Askov American., 1942-05-07
INTERNATIONAL
NEWS REVIEW
Continued from Page u

Continued from Page u
jectives, it is not at all improbable
that an attack will be made on
India, which is not known to be
any too well defended.
There is Australia, too, but the
Japanese seemingly steer clear
of that continent since General
Macarthur took over the COM
mand. During the last few days
there have been repeated jap
anese bOmbardments of cities on
islands not far from Australia,
but there appears to be little
hesitation about the main assault.
There is this, too, that Macarthur
has made it very clear that he does
not want to give the enemy the
privilege of having the initiative.
He prefers to strike the first blow
rather than having the other fellow
deliver it, and this widely adver-
tised strategy may have served a
definite purpose in holding the Jap
anese back.
In the Philippine Islands the jap
anese are bombing American and
Filipino positions almost every day;
they do not seem to be getting any
thing out of it, and Wainwright's
Stars and Stripes still waves de-
family over the forts of Corregidor
"a flag that stubbornly refuses to
come down.
European War.
With the exception of the active
warfare in Burma, things in the Far
East have seemed relatively quiet
for good many days. It is not quiet
in Europe where the Germans keep
on making desperate attempts to
penetrate the Russian lines along the
front all the way from Murmansk
to Smolensk and Kharkov. In this,
the Germans have failed, most of the
time; on the other hand, the Rus
slams have failed to make any very
appreciable and active progress in
the direction of reconquering terri
tory. Yet, the war goes on as blood
lily as ever before.
And on it will 60 until the bitter
end, according to Josef Stain who
in radio speech the other day de-
clared that Russia will never stop
until the last German has been
driven out, and until the Nazi party
and the nazi army have been COM
pletely crushed.
Stain vowed that when Rus
sia wins her war, she will insist
on no territorial conquest; he did
not make it clear whether the
SOviets intend to keep what was
wrested from Finland during the
war of 1939-40, or whether they
want to restore freedom and
political independence to Estonia,
Latvia and Lithuania.
Paying high tribute to the United
States and Great Britain for the
help they are giving Rus
sia, Stain characterized these two
democratic powers as his nations
best friends.
meeting In SaZDurg.
1t is quite obvious that the Rus
sian situation is worrying Hitler
the Russian situation and that new
one created by the British who have
been mercilessly bombarding German
cities in German-occupied
many days and nights.
He begins to realize that he is
squeezed in between two mighty pow
ers, and, perhaps, to realize that he
cannot at the same time conduct an
offensive on the east front and re-
pulse one on the west front.
In other words, squeezed in as he
is, wriggling and squirming, that fact
seemingly has something to do with
his conference with Mussolini at Saz-
burg, Austria, last week.
No official bulletins concern
ing that conference have been
issued, but from certain known
facts it is possible to assume that
Hitler wanted definite Italian
support for his Russian campaign.
Also, the two dictators evidently
discussed conditions within their own
countries where the most dangerous
Of all foes is beginning to appear:
in the ranks. In ever so
many reports coming out of Europe
it is made plain that the German
people no longer is so very enthus-
iastic about continuing war which
brings them no new victories-and
which, in the meantime, starves and
denudes it; and, also from Italy come
stories that the fascist regime is
bit shaky-Mussolini has had to use
pretty stern measures to try to re-
press the rising tide of dissatisfaction
with a government which has brought
to the proud Italians nothing but
defeat and humiliation.
While axis dictators fret and worry
and talk and plan, the British Royal
Air Force, augmented by numerous
American bombers and fighters,
keeps on devastating, keeps on weak
ening the enemy, and it may be that