Richmond planet., 1925-08-29

The above is a summary of the
whole situation. Add to these state
ments the fact that the rainy season
is coming ON and that the foreign
legions cannot .manoeuvre during
this period, while the Riffians can
move with impunity and you have a
summary of the whole situation.
The gas situation is described as
follows: y
There remains gas. The French
have not used it. They-especially
Marshal Lyautey-fear it might only
! make matters worse by envenomlng
the struggle and causing even the
! loval tribes to fear and hate them.
And some of the French officers
have scruples typical of the French
and of their old traditions of chivalry.
/ Said one aviator to me: w avlators
| would be the first ones who would
| have to drop the gas and we are the
first to oppose its use. We feel we
would be demeaning ourselves. we
don't want to give Abdel-Krim the
chance to tell the natives that we had
to use gas--that the French could
not beat them in a man-to-man
fight"
The Spaniards have not found gas
to be very helpful. They did subdue
the Anjera with it last year, but now
this tribe has rebelled again and is
---4L... ,oo,o hit+ar fnht than
before. The Spanish have abandoned
gas now. On his side, Abd-el-krlm
has served notice that if any gas at
tacks are made he will take reprisals
on the French and Spanish prisoners
in his hands.
Returning then to the modern
equipment which the French have
tried out, one more point needs to
be mentioned. These weapons have
the disadvantage of forming heavy
and often cumbersome impediments.
They slow down troop movements.
They make troops better targets for
the Riffians. They require many men
to use, maintain, supply, move and
guard. Two examples: 1t is far
easier for a .155 to get stuck than a
! .65-and it's capture would hurt.
French prestige among the loyal
!, tribes far more. Again, | have seer
the supply trucks break down, block
the road. hold up other units and eX-
pose them to the fire of the hidden
l Riffians.
t Then follows a most interesting
l statement:
I, The Riffians are spared all this
) They move quickly, almost invisibly
They have little to guard, little to
lose. They can concentrate on the
actual business of fighting. Nearly
every man they have on active duty
is, in the fullest sense of the word
: a combatant in direct contact with
{ the enemy. They have no "fve
mouths behind the line for one hanc
e at the front"
: The Riffians have made this essen
TALLY an infantry war, a hide-and'
g seek war, in which elastic movement
7 swift manoeuvre are all-important
1t is a war in which the individual
soldier and the sharp-shooting rifle
t that old weapon which the memor!
n of Indian fighting has kept Ameri
cans from disdaining, as European:
d have done-have come into their owl
l. again. 1t is significant that the ma
g tive name for Morocco is Mogreb
for Mogreb means 1.-THE Far West"
In their Far West the French hav'
It done as we, as any civilized power
would have done. They have pu
their trust in the god of this, on
5, age-the machine. Our god so ia
Nj has failed them. He has failed t.
terrify the native warrior, failed t.
# knock him out, failed to stop him
He has proved clumsy on the defen
sive and unadapted to the offensive