The Wilmington morning star., 1942-12-28
Interpreting
The War
INTERPRETATING TBr urAn
BY JOHN N. HIGHTOVEp

BY JOHN M. HIGHTOWER
Admiral Jean Darlan's wrsithn,..
assasstn-of whom it is pub,,nN
known only that he was abont ~
years Of age-has gone to his 49,.
before a firing squad and his hoSn
now lies, no doubt, in the ano,r
nous grave Of the dishonorad
While the world has been tols -
srettably little about the murds-.'
the sensationalism and potential ~.
suits Of the murder have m,a.
tremendous impression, Tortur..'
ly, apprehension lest the n,il,.s"
campaign in Tunis be slowed do,.
by an aftermath Of violence =;
French Africa has not been re.ua
cd. French and American m,,t.~.
authorities seem to have met , -.
xerous situation promptly and VII.
ly. "'''
Yet the military Campaign .,.
been slowed down recently and ~
cording 10 the best informa,io.
available In Washington, the Tunts
Ian front has been virtually W
stalemats, action being confined -
local operations. This condition vs.
brought about not by anything -
spectacular as the death o. Dsr,,n
but, as 10 often happens in rsr
fare, by the weather.
This is the rainy seMon in TN,
isia and 10 far tho rains have h..r
extraordinarily heavy. The conn
tryside rs q waste Of mud in vhirh
men and machines immediately ho.
down once they quit the few not too
good roads. Forward airfisla. i,
the hands Of Allied forces bec,n.
water-logged, hamperinE aerial nr
erations. 1t was not until suns.v
that word from Allied headouart,r,
Indicated the air war had bee, w..
stunned as 4 result Of improvement
in the weather.
Unless this Improvement eor
tinues 80 long that ground cond;,
tons are greatly improved tho Tim.
isian stalemate may remain unhroy.
en- Tor At least several dayg mora
disruptins to that extent the Allied
timetable and delaying the promiA
ed day when Axis airdrom,, orr
be engaged IN full scale combst
over the Mediterranean and onr
African positions can be prep,rsd
AZ jumping off places for m At.
tack on Europe.
This unavoidable disruption n
the timetable by bad weather offers
4 good argument against confident
predictions about the speed with
which the war can BE- won in
Europe.
There sre 70 many specifA oh.
\ stacles to be overcome before our
forces can even bring their full
power to bear on the German armv
and 50 many unpredictable reverses
which may be encountered that
surely no military leader would de.
scribe the new year at hand as the
year Of final victory.
Truly enough, Germany has suf
fered setbacks on the Russian front
and the current encircling move.
nent by the Red army west of stal.
ingrad suggests that Nazi defeat
OF vast proportions Is in the max
Ing there. Moreover, the doom Of
Axis forces in North Africa appears
to be scaled and it is only oues.
ton OF time until 1t will be accom-
plished.
Yet, from a military point of
view at this time, the only thing
which could bring an early end to
the war would be 4 complete col.
lapse Of German power at home
and that would be the result of too
many uncertain element, to Justify
more than an expression OF feryent
nope that sooner or later it will
happen.
Optimism for the new year must
be tempered by some cold realities
OF the present, includinsg:
~ The determination Of the
present German government to
| ~oA OPS fortress, NnlCn
means, if 1t means anything at all,
that when sufficiently hard-pressed
the Germans will conserve enough
OF their still mighty forces for most
stubborn defense.
~ The relatively limited nature
OF The United Nations North Afr.
can campaign rs compared with
the gigantic operations involved in
invading fortified Europe.
(O The fact that United Nations
strategy calls for crushing Nazi
Germany completely while the Ger.
mans certainly would hope and
very probably fight TOR, something
snort of that even though Hitler
and his henchmen were thrown out
Of power.
~ The fact that the European
war Is only one of two wars nc
are fighting simultaneously and
while Germany conceivably might
collapse after a while, Japan seems
hkely to fight on to the last man.
-V
Jap0nese Claim Damaes