Evening star., 1943-05-13
Another CusubIunco


Prime Minister Winston Church.
Ills sudden arrival in Washington is
a portent of great significance. Just
why he came is not only yelled in
secrecy but is difficult to estimate.
He obviously did not make the jour-
ney to celebrate the Tunisian tri-
umph with President Roosevelt.
Neither is it likely that he came here
With his high-ranking military ad-
visers primarily to plan the imme-
diate next steps in European military
strategy. Those next steps" were
undoubtedly considered at the Casa
blanca Conference; because, by that
time, the ultimate victory of the
Allies in North Africa was almost a
foregone conclusion. Unlike tactics,
which should be kept elastic, the
strategy of major operations must be
framed far ahead and is never
improvised
What, then, is Churchill here for?
1t is reasonable assumption that
two topics rank high on the agenda
of the discussions he is holding with
the President. The first of these is
reappraisal Of the entire war sit
uation. The North African cam
paign, involving large armies and
millions Of tons Of shipping, was so
heavy commitment that it had to
be brought to a successful conclu-
sion before any wide strategic leeWay
was possible. Now, more judicous
balance can be made between the
rival claims of various war theaters.
This does not mean that the Hitler
First" formula will lose it's priority.
But it may mean that a larger frac-
ton Of the Allied war effort will be
made available for the war against
Japan.
The Allied triumph in North Africa
cannot offset the fact that, through
out the Far East and the Pacific,
time runs in Japan's favor. Toxic
rapidly consolidateS its grip on the
vast empire it has conquered. China's
domestic situation worsens with
equal rapidity, and Chinese morale
appears to have been further de-
pressed by the fiasco of Britain's
Burmese border campaign. Australia
continues to fear Japanese aggres-
sion emphasized by the new subma-
rine offensive off it's coasts. The
outer Aleutians, in japanese hands,
become a growing worry to Alaska
and our Pacific Coast. All these fac
tors, psychological as we'll as mill
tary call for a new appraisal Of the
overall strategic picture.
A second major topic logically dis
cussable at the White House is the
complex politico diplomatic equation
centering about Soviet Russia and
it's relations with both it's Western
Allies and European junior partners
of the United Nations, especially
Poland. A more definite understand
ing between Russia, America, and
Britain is obviously called for That
is why Litvinoff and Davies are en-
route to Moscow, and why Eduard
Benes has reached Washington only
a day behind Churchill. The POLISH
Soviet rift has fustered all Europe,
including important neutrals like
Sweden and Turkey. Furthermore,
a Russo-Allied understanding is de-
sirable in advance of a genuine sec
ond-front" enterprise. Once en-
barked on that crucial undertaking,
involving at least a million British
and American troops, and the ear
marking of fully ten million tons of
shipping, London and washington
will have given Moscow hostages to
fortune which an uncommitted
Soviet diplomacy might make Of us
in various ways.
This may be one of the reasons why
the British high command appears
to be somewhat cautious on the i'm
mediate opening of the second front.
The difficulties are formidable and
the risks are high. From the Brit
ish standpoint, time is less vital than
to our high command, which sees the
japanese task grow greater with
each passing month. Provided that
a decisive victory in Europe is pos
sible this year, even its high price in
losses would show an ultimate net
profit if the overthrow of Japan
would thereby be fastened. Such
seems to be the American attitude.
Those are some of the issues which
undoubtedly are being weighed and
analyzed in the White House confer
ences whereon so much depends.