Evening star., 1943-01-31

pound bombs on Berlin. It was in Presi-
dent Roosevelt's address on the state
If the Union and 1t was implicit In the
s1oo, 900 900, 900 war budget. When COM
applied. as Hitler applied 1t
before and after the Nazi armies were
it reached the home country,
enemy countries, invaded countries, AL
lied countries and neutral countries. 1t
has its offensive and defensive sides and,
when unscrupulously followed, 1t may
pursue one policy in one country, con-
policy in another, or what
ever the local situation demands.
Joseph Bernstein, in his book, Action
Against the Enemys Mind" had defined
the offensive side in these words:
Psychological warfare is not an iso-
lated engagement in which only special
lied troupes of trained actors partici-
pate. = 1t is the high art of impreg-
mating the enemy with the conviction
that he would do better to surrender vol
untarily-and preferably before the nrst
shot is fired. 1t is the systematic trans
formation Of the enemys moral weak
nesses into mortal wounds"
Nazi Definition Similar.
If Rauschnigg, in his Voice Of De-
struction," heard Hitler correctly, the
Nazis had similar definition. He quotes
Hitler as follows:
1--WE shall have friends who Will help
us In all enemy countries. We shall
know how to obtain such friends Mem
tai confusion, contributions Of feeling,
indecisiveness, panic: These are our wea-
pons. OF course, you know the history
of revolutions. It is always the same:
The ruling classes capitulate. Why7
Defeatism; they have no longer the will
to conquer. The lessons of revolution,
these are the secret of the new strategy.
I shall never start war without
the certainty that demoralized enemy
will succumb to the first stroke of a
single gigantic attack. When the
enemy is demoralized from within, when
he stands on the brink of revolution,
when social unrest threatens-that Is the
right moment
Hitler did not follow this formula In
his invasion Of Russia and Hess appar.
emily miscalculated on the defeatist SEN
timent in Great Britain. The Nazis
could not .demoralize the Russians; the
first and second gigantic attacks were
absorbed, and now the Axis armies are
IN retreat. Hess is a prisoner In Britain
and England has not been demoralized
or invaded. -
Inexperience Shown in Africa,
Our inexperience in this new form of
warfare Is patiently demonstrated in
North Africa Robert Murphy of the
state Department and Maj. Gen. Mark
CLARK OF 1t. Gen. Eisenhower's staff were
successful in the immediate political
skrmlshes and Gen.. Eisenhower, from
all reports, was prepared for the mill
tary battles which were eventually avoid.
ed. But, according to officials who have
access to military information and re.
ports withheld from the public, i'm.
portant psychological factors were ir.
nored and IN some instances the Ameri.
can agencies were working, If not at
cross purposes. at least along different
policy lines. Operational men who have
returned from that area complain that
no one knew what the American no,;cv
Was. one reason for this was that in
several instances preliminary reports on
political conditions were completely mis-.
Leading.
Many OF the difficulties arose FROM
the last-minute deal with Admiral Dar.
ian which enabled American and Brit.
Sh troops to land as Allies instAad
OF invaders. Radio stations in Mo-
rocco and Algiers continued to broad
cast Axis propaganda until Darlan At
tne insistence of the military, changed
personnel. American radio transmit,
ters dld not arrive with the troops. Cor
respondents noted that the motion n,c.
ture houses continued to show Ax,.
INNS, ana so far as can be learned here
no American films were there to SIN,
plant them. Only small amounts n,
literature were available for distrtbu-
tlon among the natives and frantic calls
had to be cabled for the texts of Presi-
dent Roosevelt speeches.
bEW ohclals here say privately that
II Will be weeks before they can operate
eHectlVely and owl officials speak dis
paragingly OF the hush-hush activitie.
of the OSS.
Psychological warfare, like politica,
warfare, is not child's play. Copv-book
maxlms are discarded Goebbels ha,
said that Nazi propaganda has no basic
methods.
Success Only Criterion.
1t only has goal: the conquest OF
the masses. Every means which can
nelp achieve this goals good. Anv.
thing which does not hit the target
Is bad. Success is its only criterion" !"
One OF the inter-agency souabbles
brought to the forefront by the North
African operation emphasizes the need
lor definition Of propaganda jurisdic-
ton between Elmer Davis OF owl ana
Col. Donovan Of OSS.
: All Government officials, military ana
civilian, agree there must be at least
one agency to do the secret and, when
necessary. INSCRIPTIONS, undercover
work. Obviously the state department
Of democracy cannot lower itself tn
this level and the activities of the mill
tary are circumscribed From all an
pearances, most of this work Is now con.
centrated in the OSS which, Accord
ing to the executive order creating it.
has two functions: Cd Collect and
analyze such strategic information as
may be required by the United States
joint chiefs of staff" and 90 plan and
direct such special services as may be
directed" by the joint chiefs.