Evening star., 1942-12-18

that Japan can David Lawrence.
be taken care Of by a combined
British American fleet after Hitler
is conquered is the prevalent one,
but among the Far Eastern experts
this Is considered a highly dan
gerous and risky appraisal Of the
situation.
Instead 1t is asserted confidently
by the advocates of a more intensive
Pacific war that If the United Ma
tions neglect the japanese front,
they will pay for 1t in hundreds of
thousands of lives in 1914 and 1945,
II not subsequent thereto.
The Japanese need time. The
United Nations are giving them
plenty Of 1t by allowing the United
States Navy and a relatively small
army and air force to carry on the
whole Job.
It is true that the United States
Navy has taken q terrific toll Of the
Japanese and that in nearly every
battle the American ships have
been outnumbered, but it is also
true that the Japanese have a ma
jor navy and all Of 1t Is in one
ocean while the United States di-
vides It's strength between two
oceans.
II the British Navy is going to be
Of any help to the United States
Navy In the Pacific. II the aircraft
now building in such big quantities
is to be any avail to the meager
American forces stationed in the
Pacific, the time for such help is
now before the Japanese can con-
solidate their positions and en-
trench themselves for several years
of war.
Dispersal Of Forces.
On account of the censorship,
very little has been made public as
to the actual number of American
ships or planes or troops in the Pa
cif1c area but, judging by the Of
fetal communicates and the news
dispatches, it may be assumed that
the United States has put into the
Far East relatively, small force to
carry on major war.
Is this kind OF dispersal of our
forces adequate? Is it fair to the
forces now in the Pacific? There
can be no doubt that the American
marines, flyers and naval units have
done a magnificent Job thus far.
Their acts Of daring and heroism are
unexampled. The general public,
however, doesn't know how much Of
these operations have been con-
Quoted virtually on a shoestring.
But the japanese know. They
have a fairly accurate idea of what
we have done in the Pacific and
their reconnaissance planes have
kept them advised as to the general
nature of our fighting units. The
Japanese would prefer to compel
the United States to confine herself
to an island by island campaign, be-
cause this may take years to con-
summate.
What the Japanese would not like
is the sending of major expedition
such as went to North Africa, with
a fleet big enough to protect land
ings in strategic areas on the Ash
attic or Japanese mainland. A route
to China must be opened soon or
the japanese will close off the
Burma road for years to come. More
and more offensive operations must
be undertaken in 1943 or the course
of the Japanese e-American war will
be heightened to such an extent
that long after the Hitler war is
over the sacrifices of American boys
will continue on a scale far more
bloody than that which may be en-
countered in Europe.
Armchair Strategy.
The armchair strategists who in
sist that Hitler is the main objective
and that all will be we'll when the
European War is over do not know
the japanese, nor do they know the
estimates of japanese fighting
power being made by those who do
not sit in armchairs but actually
come in contact with the enemy in
the South Pacific and in China.
The biggest single deficiency in
the Pacific is airpower. The WASH
ington tendency is to give every
thing to Europe despite the pleas
for more aid to the Pacific. The
news that Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker
took off in a plane that was me-
chanically inadequate and that the
bomber he was to use had to be
employed in another mission fur
nishes an indication of how hard it
is to get bombers diverted to Pacific
uses.
A few hundred big bombers sent
to the Pacific today, in addition to
those already there. can change the
trend of the fighting, but If all eyes
are to be fixed on Europe and the
Pacific is to wait It's turn, the cost
in the end may be so big that, when
they get all the facts some day, the
American people will protest bitterly
the neglect of our forces in the
Pacific.
Reproduction Rishts Reseryed)