Armistice Is Not Peace

In Panmunjom last week U.N. and Communist staff officers worked patiently amid piles of maps, charts and aerial photos. Their job: to pinpoint the demarcation line from which both armies will withdraw when an armistice is signed. Their difficulty: the line will not become final until the signing, and meanwhile, it was not holding still (see below). Already, Communist gains on the eastern front were forcing the negotiators to move the line south. Staff officers were well aware that men were dying as they talked, but theirs was a painstaking job, and it could not be rushed. "So far," said a top U.S. commander, "we have hit no major snag."

At week's end Lieut. General Maxwell Taylor spoke to his troops by radio. Said he: "An armistice does not mean the war is over . . . We must constantly be on the alert and ready for a resumption of hostilities, in case . . . the enemy breaches the terms of armistice.

"We must show patience and good judgment . . . Every commander must stress the readiness for combat . . . There must be no thought of going home until permanent peace and stability have been restored in Korea . . . Every commander must study closely the terms of the armistice . . . Every man . . . must understand exactly what he can and cannot do under these terms. Every commander will be held responsible for the compliance of his troops . . .

"The signing of an armistice will not be an occasion for celebration or boisterous conduct. While ... we may rejoice when combat casualties end, as determined soldiers we recognize that much remains to be done . . . The armistice is not a peace--it is only a pause in the fighting."

Taylor's words were sobering. But to the embattled troops who were beating off new Chinese attacks while he spoke, even a mere pause in the fighting would have been welcome.

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