DEFENSE: IRBMs in Turkey

Of all the complaints that Nikita Khrushchev has leveled against the West, one of the angriest is that the NATO nations are threatening the Iron Curtain countries with a ring of nuclear missile bases. Great Britain already has Thor bases, and Jupiter is on the way to Italy. Last week from Washington came reports that still another base for 1,000-mile IRBMs will soon be installed. The site: Turkey.

Negotiations for the Turkish IRBM base began long before President Eisenhower and Premier Khrushchev began their talks. The decision to go ahead with the new base would show that thaw or no thaw in the cold war, the U.S. cannot afford to lower its guard until realistic action on disarmament and international nuclear control has taken place.