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Professor Peek, Mr. Ravenholt, and Charles Davis, professor of geography at the University of Michigan and recently returned from the Far East, discuss the nature of the U. S. military aid in the Far East. Mr. Ravenholt points out that the U.S. is sending more military aid to the Far East than to Europe. This aid is directed primarily at Korea, Japan, Formosa, Siam, Indochina, and the Philippines. These six countries are in the "twilight zone," the zone between the bamboo curtain and the U.S. dominated Pacific. Two worlds are vying for this critical area. Members of the panel use two case studies to describe the aid extended to the Philippines and the aid directed toward Formosa. In the Philippines, U. S. officials made many mistakes such as mismanaging guerilla recognition after the war. After 1950 and the outbreak of the Korean War, however, the U.S. reorganized its methods of aid to the new republic and helped the Philippines in their thorough clean up of the Army. By contrast, Formosa has received more U.S. military aid than the Philippines. Here, however, there has been no attempt to educate the people in a democratic fashion or to help give the military the idea of being loyal to a country and a Constitution rather than to an individual. Here the U.S. has been successful in equipping the Island, but not in giving organizational assistance. The panel agrees, that, if we can send military aid and ideals, it is a cheap price for our boys' lives. The Philippine peoples are friendly toward the U.S. because the U.S. aid has been demonstrated to be in their interest. This is not so in other countries. Many of the Asiatic peoples feel they have no control over the American military aid. Ravenholt concludes the discussion by stressing the need for demonstrating that the U.S. aid is in the interest of the people in order for it to succeed.
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