Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 8, 1990 TAG: 9003081953
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
Mr. Morgenthau's plan to turn post-war Germany into pastureland was about as sensible as establishing Disney World in Antarctica. This simplistic neo-isolationary idea was never given serious contemplation; fortunately, George Marshall's plan rebuilt Europe with significant U.S. financing.
If a Marshall Plan had resulted from the Treaty of Versailles after World War I, a Hitler would never have succeeded a bankrupt Weimar Republic. But instead, isolationists, who espoused the same kind of view as Davis, thwarted U.S. entry into the League of Nations. No lessons were learned from World War I.
Today, no informed observers fear resurgent militarism in Germany. NATO allies continue their role in a period of peacetime that will be 45 years old. And Europe's largest pacifist party - the Greens in the Federal Republic - continues to press for disarmament. WALTER REINHARDT SALEM
by CNB