Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I wish to reply briefly to the criticisms of my recent speech on Algeria delivered yesterday by the French Minister for Algeria, Robert LaCoste, and by others who have joined in that new criticism. I might say at the outset that I was fully aware, when preparing my speech of last Tuesday, of the disfavor with which it would be regarded by our Department of State, the French Government, and others; but I felt nevertheless that the facts set forth by me needed to be stated fully and frankly.
     The reaction to my remarks both at home and abroad has further strengthened my conviction that the situation in Algeria is drifting dangerously, with the French authorities reluctant to seek a fresh approach, and our American authorities refusing to recognize the grave international implications of this impasse. No amount of hopeful assertions that France will handle the problem alone, no amount of cautious warnings that these are matters best left unmentioned in public, and no amount of charges against the motives or methods of those of us seeking a peaceful solution can obscure the fact that the Algerians will someday be free. Then, to whom will they turn - to the West, which has seemingly ignored their plea for independence; to the Americans, whom they may feel have rejected the issue as none of our affair while at the same time furnishing arms that help crush them; or to Moscow, to Cairo, to Peiping, the pretended champions of nationalism and independence?
     And who, by that time, will be leading the Algerians - the moderates with a pro-Western orientation with whom negotiations might still be conducted now, or the extremists, terrorists, and outside provocateurs who inevitably capture such a movement as the conflict drags on? Finally, what will such a settlement in Algeria at some distant date mean to France then? Will it not mean the loss of all her economic, political, and cultural ties in north Africa which could still be salvaged in a settlement today? Will it not mean that France will have suffered a weakened economy, a decimated army and a series of unstable governments only to learn once again - as she learned too late in Indochina, Tunisia, and Morocco - that man's desire to be free and independent is the most powerful force in the world today?
     Of course Algeria is a complicated problem. Of course, we should not assume full responsibility for that problem's solution in France's stead. And, of course, the Soviet Union is guilty of far worse examples of imperialism. But we cannot long ignore as being none of our business, or as a French internal problem, a struggle for independence that has been and will be a major issue before the U.N., that has denuded NATO of its armies, drained the resources of our French allies, threatened the continuation of Western influence and bases in north Africa and bitterly split the free world we claim to be leading.
     The Algerian situation is a deadly time bomb steadily ticking toward the day when another disaster to the free world - worse than Indochina - might explode.
     When the roll is called on Algeria this fall in the United Nations, as it must inevitably, we in this Nation will be forced to face this issue publicly. If no reasonable proposal for settlement has by then been put forward by the French and encouraged by the West, will we be able to say to the General Assembly in all sincerity that progress has been made? Will we again vote against the anticolonial bloc that controls the world balance of power? Or will we finally take back from the Soviets the leadership that is rightfully ours of the worldwide movement for freedom and independence?
     I repeat my opening observations of last Tuesday: We dare not overlook, in our concern over legal and diplomatic niceties, the powerful force of man's eternal desire to be free and independent. The worldwide struggle against imperialism, the sweep of nationalism, is the most potent factor in foreign affairs today. We can resist it or ignore it, but only for a little while; we can see it exploited by the Soviets, with grave consequences; or we in this country can give it hope and leadership, and thus improve immeasurably our standing and our security.