Evening star., 1936-04-07
Is Ethiopia Beaten?

To judge by Marshal Badoglio's re-
ports from the front and by the tri-
umphant paeans echoing from Rome,
the Italian forces have just won victories
that presage an early termination of the
Ethiopian war in their favor. Undoubt-
edly, the most recent fighting has dealt
Halle Selassies remaining bodies of Or
ganized troops series of disastrous
blows. The flower of his army, the
imperial guard, after giving courageous
account of itself, appears to be COM
pletely smashed and to have fled in
disorder, relentlessly pursued by every
available bombing plane at the invaders
command.
The Fascist legions, following up their
progress around Lake Ashangi, have
occupied without resistance the strategic
town of Quoram, while the routed Ethi-
opians retreated rapidly toward Dessye,
a hundred miles to the SOUTH Badoglio's
aircraft, dropping tons of explosives upon
the fleeing groups is paving the way for
an advance in overpowering force toward
Adds Ababa. Though the capital is still
two or three hundred miles distant from
the Italian vanguard, Quoram is at the
head of a motor road leading to Adds
Ababa and which is expected to provide
comparatively easy travelling for the
Italians. Everything depends on whether
Halle Selassie can rally sufficient force
of his beaten and demoralized soldiers
around Dessye or further south, to offer
anything more in the form of resistance.
According to Italian claims, five OF the
six main armies which Ethiopia had in
the field have now either been entirely
put out of action or decimated to a
point at which they are no longer
menace. Only Ras Nasibu is said to
head a force that is still intact, facing
Gen. Graziani in front of Harar in the
south. With the northern areas cleared
of danger, the invaders are reputed next
to contemplate a decisive drive in the
Harar region. Confidently, to consoli-
date his position in the north, with occu-
patton of Adds Ababa as the final OBJ
jective, Marshal Badoglio is credited with
the intention of abandoning all caution
and of presently going forward with air
craft and fast motorized columns in
order to crush with irresistible frontal
and flank attacks whatever is left OF
Ethiopias defensive power. But rain and
geography to no inconsiderable extent
are fighting on Halle Selassies side.
Some observers in the theater of war
warn the outside world against placing
premature credence in Italian rejoicings
that it is all over but the shouting in
Ethiopia and that the rest OF the cam
paign will be promenade.
Because of his late military successes,
Mussolini is naturally in mood to demand
a more spacious peace than ever before.
He scorns any settlement that would
give him merely the territorial booty
embraced by the Hoare-Laval plan. To-
day he requires much more. Rome in
dicates that II Duce will now be satisfied
with nothing less than complete conquest
OF ECnlOpldp ny eICIlel ouIilshI dAAlcAo
ton or some arrangement that would
bring the country indisputably under
italian domination. Everything points
to the maintenance of such an attitude
when the League of Nations Committee
of Thirteen this week goes through the
meaningless form of again graphing with
a situation of which Geneva long since
lost any semblance of control.