-NATIONAL SECURITY POLICY


rather astonished, particula~rly since the projection showed a reduction
in military expenditures to $9 billion and no foreign expenditures.
   Mr. Herter felt that there was also a feeling of security among the
 American people which is not justified by the world situation as he
 sees it today, In his opinion the situation vis-a-vis the Soviet Union
 is deteriorating, and our position in-the next five years will, unless the
 trend is reversed, be most serious.
   He said that that was the situation as he saw it and that he had
been turning over in his-mind possible things that we could do about
it. He had two suggestions. First, we should make another effort to
reach agreement with the Soviets. The basis of the agreement should
be the seven points covered in my Berkeley speech.3 In the event of
failure to reach agreement, we should take the offensive on two
fronts-one diplomatically and the other in the U.N. If the Soviets
refuse to reach agreement with us, we should label them the barbarians
that they are and reach the conclusion that we cannot do business with
them. We should then proceed to force them out of the U.N. and bring
about a severance of diplomatic relations. Both of these efforts would
have to be preceded by obtaining the support, first, of all Latin Ameri-
can nations, and, second, and more difficult, of our Western European
friends. We would then "draw down the iron curtain" on our side,
not, of course, politically or information-wise but physically by pre-
venting trade and the movement of persons.
   I expressed my agreement with him on the dilemma with which we
are confronted by the three problems he first mentioned. I also ex-
pressed complete agreement with the fact that the American people
have a false sense of security and do not realize that the world situa-
tion, which is called a cold war, is in fact a real war and that the Soviet
Union has one purpose and that is world domination. With respect to
the world situation, I said that I did not think our position has de-
teriorated between 1948 and 1949, except for the loss of China which
was expected, but that during the last six to nine months there had
been a trend against us which, if allowed to continue, would lead to
a considerable deterioration in our position.
   I said that I felt the American people must be made to realize the
gravity of our situation and must become reconciled to the fact that
we must make certain sacrifices in order to meet the problem of Soviet
aggression; that we can only meet it with the full support of the
American people which cannot be marshalled without a thorough
understanding on their part. The Soviets are intent on world domi-
nation and have extended their sphere of influence materially in the

  'For the text of Acheson's address at the University of California at Berkeley,
March 16, see the Department of State Bulletin, March 27, 1950, pp. 473-478.


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