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    "ocrText": "1\n3/14/54: Reel 2, Track 1, , Page 3\nMR. ACHESON:\nWhat George says about the inapplicability of all prior consideration of\nour prisoners is dramatically brought out in the discussions in the United\nNations, to which we will come in a minute in a little more detail. But\nthe thing which I remember with such vividness about that was the maddening\nurreality of the whole discussion. Vishinsky's whole view, which was a\nquite logical view and ably presented, was that under these earlier treaties\nincluding one--the last-Geneva Treaty, prisoners of war remain soldiers\nunder military discipline and with military rank and in military formation,\nentitled to the treatment of their opposite numbers in the ranks of the\ncapturing power. And, being soldiers, when the fighting was over and an\narmistice occurred, they were returned as soldiers, as people subject to\nmilitary discipline, and they were tryable for all offenses, military and\notherwise, under military law, etc., etc. This he argued. Now the madden-\ning thing about this was that neither the Russians nor the Chinese nor the\nNorth Koreans had observed a single clause in any one of these treaties.\nTONAL HIVES for a\nYet they argued against us these documents which they did not accept. And\nACORDS\nall the neutrals sat around wisely nodding their heads when Vishinsky made\nADMING\nvery true\na point and said: \"Ah, very wi se,/indeed; Mr. Vishinsky, that is an able\npoint. \" And you had a feeling that you were in a mad house arguing with\ncrazy people.\nMR. KENNAN : :\nThat is simply symbolic of the attitude that the Soviet leaders had taken\nsince 1917 toward the Western democracies--that we will hold you to your\nown standards of chivalry and liberality when it serves our purpose but\nwe will not recognize them ourselves. You see it fits right in with the\nwhole political front.\nMR. ACHESON:\nNow this brings me to the last point here, which is the discussions and\ndebates in the UN in October and November, 1952; and I talk about these\na little late, because they have--two very interesting points come out of\nthis discussion. One of them is the difficulty that you have when there"
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