Evening star., 1942-12-27
African Invasion Held Revealing
Weak Spots in U.S.. BIitz
Failure to Use AIgiers Radio Compared
With Nozi Tactics in Seizure of Norway

after German troops marched in.
American broadcasts should have
been going out to all the French
people within two hours after Amer
lean troops entered Algeria. Whether
Admiral Darlan was pleased or not
had nothing whatever to do with the
fulflllment of fundamental first
essential of modern warfare.
Why did We fail to seize and use
the radio weapon in Algiers? The
real blitzkrieg experts consider the
radio as first-line offensive
weapon-and use 1t as such. If the
Anglo-American armies are to in
wade Europe uccessfully-especial
II we are to do so with a maximum
penetration and minimum loss of
llfe-our leaders must know how to
outblitz the Nazis. That can never
be done if we leave powerful radio
stations idle $50 far as our own
American-prepared propaganda is
concernedD for the first two or three
weeks OF vital campaign.
Declares Russians Dismayed.
In Alglers, Americans lost their
one great opportunity to put their
own case to the French people over
the ether. BY the time owl broad
casts finally began to go out from
Algiers the Germans had ordered
confiscation of most radios in France.
Certainly, no American war COR
respondent wants to pour a single
crop OF ice water on our Army's real
achievements in North Africa. For
all that. however, factual reporting
requires the further statement that
neutral Europeans have been baf-
fed by the way the political side OF
the Allied occupation has been ham
oled. The Russians were frankly
dlsmayed by the late Admiral Dar-
lan's emergence as supreme French
official in North Africa.
What, for example. would be the
ef1ect on the Russians? Already the
Darlan incident has cost us dearly
with the Russian leaders. They
| asked themselves: If the Americans
VIII make such a deal today, won't
they be capable of making a deal
tomorrow with Mussolini. and the
day after with Goering or Himmler?
Cites Need of Propaganda.
These observations are all pointed
I to one thlng-the imperative i'm
portance of having precise prop
aganda and political program when
ever the Allied armed forces invade
the European continent Liberia
ton of the enslaved European coun-
tries cannot be uniquely military
operation. Liberation must be
psychological operation as well. and
Americans and Britishers must be
prepared to re-establish local gov
ernment-and then national gov
ernments-as their troops fight
their way ahead.
In all probability. our forces have
been learning some valuable military
lessons in North Africa. and, un-
doubtedly, as with everything in
life, they have been paying a GER
tain price for what they have
learned or are learning today. That
Will all be of tremendous help for
the next step-the opening up of
second front somewhere on Euro
pean soil. Certainly our armed
forces should function much better,
then. as result of their clash with
hard facts in North Africa.
On the political and propaganda
side, however, this ought to be
equally true. 1t will not be easy
/ for most of our career Army off,
GERS to adapt themselves to the
complexities Of Europe's present po-
litical and social chaos, nor to the
necessities of modern. high-speed
| propaganda warfare. Nevertheless,
/ in order to win the war in Europe
and defeat Nazi Germany decisively
the United Nations must use every
weapon in the arsenal of totalitarian
warfare. That means that Ameri-
cans, above all. must take the lead
ership in using all these weapons
and use them with ruthless deter.
mination and firmness.
| These are some of the most sig
nlflcant lessons from our North
African experiment on occupation
and invasion. If North Africa. on
the whole, has been a good start, it
also has shown where improvements
are urgently needed. In the next
( round, when we come smack up
against the master blitzkriegers in
their entrenched positions. we shall
need to use every weapon at our
command-and use them to the ut
most of our ability. That's what
North Africa is warning all of us
today.
(Copyrisht, 1912, Chicago Daily News, Incl