Still Sick of War
"The Schuman Plan is on the books at last," he said, "and everywhere I went there was great confidence that it would eventually materialize.
"Although no one at Eisenhower's headquarters is entirely satisfied with the progress of the European army and Europe is still sick of war and wary of new devastation, progress has been made and the situation there has improved.
"The main problem in Europe seems to be the feebleness of the French Government. It is unlikely that anything can be done about it either, for there is no majority for anyone. Luckily, the preeminence of Schuman offers hope of some consistency in foreign affairs. He keeps returning in spite of all the turnovers. It is extremely unfortunate that he doesn't get the real backing he deserves."
Friedrich reported that the Europeans are worried that the United States is too convinced of the possibility of Russian belligerency; they feel that our extreme pessimism may even increase the danger of such belligerency.
Despite this sentiment on the continent, Friedrich still advocates continuance of our present program of containment. Asked if there would be a war soon in Europe, he replied "No--not as long as we carry on our present policy. As long as Russia knows she has a tough proposition on her hands, she wont' strike."
"Had we carried on this program against Hitler, he concluded, "I am convinced that he would have thought twice before starting the war."
Elliott, when asked about the possibility of a European war in the near future, stated, "There is no evidence whatsoever that Russia is not preparing to strike at any time. She continues to arm and to stockpile weapons.
Our chances for not having her strike depend on two things: 1) our atomic superiority and our supply of new weapons; 2) our ability to change the European psychology so that Western Europe will help itself and not lie over and play dead.
"If anything, we must accelerate our present program to protect ourselves for the next two or three years. Perhaps this program should place more emphasis on the development of new weapons. At any rate, we have to make up our minds what price we want to pay for Operation Survival.