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U.S. policy was not the imperialism of national aggrandizement. Its basic interest was in worldwide freedom. The best U.S. foreign policy was still to demonstrate to the world that democratic free enterprise was a system that worked for the benefit of all. Last week the agents of that kind of system were busy in the Middle East, where U.S. oil companies invested another $227 million—almost as much as Harry Truman asked for Greece —in the oilfields of Arabia (see BUSINESS & FINANCE). This was also a calculated risk.
The leaders of Congress, despite the press of other business (see The Congress) were ready to expedite the debate and reach the decision. If they accepted George Marshall's military theory, then they must accept the political theory implicit in Harry Truman's speech: that the only defense of a respectable peace is a bold political attack.
*First official calculation of the cost to the U.S. of World War II. It amounts to $2,410 for every man, woman and child in the U.S., or $7,333 apiece for every one of some 46,500,000 U.S. taxpayers.