Evening star., 1943-09-23

with the war. David Lawrence.
Let's get the war over with. Let's wiz
the war and get home" These arr
the phrases heard overseas. Thest
are the phrases our commanding
generals express from time to tim,
as they witness delays on the hom,
front. But basically these comment!
are the typical remarks which under,
lie every appraisal of the strategy a.
1t comes piecemeal to the loca,
commanders, each of whom thinks
his area is more important thar
any other.
This American impatience char
acterizes not merely the Army but
the Navy. When Admiral Halsey
said last New Year he thought we
could defeat Japan by Christmas of
1943 he undoubtedly believed that
If the high officials back home would
allocate enough stuff to the Pacific
and give the go-ahead to our forces
In the Pacific we could win decisive
battles this year that would abso-
lutely assure the defeat if not the
early collapse of Japan before the
final blows were struck.
When Gen. Macarthur says it ism t
his idea of winning the war to en-
gage in island hopping" and that
such tactics would mean victory only
In 1949, he went bit further than
Admiral Horne did not long ago
when he predicted that the war in
the Pacific might last until 1949.
The admiral didn't say why he
thought 1949 was possible terminal
point, but obviously men in the
Navy feel that at our present rate
Of progress 1949 is not so fantastic.
European Theater First.
Gen. Macarthur wants America
to push ahead now. The Navy wants
to go ahead, too. What prevents it?
The global war and the needs of the
European theater of action - the
belief that the Nazis must be beaten
first. This concept is difficult to
define because it doesn't mean
literally waiting till Hitler is beaten,
but pouring our forces in rising
quantities into the Pacific theater
so that the climax in our war with
Japan will come not long after the
victory has been assured in Europe.
1t has been suggested in some
published reports that Gen. Mac
Arthur feels he is going to be sub
ordinated to Admiral Louis Mount
batten. A glance at the map with a
scale OF distances will quickly show
how absurd that viewpoint can be.
The British admiral will be oper-
ating from the Indian Ocean side
OF the war and his base will be at
Ceylon and later in Burma. But
these zones are more than 1000
miles away from Gen. MacArthur's
headquarters in New Guinea -
farther than from New York to
London.
What is really meant by the
Macarthur statement is that the
decision to fight way back into
China through Burma isn't enough
that it means a year or two of fight
ing before the road for supplies can
be reopened and, meanwhile, no
frontal attack on Japan will have
been delivered.
Gen. Macarthur obviously wants
us to retake the PHILIPPINES and by
pass all the Netherlands East Indies.
He has won victories in New Guinea
which make it possible for the
United States Navy to proceed
northward from New Guinea and
westward from Hawaii with the
mightiest feet the world has ever
seen. The general undoubtedly re-
fleets the Ncvy's impatience as well
as the Army eagerness to join in
q frontal attack on Japan.
Viewpoint Understandable.
To the extent that the Quebec
decisions mean postponement for
another two years of the showdown
in the Pacific, the impatience emerg-
ing in the Macarthur statement is
understandable. The general evi-
IDENTIFY thinks the risks in pointing
out this criticism are insignificant
compared to the greater value in
letting the people in America know
that we are apparently planning on
a long, slow war in the Pacific during
which time Japan is given an op-
portunity to build up her bomber
strength and her shipping and thus
cost America lot of unnecessary
casualties.
The same impatience has been
manifest toward the European
theater. Prime Minister Churchill
last May was ready to try air power
alone for awhile as an experiment.
Many of our high Army officers saic
nothing, but did shake their heads
They did not believe the war could
be won that way. They felt direct
attack on Europe was imperative
Apparently the Prime Minister has
swung around to our view and is
ready, moreover, to see an American
commander in chief leading the
whole invasion.
American impatience is recognized
as ingrained in our attitude towarc
this war as 1t was toward the last
war. We do not believe in wars
won by attrition. but by straight.
from-the-shoulder offensive, and
that is the trend now in the Euro.
pean operations. Maybe it will be
the trend in the Pacific some day.
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Exhibits Giant Beun
Beaming with home district pride
fof