(5 of 5)
No Other Way. The Navy's case had showed up indisputable shortcomings in procedures to settle differences of opinion between the services. It had also proved, far more clearly than the first unseemly attempts at forcing an investigation, that the Navy was determinedly opposed to many vital aspects of national defense—from the purchase of long-range bombers to matters of highest military policy. Presumably the differences between the Navy, the Administration and the other services were not irreconcilable, but it would take nothing less than a full-dress investigation to get them working in harmony again. The inquiry, which would probably run for months, could not be carried on without laying military plans and procedures bare, in the open where Russia would be listening carefully. But there was now no other way out.
*A headline-catching phrase. The B-36 design was submitted in 1941, but it was not ready for production until 1947. Under the same dating system the B-17 Flying Fortress was a 1934 airplane, the B-29 Superfortress a 1940 model.