Evening star., 1941-11-21
Libyon Big Push

6IOyOu Wy uSi'
The attack launched at dawn on
Tuesday by the British Imperial
Army on the German and Italian
forces along the frontier of Egypt
and Libya Is clearly a major mill
tary operation which London terms
"a big-scale offensive" Sweeping
westward along a 130-mile front ex-
tending all the way from the sea
coast to the inland oasis of Giarabub,
this British offensive seems to be
much more formidable than the dar-
ing attack launched by General
Wavell more than year ago. and
incomparably greater than the ILL
fated assault last spring.
During the past few months the
British armies in Egypt and the Near
East have been reinforced to an
estimated total of 100000, we'll
equipped by a constant stream Of
British and American materiel. On
the other hand, the Axis forces in
Libya have been handicapped by
British naval attacks on their sea-
borne lines of communication with
Italy, which have taken a heavy toll
in ships. men and supplies. The
fact that the British are strong
enough to assail not merely the Axis
coastal sector but also the inland
highroads threatens the Axis de-
tenders with encirclement.
Nevertheless, the strength Of the
Axis defense should not be under
estimated. It's backbone consists OF
picked German troops commanded
by General Erwin Rommel, one OF
the Reich's ace tank commanders,
and he has had many months to pre-
pare for just such an emergency.
His rough handling of the British
attempt last spring shows that he
may be expected to put up a skillful
and desperate resistance.
1t Is interesting to speculate how
much this British offensive is mo-
tivated by political as we'll as by
strategic considerations. For months,
Soviet Russia has been pleading for
British opening up Of second
front" and Russian demands have
been echoed by an increasingly dis
gruntled British public opinion. The
British people will certainly be graf
if1ed by large-scale action, and if
the British high command is willing
to commit enough of its Near East
ern armies to a North African CAM
paign, the chances are that the Axis
can be driven from Eastern Libya,
much as Wavell did last autumn.
However, the long-range query
arises whether even such 4 victory
would radically change the general
war situation, unless it could be fol-
lowed up by an advance across the
desert belt to Tripoli and the COM
plete expulsion of the Axis from
North Africa. The British high COM
mand will have to keep large forces
on the line from Syria to Iran, to
guard against both a contingent
German attack on the Caucasus and
a possible detection of Turkey to the
Axis side This means that the
strength of the North African army
is limited.
Furthermore, there is every indica-
ton that General Weygand's dis
missal from his pro-consulship
heralds an open alignment OF the
Vichy regime with the Axis, and a
consequent passing Of French North
Africa under Axis control. That
would, Of course, render the expul-
sion of the Axis from North Africa
4 vastly more difficult undertaking
and one which would tax British
Near Eastern power to the full.
However, those remoter aspects
need not be Immediately considered
unless and until the present British
offensive has succeeded in smashing
the Axis fortified lines in Eastern
Libya and possibly has encircled a
large portion of the defending forces
there. The next few days may tell
that story, and 1t then will be re-
vealed what the British high COM
mand has in mind. The Libyan sit
uation should always be considered
as merely part of 4 much larger
strategic whole.