Evening star., 1943-08-04

sense of getting the upper hand II,
just as soon as you get the upper
hand you extend the helping hand?
Unless our propaganda system,
the propaganda system of the
British and the propaganda system
of all the other Allied nations is
haywire, the one thing the Italians
fear Is stand-up war against stand
up soldiers. 1t seems to me that the
proper thing to bring Italy to It's
knees is a fiat declaration that until
1t quits, and quits for good, there
will be no peace, either by day or by
night, and that every hour 1t stands
in defiant pose brings it closer TO
all-out destruction.
Situation Now Different.
I'm not complaining against the
Allied attempt to knock out Italy
with pamphlets. II, when the
pamphlets were dropped and Gen.
Eisenhower issued his terms of sur
render, the Italians had accepted
their fate and said, "All right, we're
done for" that would have been
lovely. The lives of many Allied
troops would have been saved.
But, having failed to see the light,
Italy should now get different set
of pamphlets and different set of
terms from Gen. Eisenhower. the
Italians should be told that they
have blown their chance of peace
and from now on 1t Is every Italian
for himself, that bombers and fight
ers will roar over their cities, that
when the invasion of the mainland
comes the Allied soldiers will come
with drawn bayonets and blood In
their eyes, and that, having refused
the decent offer of decent men. they
will have to suffer the consequences.
Italy was offered an honorable
peace. That, of course, Is more than
it deserves, because every one knows
that Italy went into the war dis
honorably. The marshal and the
King and all the subjects of both
could read between the lines and
know that the Allies. If their terms
were accepted, were going to behave
themselves on arriving in Italy.
They knew there would be no loot
ing, no shooting, no vicious abuse
Of enemy soldiers or civilians. As a
matter of fact, they had every right
to believe the Allies would bring food
with them and offer succor to the
men and women who joined in be-
trayal Of civilization few years ago.
But the offer was turned down.
AS I write this, 1t is still turned
down. The marshal and the King
apparently can't make up their
minds what to do, what with Ger
many on the north and the Allies
on the south. If Italy is so COM
mitted to the Nazis, so completely
bound up in the unholy alliance with
Hitler and TOTO that it can't break
away, then the thing to do is to beat
Italy so badly that it doesn't matter
whether 1t breaks away or not.
Patience Exhausted.
Let's drop pamphlets saying the
Allies don't want any peace with
Italy; that they consider it a privi-
lege and delight, a slight repay
ment for what the Axis did to other
helpless countries, to send their
bombers over without fear of fax or
fighters. Let's drop another batch of
pamphlets saying that our soldiers
will bring only enough food to sus-
tain themselves, and that If that
food runs out, they will ramsack
the Italian countryside for victuals.
In short, let's put the fear OF
merciless conquest in their souls.
Let's give them feeling that If they
don't have enough sense to listen to
reason and revolt against their Ger
man masters, they will get a con-
quest patterned along Axis lines.
After all, Italy has no more right to
escape hell than did Poland, Bel
GUM, Holland, Greece and the other
countries overrun by the Axis when
they had no opposition.
Fear is what the Italians fear.
When they get it bad, they'll ask for
terms. And ask for them quick
Distributed by McNauRht Syndicate, Incl
The best way to root for victory
is to dig deep into that pock etbook or