The Daily Alaska empire., 1943-02-08
Disguised As Big Leaves
Cortland Oregonianl

(Portland Oregonan)
 s,. A new technique for mopping up jungles-par .icularly jungle slands--is something which Yankee ingenuity unquestonably is working on, and should be.
 The Japs have made it necessary. They entered the war full of determination to die for the emperor and carrying various cans of paint designed when applied to make the Japanese fighter indistinguish able from the jungle landscape. They used nfl- traton tactics, and when these combined with effective camouflage, the result decidedly sur prising to our own traditional and sportsmanlike forces All the way from the top of Luzon to the lower end of New Guinea, it disconcerting to have the fanatica little enemy present himself in no other form than that of bush or tree, or an extra big leaf. The rapidity of the Japanese ad- vance through the southwest Pacific had its ex- planation in part in this cleverness- that is what you want to call it-wth which the Japanese stra- tegsts had planned for exactly that kind of warfare
 Now it turns out as the Japanese drive dies and counterdrive forms that the methods which the Japanese used on the offensive are even more effective in defense. It was quite effective, considering the element of surprise, to have trees move through the jungle. It is effective when these trees stand still but suddenly burst out with the most modern of fire-power. That is evil dent in the fact that the Japanese still hold their positions Guadalcanal and that they have been so successful in delaying in the Buna of New Guinea. At the Buna rate, it would require a couple of hundred years to work back through the southwest islands to original position in the Philippines, to any striking position against Japan proper.
 In other words there is technique involved in this island warfare which requires our utmost in- genuity if to offset the advantage which the enemy has achieved through employment of the Japanese character in convenient setting Fatal ism combined with the Japanese character makes reconquest of the southwest islands extremely diffi cult if no technique to take care of the stua- ton is developed Granted that the jungles present no particular problem if they could be advanced upon with fleets of tanks and planes, backed with adequate artillery. The fact remains that under ordinary circumstances tanks and artillery are lack ing Small arms, reaching their maximum in the machine gun, the traditional weapons in the is lands, where transport is difficult Consequently we face the reality that in cleaning out these dense growths and undergrowthS, improved methods are urgently needed If every Japanese position is as hard to take Buna, we will be long time indeed in working up to Japan .
 There is, it is true, balancing thought If our air and naval power become overwhelming it may be possible to ignore the pockets of resistance driving on in major battles and leaving the Japs in have had enough of it. But it would be decidedly useful if We should develop in the meantime some procedure which would make this unnecessary It has been revealed that technicians thought up and produced the mobile artillery, mounted on tank chassis, which instrumental in breaking Rom- mes Fl Alamen line. No doubt our technicians are at work on the jungle island problem and something may come of that also. We would bet on it.