Evening star., 1941-06-08
Roosevelt Strategy
Believed Succeeding
BIZ OUen L. Scott.

PliIC 1Ol OliC iiOoS onAAAA "a cSA "oNS Az
maneuvers in this phase of the war. The
President. operating under the handi-
caps of a Neutrality Act and of constant
sniping by opponents, still is succeeding
in his effort to outmaneuver Hitler and
Matsuoka.
AS a consequence Of Mr.. Roosevelt s
moves:
If shooting now is to start either in
the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans. the first
shots involving the United States will
be fred by the Germans or japanese,
not by Americans. The responsibility
for attack clearly will be on the other
side, with little ground for argument.
The choice now confronting Hitler
and Matsuoka is this:
Either to accept continued American
aid to England and to China, as well
as to the Dutch and British In the
South Pacific-with this aid now to
reach important proportions-or to
start shooting to prevent it. American
goods are going to move under the
surveillance of American naval patrols,
which will report the presence Of
marauders at sea.
Also: Hitler Is advised that the United
States has vital stake in seeing that
the Cape Verde Islands and the Azores
remain under control of fully free
Portugal and that Dakar and Marti-
nique and French Guiana remain under
control of a fully free France. Any
move by Germany or the countries
affected that involves a change in the
status of these outposts will call for
a counter move by the United States.
These are clear policies, based upon
decisions of this Governments military
and naval advisers. II the Germans or
Japanese start the shooting that will
challenge those policies, they fully un-
derstand the consequences.
But: Not to challenge the United
States means that there can be no
real winning of this war by either
Germany or Japan. The reason is that
victory for those nations requires that
they gain control of the outposts that
determine the control of the seas. II
that control is to be gained it will be
necessary to shoot at American ships
and American soldiers. Those shots
would precipitate shooting in return.
All of this means that President
Roosevelt is confronting Hitler and
Matsuoka with a dilemma.
Those two competitors of Mr.. Roose-
welt can have either peace, without a
victory or they can have struggle that
involves the United States with its great
naval power and its growing air power.
The general impression here is that
the Germans and Japanese eventually
will choose a struggle, but with Japan
probably to follow very cautious
course before making the final plunge.
The moves that Mr.. Roosevelt is
making are with the full approval of
Congress
Congress, with relatively little division
of opinion, has laid down two policies.
They are: First, that the entire Western
Hemisphere shall be protected against
direct or indirect aggression by an out
Britain and China shall receive mate
rial aid At the same time, these
policies must be carried out within the
framework of the Neutrality Act which
bars the Use of American ships from
service in combat areas.
1f
cept the advice of the Army and Navy
in carrying out these national policies
The naval problem is to insure safety
on the sea lanes over which American
ships travel, outside of formal combat
! zones. in all parts of the world. This
means that any possible enemy must
be kept out of possession of those
Atlantic islands that can threaten the
trade lines to South America. 1t also
means that every effort must be made
to insure that American goods reach
Great Britain in fulfillment Of the
Nations lend-lease policy. 1t means
further that the lines Of supply to the
sources of rubber and tin and tungsten
| and other raw materials must be
protected.
So long as Great Britain stands and
so long as the British Navy is in being
and under free British control, the
American problem is relatively simple
The reason is that Germany ther
can be bottled up in the North Sea
and the Italian Navy can be bottled ur
In the Mediterranean. 1t also mean,
| that the American Navy can be free
to make sure that Japan is bottled ur
inside the rather limited waters of her
island empire. The British have just
demonstrated that the Germans are
to challenge the supremacy of the
| British fleet in combat Britain has
| shown her ability to deal with the
| italian Navy in the Mediterranean. She
has not, however, demonstrated that
she can deal with the German all
| force In that sea.
| So long as this overall situation
exists, the problem of the United State,
is relatively simple and its position
relatively secure.
But: Let the British Navy be de-
stroyed, or let It's control pass to Hitler
| and American troubles would begin
| Together the British and American
Navies-with their air forces-can con.
troll most of the worlds oceans. Divided
neither navy is adequate and the way i.
opened for Japan to cut of the vita
American supply line to the East Indie,