Fraternity-Testvériség, 1962 (40. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1962-02-01 / 2. szám
1 4 FRATERNITY in such a way, you know, that everybody was a little bit fooled, I think, and when suddenly the Soviets came in in strength with their tank divisions, and it was a fait accompli, it was a great tragedy and disaster. But I don’t believe that as of this day, even second sight, which is usualy 20-20, I don’t believe that the United States or any other country was ready to go to major war on that basis at that time. Cronkite: You had no doubts, in your own mind, that commitment in Hungary would lead to a major conflict with Russia? Eisenhower: Oh, it would have bound to have, in my opinion. Cronkite: Well, Mr. President, there was criticism, as I know you’re aware, because in the nineteen hundred and fifty-two cam paign, and thereafter, there were pledges that we were going to help liberate the people behind the Iron Curtain. Eisenhower: I was always very careful in the 1952 campaign; I always said: “By every peaceful means.” I said, we will never accept the theory that these nations are to be forever enslaved. But we are not going to war to liberate them. We are going to use every peacable means open to us, and I think we should always do that. Cronkite: Well, in the case of Lebanon, you did move . . . Eisenhower: Yes. Cronkite: Quickly and adroitly to put American troops ashore, although the Russians were threatening to intervene with volunteers? Eisenhower: They were threatening a lot of things, but what we did — we took a number of our combat teams from Europe and put them right ashore, and there we operated on the basis that a friendly government, with whom we had friendly relations, had asked for protection against this outside infiltration and al most invasion. We did it and were ready and prepared to take the consequences of it, because we believed it was right, and quickly as they saw we meant business, why everything went very well, and it wasn’t long before we could get out. Cronkite: You don’t think that their reaction would have been the same in Hungary? I mean, when they see we mean business? Eisenhower: Not at that time, no — not at that time, because first of all, we had no agreement by Hungary. We had no government that was asking us to come in and it wasn’t until there was a sort of a, I think, a very brief revolutionary government was set up, that we had any communication with them. So I don’t know. It wasn’t the same case at all.
