Evening star., 1943-11-28
NavyCarrie Pacific Offensive
AS ArmyWaits Hitler Defeat
By Constantine Br0agn.


number of men killed or wounded was
not excessive. Malaria and other tropi-
cal diseases put out Of action more
men for longer time than a bullet or
shrapnel wound.
No large forces can be deployed in
jungle warfare. At Buna, the ground
force advanced over four roads" These
roads were nothing but narrow paths
over which the men had to move in In
olan file. 1t stands to reason that while
much Is demanded from the soldiers
attacking the. japanese pillboxes and
Well-protected fox holes no great forces
can be engaged in such battles. How
ever, it will take Gen. Macarthur a long
time before he can fill the gaps created
by the japanese fire and particularly by
mosquitoes. He receives troop reinforce
ments as regularly as the average Amer
lean receives thick juicy steaks on his
dinner table
Nazis Must Be Whipped.
1t would be unfair to attribute the
situation to a desire on the part of
Washington deliberately to keep Gen.
MacArthur's forces weak
The strategy adopted in 1912 and
later confirmed at the various confer
ences between representatives of the
United States and Britain provides def
initely that Germany must be defeated
first. In accordance with that strategy
the commanders in the Pacific had to
adopt merely holding action or what is
described in tactics as a defensive
offensive operation. In order to enable
the commanders il; the Pacific to hold
the japanese, Admiral Halsey was given
the best the Navy has. But only limit
ed number Of troops and a relatively
limited air force were sent to Gen. Mac
Arthur since, for the time being, the
Pacific is the secondary theater of oper-
ations, only what can be spared Is
being sent to that area.
On paper, the American Army looks
very large. No fewer than 100000
men have been or will be drafted. But
the actual ground striking force cannot
exceed 100000 men when We con-
slider how large personnel the Navy
needs, how many men must go into avia-
ton to man and take care of the tre-
mendous air squadrons which are fight
ing all over the world, and how many
specialists are needed to take care of
the mechanized equipment and other
modern war paraphernalia. To defeat
Hitler We have concentrated on i'm
posing in the Mediterranean. The oper-
ations in Italy are costly and while no
actual reinforcements are being sent to
Gen. Eisenhower, he has to have re-
placements for his casualties. A reserve
must be kept on hand for the most i'm
portant moves in Italy.
The army of Gen. Clark so far has
done only preliminary work. Much bit
| ter and costly fighting is to follow be-
| fore we reach the Campagna Plains.
We are concentrating a powerful force
| in England to attack the Germans in
Western Europe. Our share will be
large. The prospective losses, if the
Nazis fight in Western Europe with the
same determination as in Italy, will be
, heavier than We have ever encountered
in any previous war. Hence We must
keep in readiness at home sufficient
troops to replace the losses in Western
Europe
Balkan Offensive Possible.
| Aside from all this there is a strong
possibility that we will be compelled
to undertake an early offensive in the
Balkans. This cannot be done without
| Gen. Eisenhowers forces.
new expeditionary corps will have
| to be formed to work together with the
British armies in the Near and Middle
| East. Even if our assistance in the
| offensive is limited it is unlikely that
we will be able to get away with a con-
tribution of less than $4,000 men. When
we consider the demands made on our
ground forces by the operations in Eu-
rope it is obvious that there is little
that Gen. Macarthur can count on to
! open large scale operations against the
| main Japanese Strongholds in the
Philippines or The Netherlands Indies.
He must wait until the Nazis are de-
feated and until some time later in
1914 or 1945 will have to mark time and
be satisfied with clearing the Japanese
out of their advanced posts while watt
ing until real force can be made avail
| able to him.
The truth is that Gen. Macarthur is
receiving only "drippings" from the
United States, SO far as the ground
forces and aviation is concerned The
quality of his army is excellent; the
quantity leaves plenty of room for COM
plant he will continue to receive lust
enough men to enable him to kick the
Japs out of the advanced posts. But the
strategy adopted in Washington, con-
firmed at Casablanca and Quebec and
further likely to be confirmed at other
conferences, will leave him to take care
of his vast area with the token" ground
force he has at present. On the other
hand, Admiral Halsey, who has cooper
ated to the fullest with Gen. Macarthur,
will continue to receive such reinforce
ments as are necessary to keep the Jap
anese fleet behind the Notifications Of
its home bases or those at Truk in the
mid-Pacific.