Evening star., 1942-07-02

II b p % IL IL DAfu LA"TonCe.
abroad. One reason, of course, is
that criticism of the President is
almost never expressed because the
whole tendency on the part of his
political supporters is to cry out
against critics as unpatriotic or
sixth columnists. Hence the whole
war effort suffers from lack of
frankness with the public, which
does not mean necessarily that the
war is going to be lost but that it
will be unduly prolonged and that
1t will be costlier in lives than it
should be.
Along with the hush-hush policy
Is tendency to hold as unpatriotic
those who criticize the British. Yet
1t Is clear that there is something
vitally wrong with the British high
command and the whole organizing
side of the war effort as operated
from London.
Congress Passive.
Congress, which might be expected
to represent the people of the
United States in matters vitally af-
fecting their interest, has been
strangely acquiescent and passive
this week. Here and there few
members have spoken out against
the failures reflected in the war
news but no group has had the
temerity to ask questions concerning
the general management of the war.
Such an interrogation doubtless
would be frowned on by the admin
tstration as an effort to impair the
unity OF the country or be obscured
by some other excuse that manages
every now and then to keep the
public from knowing the true re-
sponsibility for the mistakes made.
All of the truth about Pearl Har-
Dor has never been disclosed and
the reason given is that 1t would
help the enemy. But it would ap-
pear that the public criticism of
what happened at Pearl Harbor did
result in some worth while changes
in the high command of our Army
and Navy, insofar as joint opera
tions are concerned.
Inquiry Might Aid.
A similar inquiry into the man
agement of the war, even If not
granted now, might if merely dis
cussed in Congress bring the re-
sponsible officials of both the British
and American governments to the
point where they might consider
seriously a shake-up of another
nature, namely, in the overall man.
agement by Britain and America
of the whole war strategy.
Few members of Congress know
anything about what is happening
behind the military scenes. Prime
Minister Churchill gave them some
reassuring words on Capitol Hill
last week about Egypt, but the news
from the desert front since seems
not to have justified his optimism.
In 1918, we had Supreme War
Council sitting in Paris. Gen.
Tasker H. Bliss, former chief Of
staff, was our representative. He
reported directly to President Will
son and not to either the chief of
staff or the Secretary of War. When
President Wilson saw the effects of
separate commands and conflicts in
viewpoint in the front line, he in
sisted that one man be made gen.
eralissimo and that Americans,
British and French take orders from
Marshal Foch.
Nothing of this sort has been
established for the entire war STRAIT
egy this time. A series of theaters
of war or sectors have been opened
UP instead and one commander has
been placed in charge of each, but
the fact remains that two non mill
tary men-Messrs. Churchill and
Roosevelt-are running the war
strategy. How much they listen to
and how much they disregard the
professional advice of the military
and naval men has never been dis
closed.
High Command Needed.
What is needed is high COM
nand consisting of Army and Navy
officers of both countries who can