Letter from London

The Chill Winds of Reality

For Britain, as for all other nations of the Western Alliance, the Soviet Union’s “political parachute drop” into Syria remains the hottest possible news, although one might not know it from the apparent serenity of officials on both sides of the Atlantic. Russia has at last attained that access to warmer seas for which her strategists have been planning for generations. She is well on the way to encircling Turkey, the one strong link between NATO and the Moslem world. She has driven a spearhead through the West’s already battered Middle Eastern flank. She commands vital pipelines. Her bombers are within easy striking distance of British and American bases. Spies and agents can infiltrate from Syria into all the surrounding Arab countries and the Syrian army can be launched at Israel whenever such a move seems desirable. Then it would be only another little jump into Egypt, with plenty of friends on the ground.

AL

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Anthony Lejeune

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The Chill Winds of Reality

For Britain, as for all other nations of the Western Alliance, the Soviet Union’s “political parachute drop” into Syria remains the hottest possible news, although one might not know it from the apparent serenity of officials on both sides of the Atlantic. Russia has at last attained that access to warmer seas for which her strategists have been planning for generations. She is well on the way to encircling Turkey, the one strong link between NATO and the Moslem world. She has driven a spearhead through the West’s already battered Middle Eastern flank. She commands vital pipelines. Her bombers are within easy striking distance of British and American bases. Spies and agents can infiltrate from Syria into all the surrounding Arab countries and the Syrian army can be launched at Israel whenever such a move seems desirable. Then it would be only another little jump into Egypt, with plenty of friends on the ground.