THE NATION: The Seldom-Fire

• Share

(2 of 2)

New Puzzle. All this seemed like a tremendous effort to demolish news reports. It became apparent that what bothered the White House was the idea that the President had ordered the ceasefire. Truman did not want a letdown in morale either in the U.S. or on the Korean front. Nor did he want the Communists to get any idea that he was ready to try appeasement. The Communists' goal is a cease-fire without other agreements. The U.S. wants a ceasefire, plus inspection behind both lines to prevent buildups for a surprise attack, and an agreement for exchange of prisoners.

On the fighting front, if not a ceasefire, at least a "seldom-fire" was on even after the Truman flap. The Korean war, limited in the early stages on the U.N. side by Washington's long-term reluctance to "provoke" the Reds, now had a new and puzzling limitation which would or would not make sense, depending on what happened in the truce negotiations.