Evening star., 1943-11-28

1Ie WlSuOn Oh the pOllcleS OF LIe war
and Navy Departments in keeping mill
tary information secret cannot be ques-
toned. But only too frequently in recent
months military news has been allowed
to leak out and statements by RESPONSE
ole officials have been released which,
while unlikely to help the enemy, are
throwing the people of this country into
confusion.
For instance, take the matter OF
whether the armies in the South Pa
cific have sufficient strength to permit
their leaders to do more than mark time
and perform some strictly local opera
tions:
Gen. MacArthur's Spokesmen say they
are sadly deficient in ground forces and
they have not received even 5 per cent
of the available strength of the United
States war force.
On the other hand, representatives OF
the Navy Department-such as Rear
Admiral Young-say the forces in the
South Pacific are in a fine shape and
ready to 60.
The puzzled public wonders what is
behind all this. Is Gen. Macarthur
playing politics, as some wish to believe
and is he permitting the issuance OF
statements in order to show the people
who are going to vote next year that
he is being victimized? Or is the admin
istration, for the same political purpose,
trying to show that although his force
has nearly everything it needs, Gen.
MacArthur-for reasons known only to
operations which are gaining us only ad-
vanced posts thinly occupied by the
Japs.
Neither Black Nor Rosy.
According to some responsible officials
who occasionally return from that area
the picture is neither black nor rosy
The forces Of Admiral Halsey are excel
lent. Because the war across the Allan
tic requires only limited naval force,
Washington has been able to send to
the South Pacific the best we have
af1oat. The newest battle wagons, the
latest airplane carriers cruisers de-
stroyers and submarines have been sent
to Admiral Nimitz. who in turn is dis
patching to Admiral Halsey everything
he needs.
The South Pacific fleet is homogene-
Gus striking force which Is ready to
tackle the japanese any time they are
lured away from their bases close to the
homeland. If this powerful fleet, which
is being strengthened every month by
the addition OF the best ships which
leave our yards, had adequate bases it
could rush into Japan's home waters
and force a showdown with the enemy
with confidence that it would come out
victorious. But the bases are still lack
ing. In any event, the fleet alone cannot
defeat Japan. Ground and air forces
are necessary and they also need bases
for their hops from island to island 1t
is Gen. MacArthur's job to provide these
bases. The probable capture of New
Britain with its important Rabaul naval
and air base will free the lines of com
munication between the west coast and
the Australian continent from any Japa-
nese threat
but it would not bring us any closer to
victory than the capture OF the Chan
mel islands of Jersey and Guernsey
brought the Germans in 1910.
Must Reach Philippines.
In order to crack the japanese de-
fense wall We must reoccupy the Philip
pines and the Netherlands Indies And
for the time being the South Pacific
forces are nowhere near strong enough
for such an undertaking.
The statements from Gen. MacAr-
thurs headquarters that he still lacks
adequate ground and air forces are un-
questionably correct The Australian
war effort suffered greatly in the earlier
stages of the war, before December T.
l941. Many of the best Australian
troops were sacrificed on the battle
fronts in the Near East and later at
Singapore Hence, Australia's contribu-
ton in trained manpower is not as great
as We expected.
The number of American divisions
sent to Gen. Macarthur is very limited
roi iedooiS VI ullllIdIy security Tile
total cannot be made public, but it
would not be an exaggeration to place
it far below the forces of Gen. Clark
and Gen. Montgomery when they first
landed in Italy.
Our casualties in New Guinea and the
Solomons were very heavy, but the
ON EOPECAST