The collapse of the Hungarian revolt and the failure of, the United States Government overtly to assist the revolutionaries has made explicit a quandary that has for years implicitly plagued American foreign policy. West German and French newspapers have now published charges that the United States, through its semi-official Radio Free Europe, incited the Hungarians to revolt, and then refused to help them once they had done so. Mr. Frank J. Abbot, information director of Radio Free Europe, rushed forward to insist that his organization had done no such thing—had not, presumably, urged the enslaved peoples to exert themselves to regain freedom. “We have presented nothing but objective news and commentaries,” he said. “We never urged anyone to revolt.” Well then what is the policy of Radio Free Europe toward the satellite peoples? To re-enact the story of Tantalus? To hold out the objectively described joys of freedom to its listeners, but in a context that precludes their reaching for that freedom?

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The British and French move to reoccupy Suez was a dramatic moment in modern history; for it held out the hope that there is, deep in the bosom of the West, a resolution to survive that will pierce through clichés about the Use of Force, the Evils of Aggression, and the Compulsions of Coexistence. But last week, the English and French stalled: perhaps because their courage was great enough to stare down Egypt, the Arabs and the Communists, but not great enough to stare down the United States; perhaps because, owing to internal decay, they could muster the energy for a single brilliant flash of determination but, like a wornout battery whose power is overtaxed, were unequal to any sustained effort. The next weeks will tell.

The collapse of the Hungarian revolt and the failure of, the United States Government overtly to assist the revolutionaries has made explicit a quandary that has for years implicitly plagued American foreign policy. West German and French newspapers have now published charges that the United States, through its semi-official Radio Free Europe, incited the Hungarians to revolt, and then refused to help them once they had done so. Mr. Frank J. Abbot, information director of Radio Free Europe, rushed forward to insist that his organization had done no such thing—had not, presumably, urged the enslaved peoples to exert themselves to regain freedom. “We have presented nothing but objective news and commentaries,” he said. “We never urged anyone to revolt.” Well then what is the policy of Radio Free Europe toward the satellite peoples? To re-enact the story of Tantalus? To hold out the objectively described joys of freedom to its listeners, but in a context that precludes their reaching for that freedom?